Who is your customer?

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Last summer my youngest daughter worked as a camp counselor for her summer job. She shared a story that demonstrates how important it is that we know who our end customer — and whether there may be more than one in a single purchase.

At camp, parents had the opportunity for their child to receive a freezie in the afternoon break. On a hot summer day, what child wouldn’t want a special frozen treat?

Since this was an add-on there was an additional cost. Some parents couldn’t afford it; some didn’t want their child to have a sugary treat; others just didn’t see the box to check.

To further complicate matters, the camp offered 2 different sizes — jumbo and regular.

So, some campers got a large freezie, some got a small freezie and some got none.

No surprise what happened. Unhappy campers — unless they received a jumbo freezie.

My Perspective: The camp didn’t fully understand who their customer was — or more importantly, that they had more than one.

The camp created a situation that was destined to create unhappy campers.

They thought they were offering a nice feature to parents — but didn’t think through the downside of the situation they created for the children and the counselors to deal with. And subsequently with the parents when the campers returned home at the end of the day.

Have you ever offered a benefit to one department that ended up causing more work for another department?

What about a feature that ended up creating more problems for the user who just wanted a simple user experience and didn’t want the entrx features?

Make sure when evaluating the benefits of a product or service that you ask whether other people will be affected directly or indirectly as a result. These may be secondary customers, but they will definitely influence loyalty and whether you product or service gets purchased again.

Republished with author's permission from original post.

Bill Hogg
Bill Hogg works with senior leaders to inspire and develop high performance, customer-focused teams that deliver exceptional customer service, higher productivity and improved profits. Sought after internationally as a speaker and consultant, Bill is recognized as the Performance Excelerator because of his uncanny ability to create profound change and deliver extraordinary results with the most demanding organizations.

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