Every one of us has customers. If you own a business, your customers are pretty clear. If you work in a business, you have two levels of customer… the person who buys your business’s product or service and the person who gives you your paycheck. Even non-profit organizations fit into this second category. (Some service providers call their customers “clients” but they are the same thing.)

And if you work for a governmental entity? Substitute constituent for customer in this discussion.

Most of the time, we need to think like ourselves to get our job done. Business owners have a thousand things to think about to run their business. Suppliers, pricing, making sure the business runs smoothly, getting customers/clients, are we making a profit?, what’s the latest snag?, hiring, managing, and on and on.

Managers have their own area to look after and to keep running well. That area is usually only one portion of what the business owner would be worrying about.

Employees have their own job to do and to make sure that it is done right, and fits in with the work that other employees perform.

But, sometimes, you need to think about your customers. More importantly, you need to think LIKE your customers. Customers have a very different way of thinking about your product or services than you do.

For instance, most business owners I know think a 10 percent discount to the customer is a big incentive. It feels huge. Most customers I know don’t think a discount is significant until it approaches 30 percent or more. If you are thinking like a business owner and offering 10 percent off in order to bring in those customers, you may be surprised when customers don’t share your enthusiasm.

I see ads all the time that are crafted from the business point of view, instead of the customer’s point of view. They trumpet features of the product or service instead of the benefits or end-result the customer will get from using the product or service.

(Yes, there is 10% of the population who want the specs and the features and consider the benefits as “fluff”. These are the people who already understand what the benefits are. They are “pre-sold” and simply are looking for the best fit for them… so they can spend their money on it. If that is what they want, give it to them… but don’t target them — accommodate them.)

Customers also have a different view of customer service than the employees or owner of an organization. The customer doesn’t care about all those other people who buy from you. In his world, he is the the only customer you have.

It doesn’t matter if you have successfully “served billions”… if you mess up the service to him. He doesn’t care if you have thousands of other items in stock… if you don’t have the one he wants. You may have a sterling reputation with thousands of customers, but if this customer feels that you didn’t operate with complete integrity and honor… your reputation is shot (for this customer, at least.)

So, periodically, take a look at what you are doing… from the customer’s point of view. If you were a customer of your company, would you be happy? Would you do business with you? Would you even be attracted to the company in the first place?

Here’s a mnemonic to help: remember WIIFM — What’s In It For Me? When you think like the customer, you can easily answer that in your marketing, in your customer service, in all your interactions that result in contact with the customer.

And if you are thinking like your customer, you will be making sure that your job, your department, your business are all aiming at giving the customer value… even when the customer isn’t aware of all the things behind the scenes.

What kind of places have you been that didn’t meet your expectations as a customer? What could they have done differently? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section.

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