What is a Customer? Are We Still Thinking About This the Right Way?
Do you consider customers to be your most important asset? Have you considered looking at them that way previously?
When thinking of assets in retail, we hear a lot of discussion around Loss Prevention, sometimes referred to as Asset Protection. Usually, we connect assets to products or physical things within the store. We don’t want people to take those away from us, so we protect them. I am not going to start a discussion about how to best protect products here, but it does relate to what this article is about: do we view our customers the right way?
During a recent meeting, a leader in the Customer Experience space referred to our customers as our most important asset. Wow. That clicked with many people right away. The thought of seeing the customer as something tangible, such as an asset, made a lot of sense. And I agree, customers are a business’s greatest asset. Without them, the physical elements of your business do not matter.
In defense of my good friends in Loss Prevention/Asset Protection, the best of them know that providing great service and continuing to making shopping easy for customers is the best way to protect merchandise and the business. Then, when you think of customers as assets, it makes even more sense how our LP/AP teams can support a great experience.
What is an asset?
Let’s dive a little deeper here and define asset. Something of value. Check. Something you don’t want to lose. Check. Something you wouldn’t want your competitor to have, or something you don’t want stolen. Check. Something that provides long-term value for the business. Check. I think you get the point. When we define the term asset, the customer fits perfectly into how we think of what an asset really means to us as business owners. Does that now change our view on how we serve and the experience we create? It should.
Easier to understand
Reframing a common thought, word, or concept into easier to understand terms can help many associates connect with the real meaning. By referencing a customer as an asset, it resonates differently with people. They immediately see them as something of value, beyond just hearing that customers are important. Oddly, it happens when explaining to many retail employees that we are all customers as well. If we place ourselves in the shoes of those shopping in our stores, it can help to shift the perspective and coach to a different experience. While it can often be hard to understand each ‘side of the counter,’ those of us who have worked in this business for many years have a lot of experience on each side. While asset is an easy term to understand, it is critical to connect that customers are just like us, they have feelings, life pressures, and a desire to be successful in what they are doing.
Making customers more valuable
The more you know, the more they grow. Data is king in today’s world. And it can be done in a non-creepy way. Loyalty programs are essentially designed as ways to learn about customers. Provide value to them through these programs, and they in return share information about how, when, and where they shop with you. Unless you unlock that information for people to use in a valuable way, it is just information. Find ways to provide front-line workers information that will benefit the customer, suddenly your ‘asset’ takes on incredible additional value. Again, the data is not the asset, it is still about the customer. As I mentioned above, balancing between seeing the customer as an asset (easy to understand) and keeping it truly humanized is important. The risk is making data the center of your focus, or overemphasizing ‘asset’ can become a disconnect from seeing every customer as the unique individual they are. Using data in harmony with the experience you want to create begins to build something special for the customer.
Mindset more than anything
Disney may do this better than anyone, though, I think Apple is excellent at this also. That is, seeing the customer as a guest and not something that is transactional. Both Disney and Apple see customers for a lifetime and not for any one interaction. If Disney were highly transactional, people would not grow up having a Disney experience that then makes them want to pass that along to their kids, and their kids etc. Disney cast members have a mindset of thinking beyond just that one transaction. Everything is tied to the experience a person has. What do you think happens at Disney World if a 4-year-old drops their ice cream cone right after Mom hands it to them? (And I don’t mean the instant crying that occurs from the child.) If a cast member sees it, a replacement is coming right up. If Mom goes back to the stand and explains, she’ll get a new ice cream cone, no charge, no questions asked. It’s not about the ice cream cone. (Oh, and by the way, that spilled ice cream will be cleaned up probably in the same time it takes to get it replaced.) To take that one step further, I would be willing to bet that even the person who comes to clean that up, would offer to have it replaced if they were the first on the scene. That is a mindset of seeing the customer as more than transaction.
In a time when customers have more choices, online and in physical locations, the experience, and service they receive will define their future shopping habits. Seeing the customer as more than a single transaction at a time, or for that matter, even as just a customer, should define the experience that is delivered to them. Shifting the view to one of customers being your most important asset suddenly shines a new light on how to approach the relationships as long-term, meaningful, and worthy of vigorous protection in a positive way.
How will seeing customers as your most important asset shift your team’s view of the customer?
Join other retail leaders in continuing their development journey with Effective Retail Leader.com. SUBSCRIBE today to receive leadership tips directly to your inbox and monthly newsletters that provide many tools to help further develop your leadership skills. JOIN NOW!
Photo by Blake Wisz on Unsplash