… How British Businesses throw away money by alienating customers  (Extract from National Consumer Council Report 2008), by Philip Cullum.

The key message from our research is that companies need to do much more to understand what it feels like to be a customer. Indeed, customers themselves are usually only too happy to provide advice and information on how to get things right-so long as they are sure that someone is listening and is ready to act.

Sir Terry Leahy of Tesco says this approach has been key to his own success:

Our leadership team spends a lot of time in the front-line, not stuck in a chateau a long way from the trenches.

We’ve developed many ways of giving customers a voice in the business, from Clubcard database management to market research, focus groups, panels, surveys – but for me the most powerful thing is still listening to customers. The life they lead, the problems they have, and their experience in your stores.

All this information could just gather dust. But it doesn’t, it’s hard wired into the key decision-making committees of the company. The customer gives the leadership of the business the plain and simple truth about the business – it’s the most honest feedback you ever get. In my experience, if you listen really closely they not only tell you what’s wrong – they actually tell you what you need to do (and it’s all free advice). Then what you have to do is believe them – and act on it!

‘It isn’t enough to use the language of the customer. You really have to believe the customer. This is where I think many organisations fall down. Because they only pay lip-service to the consumer, they never really find out where their business is. They never learn where they need to be, and even when they do, they don’t always have the courage to go there.

So there you have it:

This is too important not to do, and not to do well.