Awesomely Simple: Essential Business Strategies for Turning Ideas Into Action

6.3. Own the Voice of the Customer

Mark Twain once said, "The only critic whose opinion counts is the customer." It does not matter what you, or I, or your employees think is "great customer service." The only people who can make that determination are your customers, and the only way to find out what your customers want is to ask them, listen to them, and do everything you can to own their voice. Through surveys, customer panels, focus groups, help lines, expert users' groups, new users' groups, discussion boards, blogs, special events, trade shows, open houses, visiting customer locations, taking key customers to lunch, and a hundred more ways, it is essential that you spend the time, energy, and money necessary to find out as much as you ...