Often corporate officers hire focus groups to analyze their
businesses along with their sales and marketing. While focus groups can give you a different
perspective they can also give you a false read on your business. Consider this
fact, focus groups aren’t customers there are people profiled to give you
information. None of them voted with
their wallet.
The best read is to call your customers directly and don’t
delegate it unless you have someone read a waiver to your customers like “this
call may be recorded” and then listen to every call yourself.
I suggest calling yourself, you’ll ask the right questions
especially when you are on the phone with your customer and you will be able to
steer the conversation into the areas that you are most concerned about. These could include customer service, order
fulfillment, warranty service, promises made versus promises kept, and the
attitude of each person in your company that your customer has come in contact
with and your customers’ overall opinion of your company.
The other over the top idea is to buy from your company just
like a normal customer. You might want
to use your spouse, or significant others credit card so your employees or
outside contractors don’t recognize your name. In the process you will see the
real truth behind what is going on inside your company and it may shock you.
Employees or outside vendors tell you what you want to hear
not necessarily the truth. Often vendors
or employees are clueless to what really goes on as they are often getting
filtered information from others in the food chain.
If you want the truth you have to be willing to dig, if you
are you will probably be stunned when you find out the truth. Never trust
others in business to tell you the truth get your shovel out and dig, you’ll be
glad you did you got your shovel in the dirt.
Once you probe, process and get the true answers make the appropriate
adjustments as soon as possible.
