New Year’s Resolution: Get to Know Your Customers
By Julia Curtiss.

In his most recent book, The Ten Faces of Innovation, IDEO general manager Tom Kelly writes, “Individuals and organizations need to constantly gather new sources of information in order to expand their knowledge and grow… no matter how successful a company currently is, no one can afford to be complacent. The world is changing at an accelerated pace, and today’s great idea may be tomorrow’s anachronism.”

So, how about a New Year’s resolution to develop in-depth profiles of your customers — their lifestyles, motivations, and aspirations? Great. Now what? The key to keeping resolutions is having a plan. Here are some guidelines to keep you on track (based on tips from www.myGoals.com).

1. Find out what you don’t know:
   You probably have some kind of statistical customer data. Identify six to eight key topics you wish you knew more about. What mysteries about your customers keep you up at night?
   
2. Get going during the first quarter:
   The New Year’s “fresh slate” momentum fades fast. Before you know it, the second quarter will be here and other projects will take priority. Pull your staff together (be sure to include the people closest to your customers) and get started.
   
3. Make a company-wide commitment:
   Prioritize and write down your key points and share them. Commit your plan to paper and engage the whole team — not just the marketing department. Great customer insights often come from unexpected places. Become a customer-focused organization this year.
   
4. Learn “year round”:
   Think about opportunities during the year when you might be able to observe customers — trade shows, seminars, conferences, etc. You can learn a lot just by watching customers interact with products, staff, and the environment.
   
5. Be flexible and have faith:
   Take an iterative approach to learning about your customers — it’s the way most long-term relationships evolve anyway! You may observe or learn something from talking with a customer that leads you away from your planned topic. That’s okay. Follow the thread. It just may lead you to that breakthrough idea for a new product or service.

Getting to know your customers takes courage. You may hear things you don’t want to hear. The good news is that even small changes to an existing product or service can have a huge impact on the customer experience. The result? Long-term loyalty and word-of-mouth referrals.

At the very least, take some time this year to observe and audit your business through your customers’ eyes. You’ll be taking the first step toward getting to know your customers!

Julia Curtiss is a freelance research and branding expert who uses ethnographic and contextual research to deliver in-depth consumer insights for companies like: Lund Food Holdings, Wells Fargo,  Hennepin County Medical Center, and Edina Realty.

She teaches marketing at AnokaRamsey Community College and is a frequent guest lecturer at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management. Visit her website at www.juliacurtiss.com.

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