Could I Please Buy Something?

                                                Could I Please Buy Something?

I'm looking for a small HD video camera and, on my way to the airport, stopped at the Bond and Bond store in Newmarket in Auckland recently. The store was deserted except for one customer paying at the counter, a staff member taking his money and another one unpacking a computer for a display.

I found the camera section and saw one that interested me. I stood around doing the best I could to look like I needed some assistance but nobody noticed. Then I walked across to the store to the chap unpacking the box. "Can you please give me some assistance with a video camera?" I asked.

"What do you want to know?" he said,  unpacking the box.

"Come over here and I'll show you," I said, turning back towards the cameras.

"I'm kind of busy right now,' he called out.

I turned and walked past him out the door, taking a $500+ sale with me.

I'm sure the senior management of Bond and Bond is convinced the economy is responsible for their low sales figures.

I got back in my car and continued my journey to the airport. At the other end of Newmarket there is a Farmers so I stopped to see what they had in the way of video cameras. There was nobody in the camera department except one staff member who was on the phone. While I was looking at what they had on display, the staff member finished phone call and walked straight past me without asking if I needed some help. All of a sudden I lost interest in what they had to sell.

On the way out of the store, I had to walk through the men's clothing section. I stopped to look at some dress slacks. WhileI was looking, a staff member walked within a meter of me but didn't bother to ask if I needed some help. For some reason, I lost interest in their clothing too.

I'm sure the senior management of Farmers Farmers is convinced the economy is to blame for their low sales figures.

Isn't it tough being in retail?

Customers As Learners

Customers as Learners

Every now and then someone gets an idea that is so brilliant you think, “Gosh that idea is so simple, so true and so powerful!” Customers as learners is such an idea.

The concept was developed by Lab Wilson, who in his long career has been in clinical practice as a vet, and in the corporate world worked as a technical advisor, marketer, salesman, trainer and facilitator. As you know, to succeed in business you need profitable customers who will stay with you a long time and the best way to do that is to make your customers successful. Lab’s brilliant idea is that to make our customers successful, we need to see customers as learners and make sharing our knowledge about our products and services a key part of the buying process. In his recently released book, Customer As Learners (www.nahanni-publishing.com), Lab writes: “To get the most from your product or service, customers need to know how use them,” Most of your customers will nor have the knowledge to fully achieve the success inherent in what you are providing and will need to learn more. You must be the provider of that learning.” Lab then explains how treating customers as learners can increase customer value in three ways.

Firstly, an important source of customer value is in the product or service itself and that is why the manufacturers of products and providers of services work hard to build as much customer value into their offerings as they possibly can. But what, Lab asks, if customers do not know enough to be able to unlock the value a supplier has worked so hard to create? Very few of us, for example, got full value from our VCR because we did not know how to use all of its functions. How many of the functions in your car, computer or music system go unused because you don’t know how to use them? Lab argues that if value has been built into a product or service but the customer does not know enough to access it, that value does not exist as far as the customer is concerned. Teaching the customer how to get the most from what they have bought thus increases customer value. What further value could your customers get from your products and services if only they knew how?

Lab also reminds us that customer value is created (or destroyed) by the customer experience and he explains how sharing your knowledge will improve the quality of that experience for your customers. Customers will get more value from the buying experience if they are not just ‘sold to’ but are also given the opportunity to learn information and acquire skills that increase their success. Conversely, one of the biggest causes of customer dissatisfaction and complaints is the inability to share knowledge. “Poor communication results in a lack of agreement about potential outcomes, failure to understand risks and unrealistic expectations. Ensuring your customers understand what it is you do or how to use your product successfully is essential.” How many of your customer complaints come because your customers ‘did not understand’?

There is one more reason why you should help your customers learn: It will help you build a close and long-lasting relationship with them. Business is a social activity between human beings and that, as we all know, is why it is so important to build a relationship with your customers. The sales process is one opportunity to build a relationship with a customer particularly at the after-sales stage. Once the customer has bought, they will see anything you do to help them learn how to get the most from their purchase as a sign of how much you are interested in them rather than in yourself. This is what builds goodwill and strong relationships.

Of course, many professionals, highly trained technicians and people selling sophisticated products do understand the importance of sharing their knowledge with their customers. But realising you can create more value for your customers by showing them how to use the product or service you are offering, is not enough. You have to know how to teach. As any educator can tell you, there is far more to teaching someone than simply talking to them. In Customers as Learners, Lab explains why so many people with a great deal of expertise have difficulty sharing their knowledge: Most experts have difficulty sharing their knowledge with anyone who is not at a similar level to them. Because of the knowledge gap between themselves and their customers they find it difficult to connect.”

In Customers As Learners Lab shows how to teach customers quickly and effectively. You will quickly see the advantages in understanding the steps to customer learning, the different learning styles and the keys to technical communication.

The concept of customers as learners is not a slick selling tool designed to con customers into buying. It is a critical part of the process of creating superior customer value. The book, Customers as Learners is written by a man who understands that it’s about the customer always, and who has spent a lifetime understanding how people learn. I like that it is practical and full of steps, tips, quotes and, yes, cartoons. Customers as Learners is a must read for anyone serious about providing superior customer value and wanting to establish a deep long-lasting relationship with their customers.

Customers as learners is such a simple, useful and, once it is explained to you, obvious idea that like me, you will wonder why you did not think of it yourself years ago. And isn’t that true of all great ideas?