What Do Your Customers Really Want?

So much of the old way of doing business is dying. Of course, the “old way” is how the business world operated as recently as 2019 when commerce still included high touch and close interactions. In 2019, restaurants predominantly seated patrons in packed dining rooms. Retailers checked out shoppers from a foot or two away. Professional sports franchises and transportation companies seated people right next to one another. All of this seems so foreign now, and yet I’d imagine little of it ever felt too enviable. Perhaps one reason so many people are embracing a “new normal” is because the normal wasn’t particularly ideal.

Perhaps the trick to sustained success for companies today is to look at the present and see opportunity rather than disaster. What if consumers were not all that happy to begin with? One popular restaurant decided to take this question and run with it. Rather than bemoan the loss of patrons dining on location, the head chef saw an opportunity to make a lasting impression. The simple question was this:

What do customers really need when they interact with us right now?

By raising the stakes of empathy, this restaurant is aiming to cultivate lasting, positive impressions with each patron. This restaurant recognizes the service being provided at this point in time is far greater than a mere meal, because consumers today need more than this. And so, this restaurant has begun preparing and selling take home meal kits for families. What was once a largely passive in-restaurant dining experience has now been brought to the family, in their own kitchens, at their own tables. The restaurant is hands off, but with a personal touch. Lasting and positive impressions are created, and this business has cultivated a new brand identity along with it.

For my clients in industrial manufacturing, perhaps it would be easy to assume that such a principle does not apply. If a company does not deal directly with the consumer, is an empathetic approach really necessary? The answer is simply, yes. Empathy extends into all industries because our customers’ challenges are ultimately our own. When we look through this lens, everybody wins through product innovation, cost reduction, and service improvements: manufacturer, business, and consumer. More than ever, businesses are selling peace of mind, and the manufacturing world has a massive role to play in cultivating a sense of safety and well-being by how they carry out their role in commerce.

The English proverb remains perpetually relevant:

“Necessity is the mother of innovation.”

When companies recognize that empathy is a profitable foundation for commerce – and that a lasting impression is as valuable as currency these days – more will relish the opportunity to see what their consumers really need. Such discoveries can reinvigorate companies, and in turn make this season of change a catalyst for a greater future. What will this mean for manufacturing? I can’t wait to see what innovative responses will come from the current environment.