Choice Means Respect
by Elizabeth
I was reading this When Did Service Become the Customer’s Obligation? blog at Competitive Advantage Marketing it really struck a cord with me. While Dr. Coleman is talking about a different kind of “choice” than our enterprise browser provides, it does address a common theme. This quote from her blog really sums things up,
“Our messages are meaningless if the customer contacts don’t leave the customer feeling respected and valued. Where there is choice, the customer won’t tolerate feeling as if it is his job to service the company. We need to remember that customers see the products and services we provide in their own context, not ours.”
As business people, we should be asking what we can do to make our customers lives or businesses better in exchange for buying our products and services. We should adapt to them – not make them adapt to us. When you give your customers choice; when you look at your customers’ needs in the context of their life, their business models, their resources – then doing the right thing becomes much simpler.