Customer Enablement

Turning pain points into revenue streams

Pain points from customers come in many formats. Some are indeed good for you to hear and others are emotional rants. Good customer service knows the difference and can handle it. Good business people see a bit more.

To get to the point, let me point out a use case right off the bat.

A metal roofing business was doing great at sales, almost too good. They were 7 months backed up from taking the order to putting a roof on the home. Kudos to them for continueing to sign people even with such a long wait.

To help this issue, we borrowed a tactic from Uber. Uber, the taxi like car service, had implemented a demand pricing model in which during peak times the price of getting a car went 4 or 5 times the normal rate. The customer is made aware in advance, clicks “get the freakin car anyways” and then the ride shows up.

We took the same model to this roofing company. Knowing that they were 7 months out, which can be a deal breaker, we now offered a new opportunity. We told the client they could “cut in line” for an additional $3,000. On a roof that cost around $65,000 this was not too much more to have it finished quickly. Old customers were made aware that they may be bumped but no more than 6 months out.

This was a tremendous influx of free revenue toward the company. And with the cash came many lessons.

1. Let the customers say no. Why do companies have so many limitations, policies, and boundaries? Yes, there is a reason; however companies should make and weave fluxuations into it. Companies do not have to answer the customer with a yes, no, or compromise. Tell them the amount and allow them to make a hard decision, not you.
2. Enable, not reward or punish. Customers do not need a badge, upsell or sense of urgency. What if you gave them the opportunity to do more, spend more, or engage more? Kickstarter works because people ask, its about that simple.
3. It’s not always problems. Sometimes happy cusotmers would love to do more than write another Yelp review. What if, in the example of the roofing company, you said they could put $500 toward the roof of a nonprofit in town? Now when that nonprofit complains about having limit funds, the company does not have to go under to do it, they have previously earned some capital to help; and established a community along the way.

Customer enablement is where I believe the next wave of revenue will come. More creative ways to empower the user to spend, not manipulate or confuse pricing models. Not every situation is unique, but every situation could use better questions to turn the pain point into a revenue opportunity.