Traction Control

How are customers like racing tires?

It’s funny that you asked that question, since I have been thinking about it lately. Some time back, when I spent a weekend at racing school (see our What’s My Line post), the instructor pointed out a critical fact that most of us ignore.

No matter what type of engine you have, what type of fuel you burn, how many gears are in the transmission or how high your high-performance gets, the only thing that connects you to the road is a few square inches of rubber. No matter what you do inside the car, only the tires can provide the traction that determines whether you win the race. And nothing inside the car can compensate for shortcomings where the rubber meets the road.

The same message applies with customers. No matter what the product is, no matter how good the financial controls are, no matter what the strategic plan envisions, the only thing that connects a company to its goals is the handful of values that provide traction to customer relationships.

Experienced executives recognize the truth of this statement, but the day-to-day churnings of business focus most of our attention in every direction other than the point of customer contact. Too often, the customer is the Missing Guest, the party that should be at the table but isn’t invited.

Here’s a quick test to determine whether your customers are out of the picture:

1. Scan your calendar for the last 10 meetings you’ve had with your staff/team/colleagues. How many of those meetings were focused on ways to match your efforts to customer perceptions of value.
2. Look at the last 10 reports that dropped on your desk. How many of them addressed customer needs, demands, sticking points or value drivers. (If there’s a report on a specific problem with a specific customer, that report doesn’t count. We’re talking here about overall value drivers that define your relationships with the majority of customers.)
3. Consider the past year. Have you conducted an organized, focused assessment of what drives customers to work with you, stay with you and recommend you? (We’re not talking about spot-interviews when a single customer comes or goes. We’re talking about a balance sheet that describes your assets and liabilities with your best customers.) Have you done an assessment in the past two years? Three?
4. Re-read your strategic plan. Where in the plan do you address the issue of value perceptions held by your A-List customers, and where does the plan describe the ways in which you’ll focus your sales/marketing/pricing/compensation/operations to capitalize on those perceptions?
5. Check your calendar for the next two weeks. What’s on the schedule that relates to the buying/pricing/value preferences of your best customers?

There’s no need to provide an answer key for this test. All it takes is a bit of honest reflection to recognize what’s missing. If your customers are the Missing Guests at your conference table, it’s time to adjust your invitation list.

Your race is well under way. Have you checked your tires?