Early in the NZ lockdown for Corona19 feedback from sales and marketing colleagues was that few senior managers among their clients were getting on the phone and finding out how the lockdown was affecting their customers.
Fast forward 6-8 weeks and I was surprised to hear that still, many senior, strategic managers in businesses across the spectrum are still not finding out, in person, how 6-8 weeks of Covid19 has impacted their customers.
There are three reasons why this has to be the number one activity for all decision-makers in your business:
- We just can't help seeing the world through the lens of our own product or service. So have to keep checking in with customers on the relevance of our offer, especially in times of sustained rapid change.
- The market is moving around your customer so even if your business has not yet made any major changes, your position relative to your customer's needs is changing and you need to identify how this is impaction your relationship.
- Your business is trying to make rapid decisions and needs real-time insights from the marketplace. The best place for live market information is direct from your customers.
You have to keep connecting with customers, how else can you find out how they are going?
Article courtesy of Campbell Naish
