Thoughts, ideas, and lessons learned from real-world customer engagements and interactions...
Apple aligns itself with the Customer Pulse
4 May 2011 | No Comments | posted by admin | in Customer Alignment
There should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that Apple is a leader within the computing industry. As a company, they are consistently recognized for not just understanding…but actually anticipating customer needs, wants, and trends. On the surface it may seem like the company is made up of designers who have extraordinary talents to predict and ultimately design what customers need and want. Not to take anything away from their team of designers, the reality is that Apple has invested significant amounts of time, money, and effort to ensure that they are aligned and in-tune with the customers who consistently line up to spend money for their products.
The Apple Customer Pulse is yet another example of how they view customer alignment as a key ingredient within their overall formula for success, and not just an activity to have customers tell them if they are happy or not. The Customer Pulse program is by invitation only to select customers, and involves soliciting input from these key customers up to two times per month.
The other interesting lesson that can be learned from Apple and this new program is that it is OK to be selective with the types of customers that you solicit for feedback. Not only would it be a huge undertaking to solicit, process, and analyze feedback from every single customer, a more selective strategy allows you to focus on the types of customers that you would ultimately like to replicate. The best way to find more of your “ideal” customers is to engage and collaborate with your current “ideal” customers.
If it is not measured, it cannot be managed!
26 Apr 2011 | No Comments | posted by admin | in Customer Alignment, Customers
One of the key things that we tell our clients is that unless their customers measure it…it does not matter. Particularly, when trying to understand and articulate the value of their products and services.
When it comes to being aligned with your customers, it is important to make sure that you are measuring success with the metrics that tell you the real story. Depending upon which stage you are at within your process, combined with the customer alignment goals that you have set out for yourself, there are many different metrics that can be used. The following are just a few samples of metrics that key departments can be monitoring to measure how well you are aligned with your customers:
