I just came across an article that highlights what can, and hopefully should, happen when you start responding to what your customers really want.
In League City, the municipality started fixing the concrete sidewalks that so many of the residents had been complaining about for quite a while. This, in and of itself, is a wonderful thing. The people/customers voiced their concerns – - the city/business responded by giving them what they wanted.
What they didn’t realize was that once people saw that the sidewalks were being repaired, they started calling about other things they wanted done as well. This has now caused somewhat of a “Honey Do List” for the municipality.
If they handle this right, they will have one of the most well run cities in the country. What is happening is that the residents found that the local government was responsive to the needs of the residents and acted upon their input. Since the residents pay the taxes that run the local government, then they should have a fair amount of say in how things are done.
You know where I’m going with this. Since your customers are the ones that literally pay your salary and operating costs, they should have a fair amount of input as to what you should consider doing when operating your business.
I’ll bet that the municipality will from time to time grumble about the workload, but once these suggestions or complaints are handled one by one, I’ll venture that they will have a much more highly engaged group of citizens that will stand behind them. Even through some of the tougher decisions as well.
The same holds true for your business. Customer engagement breeds higher customer satisfaction and retention levels by the responsiveness you show them.