IS YOUR PROCESS SOMEONE’S PAIN?

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#NoBullshitCX #20yearsFuturelab

“Ask your customers.”

Customer innovation geeks (me included) like to tell “rags to riches” stories about how companies reinvented themselves based on a brilliant insight or a truly creative approach. But I would still argue that the biggest customer impact can be made by changing something mundane and familiar, often barely visible on the outside.

That little something is often a process that is so “business as usual” ,nobody asks why it is done this way or whether it’s ok. A client of ours, a testing device manufacturer, had a service contract that promised replacement of broken equipment within the next 3 business days. As these were the standard terms, nobody questioned the 3 days period. But the customers were hurting. Not having working test equipment meant a full stop on production and wasted supplies. Even worse, 3 days in the end of the week meant 5 days of lost production and potentially damaged equipment. Complaints were processed, but as there was nothing illegal, no change happened. It was not until we launched their first Voice of the customer project that they learned how much pain their seemingly good service caused. Changing this standard contract clause did not lead to sensational marketing material, but it definitely prevented one or two customer disasters.

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