Have you ever wondered what your residents really need and want? Is it a well-designed apartment offered at a fair price? Yes, but this only begins to scratch the surface.
Do you remember the day when you leased your first apartment? I do. I was living in Plantation, Florida, and decided it was time to spread my wings and move out of my parent’s house. I was too broke to afford an apartment on my own, so my best friend agreed to split the rent with me. While price, size, and location were important “want” factors, there was more to the story.
1. We both needed to feel safe. Yes, I know that this is a bad word in our industry but that is exactly what we needed. The fact that this particular community was gated was a huge positive for us.
2. We needed to be cared for. We were still young kids and we needed a management and maintenance team that we could count on. People that would be there when we needed them and hold us accountable to our actions if necessary. This is exactly what we got!
3. We needed a good experience. At the time, my friend worked in the food service industry and I worked in retail. Great service was something that we provided our customers and we expected it from our landlord, too. Anything less would have been extremely disappointing. They did not disappoint us.
4. We needed to feel like we were home. The community and apartment we were going to live in needed to feel like home. It did.
Drill and Hole Philosophy
A customer doesn’t buy a ¼ inch drill because they need a ¼ inch drill. What they really need is a ¼ inch hole. My friend and I didn’t want to lease an apartment because we needed an apartment. What we needed were all of those other things I listed above—the apartment was just the shell.
When you understand what your customers need and want, your purpose—the reason your company/community exists—should become clear.
THREE THINGS TO CONSIDER
1. The Problem Zone
Successful companies like Starbucks and Walt Disney have laid out their reason for doing business—for existing—in a clear and simple mission statement. More often than not, mission statements tend to be an ornament on an office wall rather than a guide to doing business—not the case with these two companies. They know why they exist and so do their employees. They are mission-driven organizations that just happen to deliver remarkable service along with a remarkable product. It must be working because their customers are fiercely loyal.
What makes these two companies even more special is that they didn’t set out to create the best cup of coffee in the world or build the best amusement park in the world. Instead, Starbucks and Walt Disney looked inside the customer’s “problem zone” and built their entire business around giving them what they needed and wanted.
Is your company mission statement more than an ornament on a wall? Is it built around your customer’s problem zone?
2. Listen to Their Voice
Social media has amplified the customer’s voice. When you deliver a great experience you’ll know it, and when you don’t you’ll know it too. Apartment ratings and review sites like Renter's Voice or Apartment Ratings.com are providing a platform for the renter's voice to be heard--the good, bad, and ugly. At its core, the Drill and Hole Philosophy is about digging below the surface, listening to the customer, responding to their needs and wants—not yours.These type of review sites can help you on your customer loyalty journey.
Starbucks has a reputation for listening carefully to their customers. A year ago a customer requested the ability to purchase replacement lids for their cups. Here is what transpired via www.mystarbucksidea.com, a channel that allows customers to share, vote, discuss and see new ideas come to life.
New Replacement Lid at the Online Starbucks Store by Request
October 3, 2011
As it turns out, Starbucks listens carefully to their customers. Customers have requested another new replacement part, which is now available at StarbucksStore.com.
This new Top Hat Lid is easy to twist and seal to prevent coffee from spilling. The lid will fit both new and old models of the Double Wall Ceramic Tumbler, as well as the Jonathan Adler Red Ceramic Tumbler from last Christmas. The lid will also fit the VIA tumbler with sleeve.
If you’re interested in purchasing, you can do so here on StarbucksStore.com for only $3.95.
This idea came from a My Starbucks Idea user who thought it would be beneficial to sell replacement lids for all old and new tumblers through the Starbucks website. This is a way for Starbucks to be more socially responsible and to also enable customers to continue to reuse their favorite tumblers with replacements for lids that could have cracked or broken over time. Just another way to keep these tumblers out of the landfills and full of delicious Starbucks coffee.
Another user asked for replacement lids online because their custom lids often broke or were lost. And as soon as that happened, the tumbler was completely unusable.
Now you can find a solution to your lid problems at the Starbucks store online!
Listening to the customer’s voice can sometimes be a painful experience—it is often unfiltered and raw. But if you can take the pain and put aside your personal feelings the payoff can be very high. Top-performing companies create processes that seek direct, immediate customer feedback—not simply to ensure that things are going well but also to build in methods of improvement.
3. Do it Again and Again
It takes well hired, well trained and well treated employees to consistently deliver a great customer experience. Top performing companies in the customer experience realm deliver it through systems, infrastructure, policies, and on the frontline with customers every day. They understand that each customer touch point must send a consistent message again and again. The power of communication and collaboration in a company cannot be underestimated.
At the end of the day, a poor experience is not excused because Department A, B and C misinterpreted the mission or chose to make up their own. Everyone must know why the company exists and every move they make should branch off from that mission. When you get it right you’ll know it, and when you don’t you’ll know it too.
My friend and I loved living at the apartment community we chose. We lived there for 2 years until it was sold and another management team moved in. Unfortunately, they didn’t understand the Drill and Hole Philosophy, so we left and found another community that did.
Get to the Core: The Disney Experience
[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIeHi2pXgSU 433x300]
Do you know what your residents want and need? I would love to hear your thoughts!