In conversation with some business leaders, I ran the famous “three questions” from Peter Drucker by them. The three questions:
#1 – What is your business?
#2 – Who is your customer?
#3 – What does your customer consider value?
They had a pretty easy time answering questions #1 & #2. But regarding question #3, they were not as confident in their answers.
So, with that at the top of my mind, I read this article about The Gap’s resurgence. (Disclosure – I don’t think I have been in a Gap store in at least 20 years. In fact, I’m not sure I have ever been in a Gap store). The Business Insider article, What It’s Like To Work At Gap During A Massive Turnaround, includes this insight:
We chatted with Gap’s director of global digital and social media Rachel Tipograph about what it’s like behind-the-scenes during such an epic turnaround.
There has been a major shift in the company’s culture in the past year, Tipograph says.
“Everyone understands who our customer is, from the marketers to the designers to the store associates,” she says. “Once we all understood that, we could start to help the company.”
Understand who your customer is. Understand what that customer values; what that customer considers value. (And, understand that what one customer considers value is not necessarily what the next customer considers value).
The point really is simple – without customers who are willing to pay money for your product or service, you have no business.
Customer service; customer experience. We really do need to know, and pay a lot! of attention to, our customer(s).
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