If you are meeting the needs of clients and/or solving problems for them, you need to identify and deal with the exact point of their need or pain. And, at times, you might need to do this without all the information you need to make an educated and accurate response.
Hence it is really important to be an excellent listener or, at the very least, engage with your customers.
Two businesses this week showed me opposite ends of this spectrum.
On Friday I determined to buy Junior Bell his Christmas present - it was an impulse decision and, as I have the same eye for what's cool for kids as all three blind mice combined, I really needed a professional to help.
The staff at the toy store knew exactly what a seven-year-old wants and, after some excellent questions from the assistant and establishing that the 'toy of the moment' was in stock, the transaction was complete.
But it didn't end there - the value I received increased and was topped off by the suggestion that they could wrap it for Christmas. I was an off-the-street customer and I had never seen any of their marketing and effectively chose them at random ... but now they have a loyal advocate.
The other business has furnished me with a new mobile phone.
The service was a bit disappointing because they neglected to inform me that "synching" my phone would mean any activity would be lost.
So the time spent at the YMCA's excellent open day (recorded in photos) was lost. My boy's delight in having photos taken with Darth Vader and Jango Fett will now diminish significantly when I tell him those photos are lost.
In this case, a small piece of information - back up everything before synching - would save me the angst ahead. And Apple, how about adding a pop up to iTunes?
I suspect two things: That Apple don't read my articles, and that Junior Bell will likely get his present early.
Russell Bell's Zenith Solutions is a specialist Wanganui business advice and consultancy practice - 021 2442421.
