Face-to-face interactions are mandatory if you really want to know your customers.

1. GAINING
CUSTOMER
INSIGHT: A VIEW
FROM THE TOP
A V I V A L E E B O W
W O L M E R

2. Face-to-face interactions are mandatory if you
really want to know your customers.
The idea of energy efficient design is to modulate the
conditions such that they are alwaTop executives know that
customers are more than an ID number, or a line item on a
sales report. Customers are the very reason a business exists,
and good customer relationships are how businesses thrive.
As a CEO, I spend a lot of face-to-face time with customers,
and I think it’s something all those at the top of the company
hierarchy should do.

3. Because there’s nothing like a
time with a customer to gain
insight and feedback.
W h y ?
The information gained when you
engage in a good Q&A (emphasis on the
“A” because it’s all about listening!) will
further the relationship with that
customer, and maybe help with other
customers.

4. The first, most obvious, insight you can
only have when you’re visiting a
customer is actually seeing the
customer in their “natural habitat.”

5. People behave differently in their home environment. It’s so important to see how
customers interact with products, and people, naturally and without pressure. As one
example, Proctor & Gamble set up a lab at the Procter & Gamble Mason Business
Center in Ohio. At the oral health science ‘Insight Suite,’ there’s a two-way mirror that
lets company representatives watch customers use products in a bathroom and a
kitchen. It lets a team of researchers see how users really interact with the products
and how they use them.
Whenever I visit customers, I ask for a tour of the plant. This is not always feasible and
it gives me incredible insight. By walking through a customer’s plant I can see how
they are utilizing our product, what their processes look like and I can usually spot
ways if we tweaked something on our end it could make them more efficient. Walking
the plant provides me with better questions to ask to get to know their business and
their opportunities.

6. There are two other times during the relationship with a customer when it’s
crucial to have a conversation, hopefully face-to-face: when they first buy
from you and when they decide to go to another supplier. Asking “why” at
both of these points, without assumption or preconceived notions, yields
exceptionally valuable information. Maybe your digital marketing campaign
is working, and you’ve reached new people. On the other hand, maybe they
are switching companies as the result of a new schedule that just doesn’t fit
their needs.

7. Once you’ve really gotten to know
your customers it’s important to
quantify what matters to them.
After I have a face-to-face
conversation, I always make notes.
When I see a trend, or find
commonalities of needs and wants,
I know it’s time to act.
Remember to use your in-house
data—sales trends, seasonal shifts,
geographic information—to
augment the insights you gain
from face-to-face conversations.
I make it a point to visit a variety
of Pacesetter’s customers each
year. Not only does it give me a
chance to see things from their
point of view, I also truly enjoy
getting to know our wonderful
partners.

8. THANK YOU
A V I V A L E E B O W W O L M E R . C O M