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Six Questions About Your Customer Intelligence

December 31, 2007

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By Chuck Wallin

What do we mean by intelligence?

The opposite of intelligence is stupidity and another word for stupid is ignorant and another word for ignorant is uninformed.

Therefore, the opposite of intelligence is the condition of being uninformed.

Does your business, or any business, truly know what forces drive its profits or losses?

1) Do you collect and value information?

    The use of information to make smaller but continuous improvements may be the competitive edge for the near future. The result will be better and more responsive products that meet customers changing needs.

  • Do you know when customer behavior is changing?

  • Are you sure?

2) Are customers happy with your company?

    A good customer experience will be told to one potential customer a bad experience will be told to 10. This old axiom still holds true and may be happening behind the scenes in many markets.

  • Would most customers recommend your business?

  • Would the results of a customer satisfaction survey surprise you?

3) Do you know who your best customers are?

    If a customer called with a question, could you quickly tell if they are one of your best customers or just a “tire kicker” looking for free information? Knowing when to go the extra mile for a best customer goes a long way in customer relations.

  • Who are your most profitable customers?

4) What customers are buying which products?

    Do you know what features of a product customers find particularly useful? Organizations should know why their products sell. What need is really being satisfied? Are there any changes in your customer’s business environment or the way your product is used?

  • What do customers like most about your products?

5) Are you using what you know about your best customers to find more just like them?

    With every customer with a certain need, there are ten others out there with similar needs. If you know what makes customers buy, you can leverage that knowledge and target new customers in that market segment.

  • What does your ideal customer profile look like?

6) Do your employees know your customers better than you do?

    The day-to-day operation of a business often takes owners or executives far from the customer’s perspective. Customer facing employees are the ones that have their fingers on the pulse of the business. If you talk with employees about customer needs, you can see if you are out of touch.

  • Have customer needs changed from last year?

  • Five years ago?
  • Do you know why?

About the author

Chuck Wallin is a 20 year IT and business consultant with an MBA. He has done work with such companies as Barnes and Noble, CHASE, Arrow Electronics, and First Data Merchant Services. His web site http://www.thecustomerconcern.com deals with issues of Customer Relationship Management.

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Written by CRM Help Desk · Filed Under CRM Planning & Implemenation 

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