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Continuous
Customer Consultation is Critical.
Joe
Bloggs Ltd designs, manufactures and distributes a range
of DIY products. One of Bloggs' key sales techniques
is the use of special display units that are supplied
to retail stores, where they are prominently positioned
to exhibit the product. These units are large, expensive,
occupy valuable space in stores but are still too small
to display Blogg's full product range.
To
overcome these problems, Bloggs developed a 'virtual
showroom' that could electronically display the company's
entire product range in each retail outlet.
It
seemed like a win-win deal. The retailers could save
space and Bloggs Ltd could display all its products.
But when the project team visited retailers to demonstrate
the prototype virtual showroom, they had an uneasy feeling
that the customers were unhappy and might not accept
the new system.
This was frustrating as Bloggs had worked closely with
its customers throughout the design, testing and implementation
stages. It had also been careful to listen to its customers'
needs and adapt the design to meet those needs. Despite
this, the customers were still unhappy. Were they just
too conservative to change? Would the project ever succeed?
Fortunately,
the Bloggs' team was persistent and had a good relationship
with their customers. They decided to find out why the
retailers seemed unhappy and found two explanations:
-
Customers were uncomfortable that the prototype
system displayed the Joe Bloggs' logo on the front
screen.
- Customer
staff were also afraid that they would not be able
to handle the system. Not wanting to look foolish
they had kept quiet about these fears but not about
their resistance to the new system.
On
the suggestion of a customer, Bloggs customised the
virtual show room to display the logo of the retail
outlet. It also decided to provide extensive training
on operating the new system. The virtual showrooms have
now achieved widespread acceptance. The
moral of the story is:
-
The task of consulting your customers and working
to ensure their cooperation is a never-ending one.
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You may have to dig deep to find the real answers.
-
Always consider whether customers will need training
and support to use your new IT systems.
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