How well do you know your customers?

Take a moment to watch this brilliant Guardian newspaper TV advert from the 1980’s.

Do you misunderstand your customers in the same way? Its easy to do isn’t it – observe someone’s behaviour, apply subjective biases and reach the wrong conclusion.

Figuring out others is, as it turns out, incredibly hard, even people with whom we have longstanding relationships. But worse, we believe our judgement about others is far better than it actually is.

“There is nothing you can tell me about my customers”. But the truth is, you don’t know what they say when you’re not in the room. How does your offer compare against others?; why did you get chosen (or not)?; what are your strengths and weaknesses? In short, you think you know them but the truth is, you only have half the picture.

Most organisations see their market through the lens of their service or product. If you took a moment to look at your business from the perspective of your customers, you’d get a totally different point of view. And with their voice ringing in your ears, you’re business would do a far better job at serving them. Steve Jobs once said, ‘we start at the customer and work back to the technology’. Is it time you did the same and got to know customers better?

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