News + Notes on Branding
You have loyal customers, but do you know why they're loyal? Ask them.
Find what your customers really care about. Sometimes, getting a frank and honest response out of your customers is tough to get. You send them a generic survey, and if you are lucky, the ones who care about you will likely spend no more than three minutes checking off boxes to get it off their desk. The ones that don't care won't respond at all. Conversely, when you speak directly with customers, they may not tell you the truth. They may leave out the bad stuff to spare your feelings. Or, they may not have the right words on the tips of their tongues to tell you how they really feel, and what they really care about.
It's usually true that some data is better than no data. If you're on a shoestring budget, doing a customer satisfaction survey may impart some useful data. It's helpful to have an expert construct the survey for you, so it will give you a better shot at getting some targeted data out of the effort. What's more, survey clients typically find having a third-party conduct one-on-one, in-depth interviews with customers gives them the best information. Experts know how to ask questions the right way to get people talking, and they can sometimes fish out insights — ones that really matter — that you never thought possible. Experts will figure out and map how and why customers behave the way they do. This gives clients a visual way of understanding what happens in a customer-buying situation, so they can fix problems and respond better. It also helps them market more effectively.
Example: A client of ours recently had us conduct interviews with a sample of their customers. The findings helped them figure out what their customers really cared about, helped them speak to their customers in their terms, and helped them see their own strengths and weaknesses through their customers' eyes. One surprise was the reaction to their logo; their customers confused it with the logo of one of their main competitors. The line was blurred between what experiences customers associated with them and what they credited to their competitors; customers had a tough time telling the companies apart. The research helped our client decide that they needed a new logo and story so they would be distinct within the industry. Their logo, based on the concept of the "Environmental and Engineering Maze," allowed them to tell a story about how they guide their clients through all the red tape and frustrations inherent in their industry. That story became a key tool to set them apart and help them grow.
So, how do you know when you're making progress?
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