Don’t underestimate the power of “John Smith”

With all the technology at our fingertips, we tend to forget the most powerful tool of them all – real people. We leverage automation, analytics, and surveys to give us insight into what our customers are needing, doing or experiencing. But, in the end, your customer has a name, they are an individual and that individual should know your name too.

The other day, I spoke with people at two companies who were using the same product in a similar way and for about the same amount of time. But, one was delighted and one was not. Why? When I peeled back all of the reasons for being dissatisfied, there was one glaring thing missing from the unhappy customer. They did not know any individual other than their sales person at the company they were buying from. They would say “We tried working with the company on the issue, but it did not get resolved quickly”. They did not have a relationship with “John Smith”. The Delighted customer rarely used the company name. Almost every other word from their mouth was “John”. They felt connected, supported and important to the company.

Ask your customers who they work with personally at your company. If they can’t give you a name other than their sales person, introduce them to someone!