Start talking
There are formal and informal ways of facilitating a dialogue with your customers. At HAP, Alvin and his staff strive to interface with customers in multiple venues. He wants the leaders of the companies that HAP serves to be comfortable sharing information over coffee, in a conference room or in a town-hall setting.
“The right way to do it is to have ongoing meetings with your customers during the year, and doing it in a way that meets their needs,” Alvin says. “The most constructive way I’ve found is probably having quarterly meetings with large employers during which we share information about products, utilization of services, and health and wellness initiatives. Other times, it’s just going over to visit an office and talk about new ideas that other companies are trying and having some success with or holding a dinner to make sure that the information continues to flow.
“You try to develop creative ways to exchange ideas with customers, develop rapport and trust among everyone so that we’re all going to be willing to work together constructively.”
The trust factor is critical if you want honest and comprehensive feedback from customers on what they like and dislike about the products and services you provide. You aren’t going to develop a true picture of what is and isn’t working in the marketplace unless you and your leadership team can get the straight scoop from the people who comprise your market.
“You want to create an environment where people are comfortable calling you on the phone, where they feel like they can ask you to come down to their offices, and you feel comfortable calling them,” Alvin says. “That’s why you need to have a variety of vehicles through which you interact with customers. Whether it’s office visits or quarterly meetings, not one or the other is going to be completely successful in its own right. But employing them collectively ensures your ability to stay close to customers, get their feedback and make sure that you’re responding to their needs.”
Alvin adheres to the old business truism, “The customer is always right.” You may or may not always agree with that, but if you want customers to find value in having a professional relationship with you and your company, you need to believe that the customer always deserves your attention.
If you’re not willing to put in the time to build relationships with your customers, not only will you lose business, you’ll lose insight. You need to be willing to put the time in with your customers and take their ideas and suggestions to heart. It doesn’t mean that you implement every nugget of feedback that comes your way, but you at least show your customers that you value their input.
“It’s like anything else in life, whether it’s a family member or people that you work with every day,” Alvin says. “It’s about developing a trustful relationship with your customer, where you can count on one another to work toward serving the best interests of both companies. It sounds fundamental, and in a lot of ways, this is the big key. That relationship creates the foundation for sharing creative ideas with one another, to be able to work through problems. If you have that foundation and relationship, you can work through the problems that inevitably arise in the course of customer relationships. You have to be responsive when a customer has an issue.”