Nothing Like Direct Customer Interaction

My most memorable moments are those when I meet my customers directly.

Every time I meet a customer face to face, I am convinced about the fact that there are many things to learn about customers which is impossible to gather going through a Forrester Research Report or reading a White Paper on Consumer Behavior from Nielsen. 

When you meet with customers in real flesh and blood, especially in an informal setting, you can straightaway pose a direct question to them and what they think of your latest product or service. Personal interactions over drinks, small chit-chat have always helped me to understand customer expectations better and peep into rare insights into how their mind works. Everything is direct communication and right on your face. You know what they want and where your product/service stand in scale of their expectations. 

In this age of digital technology, you have many tools to track customer online behavior ; digital platforms where you can engage and directly interact with customers online. Virtualization looks like the impending future. Giant like Cisco has already started  products like “Telepresence” that make collaboration between two endpoints more human like. Still, I believe that existing virtual technologies are at a very nascent stage to usurp human interactions on a personal level completely.

Nothing can beat the sheer learning experience you can have on one on one encounter with a customer. It’s also an absolute joy for me. That’s why I never miss any opportunity of direct customer interaction. Face time with customers are really so precious. Because those moments are the real moments of truth when you can feel the beat and pulse of a customer. 

It may sound a tad old fashioned – but it’s my strong conviction that direct customer interaction is the best way for building a healthy customer relationship.