Understanding the Clients Needs

I consider myself very fortunate to live in America and have so many choices.  For example, I can get milk from probably 15 different places within a mile from my house.  I can go to a variety of grocery stores, a variety of convenience stores, a variety of drug stores, and a variety of Mega stores that sell groceries, clothes, hardware, etc..  The pricing differs from store to store, but my buying decision is not always based upon price.  I tend to make my buying decision based upon my need at the time.  We find this scenario often in our everyday activities.  There are many different factors that influence my buying choice daily?  Location, convenience, price, how quickly I need the the product, do I need other items at the same time, what was my experience with the location I am buying from?  

Much is the same when we buy any item.  If we can understand the clients needs, then we can more effectively cater to the client and positively impact their buying experience.  This is something I have always been particularly interested in.  Throughout my career our company has sent out customer surveys that give us feedback regarding our clients and non-clients buying experiences.  We have gained a tremendous amount of information related to this feedback.  From this information we have been able to positively influence our customers buying experiences.

Over the years when we have trained our staff, we have tried to teach those members of our staff that interface with our customers a methodology that has positively impacted their buying experience.  We did this by training our staff to ask questions effectively and making sure that we understood what the client was trying to accomplish.  Often times there has been information we discover that has lead us to a better, more cost effective way for the client to accomplish their goal. 

We have all experienced great customer service, and we have all been the victims of poor customer service.  Once you have experienced great customer service, it is no great surprise that your loyalty to the service provider goes up dramatically.  When you have experienced poor customer service, there is no rush to frequent the service provider again.  As a matter of fact, there is often a resistance to return to the service provider.  Our experiences influence our perceptions, and our perceptions contribute to our decision making.  If we can positively impact our clients perceptions, it is likely we will receive more repeat business.  If the client receives exceptional service, then it is also likely our clients will be our ambassadors.  Shouldn't this be the goal of any service provider?