We often underestimate our customers’ opinions because we don’t like to admit that we might be wrong, or that we’ve left a certain area of our business unattended. The consequences of this behavior are frequently disastrous, because while correcting a mistake on time is a great victory, doing it too late can translate into losses of millions. And if you don’t think so, tell it to Ford. In the 90’s, several of their 4x4 models were victims of design failures that caused spontaneous combustion. It took the company five years to admit there was a problem with the steering column, and when it did, it found itself in the position of having to assume the costs of the largest vehicle recall in history.
Customers constantly leave us clues as to how much they accept the products and services we put within their reach. Sometimes they use the official routes that we offer them to give us their opinion, and other times they use more informal channels. In every case, a discontent customer’s opinion is a blow to future customers’ confidence.
Companies increasingly have to have the ability to understand the environment in which they work in order to better adapt themselves to their customers. That’s what happened at McDonald’s. The growing interest in health food (as well as in local products) in the majority of western countries has ended up making an impression on the world’s largest hamburger chain. A few months ago, it announced strict measures to face the decrease in its profits.
McDonald’s plan included retreating from three countries, severe re-structuring in four others, the closure of closet o 175 restaurants, and hundreds of lost jobs. For too long, society warned the multinational that consumers’ tastes were changing, but it didn’t know how to react in time. Now it has proposed to improve the quality of its products, including new recipes and products that attract those that ended up rejecting what is now classified as “junk food”.
Other companies such as Addidas and Nike have had to take measures alter being faced with numerous pressure campaigns that in recent years have condemned the labor conditions of their employees in factories located in countries like China or Indonesia. The media and non-governmental organizations have begun to channel citizens’ rejection towards certain practices, which has not gone unnoticed by those companies that understand the importance of listening to what the market says. Because the market is not the sum of thousands of abstract individuals ready to consume; it is a group of people who think, feel, and act.
The customer is talking to us. We only need to know how to listen and, of course, offer the means to facilitate that communication. If the proper channels are in place, the next step is gathering, processing, and analyzing that information. The technology to do this exists, but we must be willing to listen beforehand. It’s not an option: it’s a necessity.