Is the foundation of your business strategy based on your assumptions or rather on concepts that have been validated?
Good strategy is at the core of any organization’s success. But running your business on baseless assumptions or half-truths can point you in the wrong strategic direction. Imagine if your assumptions are wrong? What damage can this do to your business and how long could it set you back from achieving your ultimate goals?
Recently, we were referred to a company that began planning their business strategy for the next year. They were lining up sales, marketing and finance teams, but were encouraged by a consultant to engage our firm to gather customer experience feedback before formalizing any plans.
As a result of our efforts, we were able to eliminate the guesswork and debunk three major assumptions that they had.
Assumption #1 – We know our top customers love us…
This company had incredible confidence in the strength of their relationships with their top customers and didn’t necessarily see the need in contacting them. We interviewed two different buyers from their #1 customer. One buyer did, in fact, love them, however, the other buyer was not at all satisfied. Worse yet, this buyer feels that they work against their customers, not for the customer. This is an account valued at over $1 million dollars in annual sales. They cannot afford to have a customer that feels this way- imagine what damage that this buyer can be doing within the account to hurt future sales and the growth potential for them.
Assumption #2 – We know we’re the most expensive …
They told us they are the highest priced in their industry and assumed customers were more concerned about price today than in the past. In fact, 23% of the people we spoke with felt they are priced less than competitors and 5% significantly less. We validated that lifetime value of the product was much more important, meaning they would rather pay more now for quality that will last over time.
Assumption #3 – We know not to waste time on inactive customers…
This organization had several thousand inactive customers- imagine that for a second. They were convinced it would be a waste of time to focus attention here. However, we demonstrated that their inactive customers were even more satisfied than their active customers… they just didn’t have any current projects or jobs to give them. And many were looking for opportunities to work with them again.
If we didn’t ask, this company would have assumed all their top customer relationships were solid, there was no room to increase pricing and there was no growth potential with inactive customers. This insight enabled them, with certainty, to fix specific customer relationships, establish proper pricing strategies and plan for sales and marketing campaigns to engage inactive customers and drive growth strategies.
Consider these Customer Acceleration tips that will help you make more money from your customers and make them happier in the process!
And if you’d like some help with it, please reach out at (216-876-1165) I’m happy to help you get started.
