Why Marketers Should Stop Being Afraid of Customers

Dave just got stuck with organizing the holiday lunch for clients. Dave says he is not happy about that. He says he has plenty to do already this quarter; besides, this means he’ll have to hang around for the whole event instead of slipping quietly out after his first drink for an afternoon of shopping.

Here is what Dave isn’t saying: he’s terrified of customers. More precisely, he’s terrified of the whiny ones, the needy ones, the angry ones, the clingy ones. I think a lot of marketers, especially in B2B are a little afraid to talk to customers. Here is why Dave should not be afraid, and why you shouldn’t be either.

First, if you’re inviting customers to a social event, chances are most of the people who are coming are too senior to know about the minor irritations your product causes. Keep in mind the distance between decision maker and user.

Second, you should trust that your sales and service people are usually smart enough not to invite the really pissy customers because they will kind of spoil the whole event, now won’t they? Besides, if there is a customer on the invitation list who is a little bit scary, your sales and service folks should know enough to flag them as an at-risk account and sic one of your Corporate Overlords on them.

Now here is why you and Dave should not only not be afraid of meeting customers, but should jump at the opportunity. Whether it’s at a nice event or just in the course of things, meeting customers is like free market research, except you don’t have to bother with any pesky questionnaires or terrible focus group food.

Chatting with customers is a terrific way to validate whether you actually know what they want or you’ve been making it up. Here are some other things you can learn by hanging about with customers.

• Eavesdrop on customers talking to one another and learn more about the language they use to describe their problems and your solutions
• Ask why they bought your product to begin with
• You can find out what is on their wish list for your product without having to explain a year later why it didn’t make the next release – it’s a party for goodness sake
• Ask for recommendations for events, blogs and online communities they use within their industry or space to hang out with other people who might be your customers one day. Write those down and make sure you go there
• Do a little probing to see if you can work out their giant existential threat. Every company has one
• Get your hands on the guest list. Are there some key customers you’d like to speak to? Go ahead and prepare a few questions for each of your key customers, so you aren’t stuck with awkward small talk about the traffic
• Sales squirrels love to make introductions, so be sure you let them know who you want to meet and ask for a bit of background
• Spend a few minutes with Mr. Google and read up on the big news and trends in your customers’ industries. Make up a few softball questions that will let them look smart while you learn a few things.
• If you have some specific people you want to corner at an event, do a bit of research on their company and work out a question or two that might help you understand broader trends. The worst that happens is you look like you want to be at the party instead of at the mall.

I know this is all to do with a carefully managed event, and that horrifying unmanaged customer encounters are more likely to happen on airplanes, at dinner parties, or even trade shows. Sometimes all it takes is a misdirected call and you have your hands full of Porcupine quills.

I’m not sure that’s a bad thing either. It’s intensely uncomfortable, it’s inconvenient and it sucks up time but marketers who stay on the sidelines studying customers like they’re an ant farm, miss all the qualitative goodies about how to differentiate, how to price, how to help and how to anticipate the next opportunity.

Go to the party.

Related Posts
The Care and Feeding of Ideal Customers
Your Customers are Way More Efficient than You Are

BizMarketer is written by Elizabeth Williams
I help companies have better conversations
Drop me a line at ewilliams@candlerchase.com
Or follow me @bizmkter