The Customer View

Customer Royalty: To Whom Are You Speaking?

Here is an interesting tidbit, taken from the weekly e-newsletter from eCustomerServiceWorld.com (http://www.ecsw.com/):

STATISTIC OF THE WEEK: CUSTOMER IS KING?

“Customer is King”: 4,440

“Customer is Queen”: 29

Results of a Google search carried out by Stephen Farber.

SOURCE: Quoted by Tom Peters when he was presenting for us recently. Tom uses this figure in a section of his talk that deals with how women have the real power as customers, but that most suppliers are too ignorant to notice.

This is an important observation, as far too often, businesses get caught up in trumpeting worn-out cliches, instead of really thinking about WHAT they are saying, and to WHOM they are saying it.

So, who are your customers, really?  Who are the decision-makers?  Are your marketing, sales, and customer service messages speaking directly to them?

    --- Chuck Dennis

Customer-Created Solutions

Have you seen ClearRX™, the new prescription packaging system from Target? In keeping with it's value proposition, Design for All.  I love products that are simple, have well defined utility, and are all about ME, the customer. It is an excellent example of the intersection of Marketing, Sales and Service.  Why?  Well - for one, it was designed by a person who was trying to solve a real up-close and personal problem. Her grandmother took the wrong prescription bottle out of the medicine chest and took medicine that was not for her. Given that many prescription bottles look alike (small type on label, amber bottle) - this is easy for anyone to do. I've squinted at prescription bottles myself - since I don't always wear my glasses into the loo! 

Here's the smart Marketing part:  Being able to meet and hear the story from the mouth of the creator, Debra Adler, as well as her mentor, Milton Glazer. On the Target website, there is a great Flash presentation of a medicine chest.  Peel off the warning labels on the regular prescription bottle to hear a simple and real description of the problem.  Click on the ClearRX bottle for an explanation of the solution. Click on See What's New for the story. Either way - you get to meet the designer and learn about her thought process about a VERY real customer. 

Here's the smart Sales part:  A easy, clear view of the product, with the 4 key benefits built into the 3-D view of the product.  Seeing is believing.  Smart sales "shows," not "tells."

Here's the smart Service part:  An easy link to switch your prescriptions or order new ones, including a Target Pharmacy finder that you don't have to hunt for. How smart to preempt the customer question: "How do I get my current prescriptions filled with this new system?" 

And finally, there's something else that really interests me.  This system was a grad school project for Debra Adler.  She got an A.  And a manufacturer.  And a retailer.  I love it that Target shares that with us.

    --- Lisa Dennis