‘UNDERCOVER FOCUS GROUPS’ - AN OPPORTUNITY IN 2024?

During the last few weeks of 2023, I wrote about optimism  and some things we can do to have a more positive perspective. In that same vein, I’m kicking off 2024 with a prediction for a more positive relationship between businesses and their customers this year. 

I can’t take the credit for this, though. Many of my LinkedIn friends were talking about the need for this change throughout the last half of 2023. But, although I agreed with them, I hadn’t addressed this as a topic until now. However, it has been on my mind because it is one of the top factors in any organization’s success. 

It all begins with the leaders. 

Yup, the buck stops here. Sorry, leaders, this isn’t meant to be another ‘to do’ on your already overloaded schedule. By the end of this article, I think you’ll be in agreement with me that this is something that could transform our businesses.

Having said that, when it comes to customer, and user experience, leaders shouldn’t try to figure out how to improve on their own. We need additional input if we want to create customer experiences that lead to repeat business and customer loyalty. To get this input, we need to tap into our ‘undercover focus groups’. ‘What undercover focus groups? We don’t have any focus groups.’ you may say. 

My answer is, “Oh, but you do… and they’re ready, willing and able to give you input that no agency focus group can possibly provide.”

Undercover Focus Group 1: External Customers

Our customers are why we’re in business, right? If we provide them with what they want and need - which are sometimes different things - then they will buy from us. Not just once, but repeatedly. And, they’ll refer others to us. So why wouldn’t we get their input to help us design, create and deliver products and services that they value and are happy to invest in?

So, how do we get their input? 

Easy. We ask.

Here are a few simple ways to do this that your competitors most likely aren’t doing:

• Take the time to educate the customer as to how to use what you sell to solve their problem. No one buys when they’re not sure they understand how to use something, or if it really is a solution. Make it easy for them to see the benefits.
• After each sale, make a courtesy phone call to the customer and ask them about their experience before, during and after the sale. Ask them about their experience using your product or service. Ask them if they have ideas about what would make their experience even better.
• If for some reason, the customer is not happy with something, and it’s something we can fix, we should do so. Handling the complaint with empathy and the desire to make things right can totally reverse the customer’s negative opinion of us. Their complaint is valuable feedback as it brings issues to our attention allowing us to find solutions. Issues that might have been costing us sales and damaging our reputation without us even realizing it.
• Follow up with customers regularly to keep our finger on the pulse of customer perceptions and loyalty.
• Create an advisory board comprised of specific customers - we’ll talk about this in another article.

Undercover Focus Group 2 - Internal Customers (Employees) It’s hard to say which of the two focus groups is the highest priority. I’d have to say I think they’re equally important.  Our employees are the ones who deal with our customers throughout the entire process. They ensure the customer is well looked after. They’re responsible for product and service quality. They can alert us to issues with our internal processes. They can often provide suggestions as to how to improve in every area of our operations.

Front-line staff are a valuable, but often overlooked source of insights and competitive intelligence. They hear firsthand what customers are saying and thinking.  

By tapping into this ‘undercover focus group’s’ knowledge, experience and insights, we can discover things that could not only lead to more sales and more revenue, but also put us way ahead of our competitors.

To tap into this, we have to be open to both positive and negative feedback. Creating psychological safety is a must. For team members to feel safe voicing their thoughts to leadership, they need to know they will be thoughtfully and respectfully received.  Without recrimination or reprisal. When this is the case, we uncap a mine of valuable information. There are many ways to elicit the information we need from our team members. However, we don’t have the space to cover this in detail here, but I will talk more about this in a subsequent article. 

 The most important reason to tap into our ‘undercover focus groups’:

As our world becomes increasingly digital, technologically advanced and competitive, our organizations and leaders need to be human-centric in order to thrive. 

Technology provides so many benefits. Allowing us to work smarter, more efficiently and more productively than ever before.  It’s wise to remember that technology should always support people.  People crave human connection. It’s hard-wired into us. Which is something that we’ve kept front and center in the development of Optevo. 

By being intentionally human-centric, we create a special dynamic that distinguishes us from competitors, is welcomed by our team members, and appeals to our customers. This dynamic is fueled by relationships built on trust, loyalty, and integrity.  

I predict that taking advantage of our ‘undercover focus groups’ is going to be a key competitive advantage in 2024 and beyond.

What do you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

#HumanCentric #Leadership