Meeting your customer when they are

Businesses of all kinds operate on the assumption that customers need to come to them. Why not try to flip this on it’s head?

Meeting your customer when they are

I got a message from my Dad — which was unusual because he seldom messages — and it came as little surprise that it was regarding an issue with his iPod. More often then not, my parents phone me with their technology how-to questions or troubleshooting needs. I tease them, but I really do relish the opportunity to help in this sorts of things.

Two things jump out at me:

  1. They usually start with a phone call to me, not having searched or attempted to discover a workable solution on their own.
  2. They almost never contact the relevant technical support provided by the manufacturer.

In this situation, we are concerned with Apple products. They have a few. The same holds true for any other gadget they may own and experience difficulty using. But, it got me thinking about Apple in particular, what with their Apple Support team available in a variety of ways, especially Apple Retail.

I consider myself a bit of a firsthand expert in that for a time I was employed by Apple as a technician at a local Genius Bar — an experience I still cherish. So when I was traveling with my family into New York City one afternoon via train, I recall overhearing someone behind us discussing their phone struggle; something of a setting issue I think, an inconvenience but one easily remedied. I spoke up, apologizing for my butting in, and suggest a solution which they tried and appreciated. In turn, the person across from me felt frustrated about how her email was being treated across her various devices. We engaged in a quick dialog (she would delete an email from her phone, only to discover it was still on her PC at home) and pointed out her email settings and the impact of POP versus IMAP. While she began to trust me, it would require her to do a little more work so I sent her a support article so she could finish resolving the issue later on(fn).

Businesses of all kinds operate on the assumption that customers need to come to them. Universities spend hundreds of thousands of dollars and countless hours trying to attract alumni back to campus for a reunion weekend. Others at some point know your problem will become such an inconvenience that you’ll determine the pain of going to their store or navigating their support phone directory is less than the hassle of the inconvenience.

Why not try to flip this on it’s head. What if you could go to them. Rather than only having a stand-alone retail location, be more omnipresent and have an Apple Genius on that rush hour train available to advise people on what to do, triaging people to get help in a way that fits their situation. In the case of the university, create experiences that you can share to people who are not physically present. Make it more conducive.

Being where your customer is certainly has its merits. But it’s important to be when your customer is, too. That is to say, available and present in the moment when they need you most.

Both of these things — where and when — require an ability to foster and maintain a relationship. Why does my Dad call me and not Apple? I posit it is because he knows I can (more often than not) help him and the context to his issue is something he doesn’t have to explain. He also knows how to reach me when he wants to worry about his issue. We all complain about the products we use at one time or another. What an enormous opportunity it is for us as business leaders to be able to engage with our customers, to ask questions, listen to their feedback, and encourage their input. Not because it will lead to product redesign, but because it repairs the relationship we have with them.

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