Customer – understand-culture

Consultare

To consult means to seek advice, to refer to, to take into account, to consider, as one would consult an attorney or a physician. To consult also means to exchange views, to confer. As with service, consult has its roots in Latin: consultare, meaning to deliberate, counsel, consult or take counsel.

And consult means to advise, to recommend, to suggest, to provide an opinion about what could or should be done in a certain situation or in response to a certain problem. The consultant, therefore, is the expert applying her knowledge and expertise to improve the situation of a customer.

But essential to consulting a client is understanding his needs, his situation. This is done by first consulting with, meaning listening to that customer.

Advise: To give (someone) a recommendation about what should be done; to give information or notice to; to give a recommendation about what should be done; to talk with someone in order to decide what should be done.

Confer: To compare views or take counsel; to bestow from (or as if from) a position of superiority; to give as a property or characteristic to someone or something. From Latin conferre to bring together.

Counsel: Advice given especially as a result of consultation; a policy or plan of action or behavior. Middle English conseil, from Anglo-French cunseil, from Latin consilium, from consulere to consult.

Recommend: To present as worthy of acceptance or trial; to endorse as fit, worthy, or competent; to make acceptable. From Latin recommendare, from Latin re- + commendare to commend.

Suggest: To seek to influence; to call forth, evoke; to mention or imply as a possibility; to propose as desirable or fitting; to offer for consideration or as a hypothesis; to call to mind by thought or association; to serve as a motive or inspiration for. From Latin suggestus, past participle of suggerere to pile up, furnish, suggest, from sub- + gerere to carry.

Apply: To put to use especially for some practical purpose; to bring into action; to put into operation or effect; to employ diligently or with close attention; to have relevance or a valid connection; to make an appeal or request especially in the form of a written application. From Latin applicare, from ad- + plicare to fold.

Serve the Customer

In many cultures, hospitality – the relationship between a guest and a host – is of great importance. Being considered an inhospitable host is dishonorable to the guest and the local community alike. This idea is similar to the concept of serving a customer in the personal, respectful way that most Americans consumers expect. One example of the importance of this concept is found in the vision of Hilton Hotels: “To fill the earth with the light and warmth of hospitality.”

This idea is not constrained to hotels, however. The president of outdoor supplier L.L.Bean, Chris McCormick, described customer service as a key part of the company’s success: “Superior customer service has always been and always will be the cornerstone of our brand and heritage and an attribute that differentiates us from the rest of the pack. It goes back to L.L.’s Golden Rule of treating customers like human beings.”

In American English, the above quote can be succinctly summarized as: “the customer is always right.” This is a very common phrase that most consumers and businesses treat as an underlying truth in all interactions with customers. Even if the customer is actually wrong, it is up to the service provider to treat the customer with respect, understand his point of view, and offer a solution. Anything short of these expectations will be viewed as bad service.

As one senior consultant at a major American strategy consulting firm put it, “Service is defined completely by the customer.” In the consulting realm and many other industries, customers come with clearly defined needs and expectations. The service provider must understand those expectations and deliver service that is consistent with what the customer expects.

Craig Reid, former President of Operations – Americas at Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts and now CEO at Auberge Resorts, similarly stated that “If customers are buying excellence – and they are the people who define excellence – you’ve constantly got to measure whether they agree with your interpretation of excellence at that particular time. And that definition of excellence evolves constantly.”

Waiters and Waitresses

In American restaurants, waiters and waitresses typically earn well-below minimum wage for their work. Instead, they are supposed to earn their money by providing good service to their customers, who will tip them based on the quality of their service.

For Americans this means that the waiters and waitresses should check in regularly with the customers, ask if they need anything, and fulfill any requests that the customers have – in other words, to act as the customers’ servants.

Americans are willing to behave this way because they expect monetary remuneration for their actions.

The customer is always right

“The customer is always right” is a very common phrase in American business. It was first made popular in the early 20th century when it was used as the slogan for Marshall Field’s Department Store in Chicago and London’s Selfridges Store (founded by American Harry Gordon Selfridge).

Both of these stores became extremely profitable, primarily because they had a reputation for good customer service. As a result, many American businesses have attempted to model their processes on the principle that the customer is always right.

In 1911, in an attempt to promote a local business, the Kansas City Star newspaper included an article about the business owner George E. Scott, saying: “Scott has done in the country what Marshall Field did in Chicago, Wanamaker did in New York and Selfridge in London. In his store he follows the Field rule and assumes that the customer is always right.“

Free Goods

Americans are so worried about losing a customer’s business that if a customer is disgruntled and complains about bad service that they’ve received, it is common for the business to offer the customer free goods or vouchers for future service.

Additionally, many businesses have rewards programs or similar systems that allow customers to earn free goods by using a business’s services a certain number of times.

Many restaurants also offer free food to customers. Urbantastebuds.com lists over 400 American restaurants that offer free food to people on their birthdays. Some of the deals on this website include a free root beer float from A&W All American Food, a free breakfast from Mimi’s Café, and free pancakes from IHOP.

Faster Horses

Henry Ford, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, had a reputation for ignoring customers’ requests. Two of his more famous quotes are:

“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said ‘faster horses’” and “Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants as long as it is black.”

Jeff Bezos 1999

Look at his eyes. Listen to his statements. Total focus. On the needs of the customer. The interviewer is struggling. Because he thinks about Amazon as an internet or tech company. Bezos is very patient with his inability to listen carefully.

Listening to Customers

Many companies implement customer suggestions when those suggestions challenge the company’s core principles. In response to customer suggestions for a less cluttered store, Walmart cut its total inventory by 15% and renovated stores to feel less cluttered. The changes resulted in immediate decreases in sales that totaled $1.85 billion dollars before Walmart reverted to its previous model of a much wider selection of products at low cost.

A leading manufacturer of bathroom fixtures is perhaps the most traditional example of a company that must collaborate with and understand the needs of its customers. It must constantly innovate and improve its products with its current and prospective customers in mind.

To this end, the company says: “To the customer, it can seem like each faucet was made with them in mind. We listen closely to what consumers want and need, invest in extensive research and design, and apply smart technological solutions that really do make our customers’ lives easier.” In other words, the how of their innovation process is largely defined by their customers.

In a major US-based international construction company, each of its projects is unique and requires a high degree of collaboration and dialogue with the customer. According to the company’s website, “We work with our clients as a team. Mutual respect provides the foundation for our success.”

Customers expect companies to listen to their input about how a project should look or be completed and create a plan in line with those expectations. The construction company’s website summarizes this idea by emphasizing the importance of finding solutions to their customers’ demands: “We are proactive in finding solutions for our clients that best achieve their goals.“

“Not the consumer’s job“

Harvard Business Review. October 31, 2001. Tom Davenport, Business Professor at Babson College: Was Steve Jobs a Good Decision Maker?

„He (Jobs) also didn’t believe in analytical decisions based on extensive market research.“ Quoting The New York Times’ obituary: „Mr. Jobs’s own research and intuition, not focus groups, were his guide. When asked what market research went into the iPad, Mr. Jobs replied: ‘None. It’s not the consumers’ job to know what they want.’”

Steve Jobs was not of German descent. It was known, however, that he had great respect for German design and technology. He and his family, it was reported, had debated for weeks what brand of washing machine they should choose. His arguments won out. Miele.

Collaboration

Collaboration in the American business context is defined first und foremostly by the customer. They not only define what they want, but also to a significant extent how they want it. Examples