October 2007

You're Not Your Customer

Many companies forget the difference between their needs and the needs of their customer. Here are four typical pitfalls and how to avoid them.

By John Kovacevich

If only all business transactions were as simple as Halloween.

It's a straightforward value proposition: The kids deliver the entertainment (a parade of little fairies, superheroes and bumblebees). The adults pay for the favor (preferably with a gooey candy bar and not a box of organic raisins—yuck).

Business can be more complicated, but in some ways it's the same. When the ghosts and princesses hit the sidewalk at Halloween, they're looking to score one thing and it's NOT healthy snacks. Adults who persist in seeing the holiday from a grown-up point-of-view quickly lose little customers. ("Don't go there; that house always gives out granola bars!")

Likewise, it's easy in business to lose sight of the fact that there are differences between you and your customer. Your communication strategy should reflect an understanding of those differences to keep customers engaged and coming back for more. Here are four common mistakes and how you can avoid them.

1. Communication organized for internal purposes rather than customer needs. Visiting a large company's website can be an exercise in patience and perseverance. Many are organized around internal corporate structures that mean little to the customer.

   Internally, it may be important that Jack Jones is the head of ABC Division while Martha Smith runs XYZ Division, but do your customers care? No, they just want to know where to buy their widget or how to use it.

   (And don't even get me started on how communication initiatives are funded at many big companies, where divisional funding may mean the right hand doesn't know what the left is doing.)

   What to do: Don't base your website or other communication efforts on your org chart. Organize customer communication around the needs of your customers and eliminate the inside jargon.




"Put yourself in your customers' shoes. Why would they come to your website in the first place?"




2. Talking to yourself rather than your target audience. It's human nature: we communicate the way we like to be communicated to. But that may be the wrong strategy for your business.

   Take a look around your office. Do you and your coworkers look like your target customer? Do you receive and process information the same way?

   For example, I recently wrote about the rise of social media like MySpace and Facebook and the implications for customer communication. Do your marcom people know what message and media will break through the clutter?

   This is especially challenging for mature industries, where staff may be a different generation than your target audience. This isn't ageism; I'm not suggesting some sort of Logan's Run-like forced retirement for everyone over the age of 35. It's not about the age of the communicator, but understanding the audience needs.

   What to do: Establish a profile of your customers and understand how they are different from you. Communicate via the channels and in the form that they want rather than what is convenient or easy for you.




3. Too much ... everything. This is a weird thing to hear from somebody who works at a "content agency" but there is way too much content out there. Most of it does not add value, but is merely "noise" through which customers must navigate.

   When your customers visit your website or interact with your communication collateral, what is the experience you want them to have? Do you provide a clear path to information? Are you quickly communicating how you can solve their problems?

   Many companies employ a kitchen sink strategy to communication—let's cram it all in there. For example, a piece of content designed to be a "400-word piece" balloons to more than 1,000 words because various stakeholders wanted to include every angle, feature, or messaging buzzword. But is that serving a customer need or an internal one?

   What to do: Keep it simple! Be brutal and prune unnecessary content or jargon that does not aid the customer or target audience. Make sure that there is a clear, streamlined path toward the ultimate action you want your customer to take, be that clicking on "buy now" or, for more expensive, complex purchasing cycles, "tell me more."




4. Solving your problem instead of your customers'. Like any business, your primary goal is generating more sales. Of course, your customer's goal is something completely different. They're looking to solve their problems. For your customer, the sale that you ring up is simply the byproduct of satisfying their particular needs.

   Obvious, right?

   But then why is so much customer communication built around what businesses want (the sale) rather than what customers want or need (their problem solved).

   Put yourself in your customers' shoes. Why would they come to your website in the first place? If you run an office supply store, they may come looking for paper clips and just need an order form. But if you're selling technology or a service or something more complicated, you need to address the customer needs first: educate, illuminate, build goodwill and thus move them forward in the purchase cycle.

   I'm not suggesting that anyone make it difficult to find the "buy" button. Once you've convinced customers you can solve their problem, you want to make the sale as easy as possible. But skip the education and goodwill at your own risk.

   What to do: Write down what problem(s) your product or service solves. Now look at your website. Is the solution you're offering obvious on the highest levels of the site? Remember that your customers aren't buying a box of widgets, they're buying what those widgets can do for them.

In short, think about your communications in terms of the handfuls of candy you toss into plastic pumpkins each year. You may not be a candy corn type, but are you giving your customers what they want? In customer communications, as in certain candy-rich holidays, it's important to remember this: It's not about you.

About the author:

John Kovacevich believes that chocolate is the only acceptable Halloween candy. He is also Tendo's VP of marketing services.Email him.