Can you think like a customer? [BT broadband office]

Can you think like a customer?

Posted 6 February 2008 at 8:12AM by Ian Betteridge in Doing business online

According to the Chartered Institute of Marketing, businesses need to think like customers when creating their marketing campaigns - especially in the case of direct marketing.

By this, of course, they mean that you need to put yourself in the shoes of the customer when they get communications from you. Take a long look at the material you're sending out - and ask yourself if you'd bother to open it, let alone take any action on it.

However, this idea that you should think like customers can only go so far. After all, a company creating products for teenage girls might have a distinctly interesting office atmosphere if everyone thought like their customers. And a company whose customers were all golfers might never find themselves in the office.

So think like your customers - but keep it within limits.

Tags: bt, bt broadbandoffice, direct marketing, marketing

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Comments

1. At February 6, 2008 12:42 PM, Mike Nelson wrote:

Regardless of our positions in society, wither it is a CEO of a multi billion pound company, or a street cleaner cleaning the street's we are all customers of something, wither it is SkyTV, Broadband, Mobile Phone, Drinking Starbucks or even Eating MCDonalds, we are all customers of some thing.

I think the main point / lesson of this blog should be, "Treat others like how YOU want to be treated."

2. At February 7, 2008 9:58 AM, Ian Betteridge wrote:

Very good summary Mike - and a lesson that people quite often forget when doing marketing!

3. At February 7, 2008 12:15 PM, Mike Nelson wrote:

Thanks Ian, as working in the customer support market, I can understand the troubles, frustrations and annoyance of customers. I can see how things have gone wrong and how long it has taken to resolve them.

If something goes wrong with anything I got, because I have dealt with many cases like that, I know how to deal with the situation and people in them.

4. At February 12, 2008 3:03 PM, Michael Goodchild wrote:

I agree - How can we market to people that we can't learn to think like. I think we need to go further and understand why our customers think a certain way. To understand the emotions behind the actions. Sorry if its a little deep.

BT broadband office