Knowing customer need for customer satisfaction
Customer satisfaction has been a ubiquitous term for every organisation. The profitability of the organisation and the loyalty of the customer is a direct measure of customer satisfaction. Despite companies spending countless hours brainstorming and investing heavily on finding the needs of their customer and how best to satisfy them, why have so many companies or the processes they follow, gone down over the years?
A need could be known, unknown, expressible or hidden or a blurred perception on an idea. It could be led by a psychological impulse, past experiences or a sudden drive. This complexity is the reason that sometimes not only the organisation, but even the customer is not fully aware of their need.
Let us understand this with an example from the car industry. A car is the solution for easy and comfortable travel. Yet, why is there no ‘one model’ that appeals to everyone and rules the market? It is because, everyone perceives a car from a different perspective. For the rich, the latest car is a symbol of “I have arrived”. For a young girl, a hatchback may be a mark of liberation . For someone pre-booking a car, it may be a differentiating factor to stand out from the crowd. In the examples above, the purchase is fuelled by the basic need of the individual. If a person compares the specs sheet of different models without reading the name or looking at the car models, their choices may be entirely different! Latent factors, hence, play a vital role in shaping need. This complexity is a challenge for organisations.
To understand this relation between the organisation and customer on the scale of awareness vs. acknowledgement of need, let us look at four categories with some popular examples.
- Customer unaware, organisation unaware
The famous Coke story of the 1980s where Pepsi claimed that it had beaten Coke in the sweet taste competition is a classic example. This shook the confidence of the Coke management who then introduced a new sweeter version. But after its launch, all hell broke loose and customers demanded their old Coke. Why did this happen? Coke had been a significant part of American culture, so intricately deep rooted in their lives that they had no idea why they consumed it. It was a memory and symbol of good times for the ‘The Original American’. Only when it was changed did the customers and the company realise what their product meant to the masses.
2. Customer unaware, organisation aware
During the 90s, in India, chocolates were meant only for children. It was a ‘childish’ thing. Cadbury then gave this perception a twist with it’s “Asli swad zindagi ka” campaign which focussed on the hidden urge of people to “express the inner child” within them. We know where Cadbury stands now! Another example would be, that no one in the 80s or 90s realised that they had a need for a search engine or social media. Smart companies are always in search of identifying and acting upon such latent needs.
3.Customer aware, organisation aware
In the 2000s, there was no tangible competition for iOS. The need for one such operating system — accessible, smooth in operation and accessible to a wider community was on the cards. Only manifestation was required. Google acquired Android Inc and in 2008, the first version of Android was launched, with over 2 billion active users. This was because the customers felt a need for such a product and the company capitalised on this. The customer may not be able to articulate the exact specifications but if they are aware of their broad requirements, the efforts to manifest them can be minimised. Innovative companies conceptualise a product in physical form before the customer can comprehend it. This is their secret to success. Henry Ford rightly said “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”
4. Customer aware, organisation unaware
Blockbuster, a video rental service provider in the US with over 80k employees and 9k stores with a valuation of 5 billion USD in 2004, filed for bankruptcy in 2010. It had turned down an offer to buy Netflix in 2000 and did not sense the changing preferences of customers to digital streaming. Blockbuster was extremely product obsessed and believed it did not need to change. The same story stands for Kodak with the rise of digital cameras and now phone cameras.
To summarise, here are key takeaways from the above examples to identify customer needs as accurately as possible.
- Understand what psychological need is being catered to
- Proper market research
- Never be arrogantly obsessed with product / process
- Take feedback, but through the right mechanism
- Listen to your customers, change with them
- Be ready to go through the learn — unlearn — learn cycle with the times
Hitting a bullseye when it comes to identifying requirements and catering to it, is the way to go to ensure customer satisfaction in any domain. This in turn, guarantees growth for the organisation.
