Meet Them Where They Are, Then Move Them Where You Want Them to Go

Customers aren’t going to take the time to tell you what they like.

At
least, not directly.

The
problem with focus groups, feedback forms, customer satisfaction surveys,
digital suggestion boxes and online questionnaires – besides the fact that
they’re tedious and inane and most people only participate out of guilt or
bribery – is that the data isn’t organic.

People
tend to act better when they know they’re being watched, so when answering
questions about their experience, most will just give you fives across the
board, take their free cookie and get on with their lives.

But if
the goal is to deliver more personalized service, you have to reverse the
interaction.

Instead
of artificially squeezing customers into your marketing plan, you have
to join them first, participate in their world and celebrate how you fit into
their lives.

Not the other way around.

You meet them where they are, then move them where we want
to go.

Pinterest
is the ultimate example. Through the process of social sharing, sensational
imagery, joyful discovery and indulgence curation, aka, pinning stuff they like, customers are telling companies everything
they need to know.

And that’s the greatest advantage of social media. The
ability to listen to your customers in their natural habitat.

Pinterest
might be housewife porn, but it’s also the wish list of the web. And it’s certainly
cheaper and more effective than asking customers to fill out some stupid online
survey for the chance to win a free cruise.