Customer Experience

In a somewhat perverted psychologically twisted sort of way there are times when I welcome economic downturns such as we are currently experiencing.

I know, I know, that is neither a woke or politically correct viewpoint. However, we do need to acknowledge that downturns and  hardships  (even if it means fewer smashed avo breakfasts) do have a positive effect. One of the most relevant being a wake up call to many as to how the economy  in the real world works. That money is not free, hard work and application are virtues, and that you cannot waste other people’s money forever without repercussions.
 
Over the years we have seen economic downturns weed out many organisations that are poorly managed. Unfortunately in the public sector that doesn’t happen regularly enough to government operations – or even NGOs reliant on public funding. They just cry poor and extend their collective hands for more funding. Very often they are collectively blind to the reality that money does not fix problems. Better governance and management however can.
 
Over the past couple of months in our sector of operations we have had more approaches looking for business than in all the years since the GFC. It is a sign that activity in many sectors is slowing down – if not drying up altogether. But it is also a reminder about the need for nurturing customer relationships – even in the times when there is low hanging fruit which takes no effort to harvest. Ramping up marketing just because sales are slow is pointless if the customer has been treated poorly when times were better.
 
A random conversation at a recent event with a gentleman who specialised in teaching organisations about  “customer experience” set us thinking about the massive gap that exists between those organisations who understand that customers have no obligation to favour them with their business – and those who have a misguided belief that customers will keep coming back no matter how badly they are treated.

The experience that customers either enjoy or endure is a significant element in determining who they deal with.

And that is a lesson that many (including many who have joined the workforce post GFC) still have to learn.