As an independent consultant, I pitch my services a lot. I consider myself fortunate that I get the opportunity to chat with so many great companies (okay, and some not-so-great ones) about what user experience is and what value it could provide to their businesses.
Without a doubt, the most difficult service for me to sell in to a new client is user research — and not only is it my favorite part of the process, I also think it’s the most crucial part. Most companies don’t fail because they chose a checkbox when they should have used a radio button; they fail because they didn’t take the time to listen to their customers.
The other day I caught the Nationwide Insurance commercial in which “The World’s Greatest Spokesperson in the World!” visits the home of a prospective customer, Pam, and interviews her on her porch about her experiences buying insurance.
Take a moment to watch it now:
Spokesperson: “Nationwide Insurance, I’m all ears.”
Pam: “I bought my policy online, and I haven’t heard from the company since.”
Spokesperson into his company telephone: “When Pam switches to Nationwide Insurance, we’re not going to treat her like Policy 413. We’re going to treat her like Pam — get to know her, be proactive. Oh, and rename the company NationPam.”
Pam [Cooing]: “Ooh.”
Spokesperson: “Done. [Singing] ‘NationPam is on your…Sam…’ We’ll make that work.”
Fine, it’s a silly commercial, over the top. But there’s a significance to its message: they want to show that they recognize the value of listening — understanding their customers’ frustrations — and care about making the customer experience more pleasurable.
Here are my takeaways:
- He goes to her house to talk to her — on her turf, not in some sterile focus group
- His posture, tone and word choice demonstrate his eagerness to listen
- He reports back to the company both the problem statement and the intended solution
- He goes beyond the call of duty to make her feel special and appreciated
- He demonstrates that maintaining a long-standing brand identity while adjusting to meet customers’ needs isn’t always a graceful process, and it takes iteration (“We’ll make that work.”)
Does your company make the effort to listen to your customers? Do you approach prospective customers to understand their frustrations and devise ways to alleviate their pain? Is an image of caring part of your company’s brand promise?
What are you personally doing to help your company better meet people’s needs?
Related Posts:
- Domino’s Pizza: Be Inspired By Your Harshest Critics January 29, 2010 | 8 comments
- Don Draper is the Antithesis of User Experience February 27, 2012 | 14 comments
- How “When I…” Reasoning Poisons a Team August 16, 2012 | 11 comments
- Undercover Boss: Just How Badly is Your Company Screwing Itself May 14, 2010 | 2 comments
- The most accurate portrayal of User Experience Designers ever created January 27, 2011 | 2 comments
BLA BLA JUST don’t file a claim because they aren’t on your side all lies.. They have fooled people in to believing this crap sorry insurance they like to collect but not pay out and they will tel you anything to get you to sign on the dotted line.
I am in a law suit with them because we were told that we were covered and didn’t need to buy additional insurance then our property got torn up by wind damage and they denied the claim been going on a year in Feb.
Our agent told us I even have it in a e-mail where he said we were covered and they denied the claim but they don’t want you to post any thing bad about the company….
ALL LIES NATIONWIDE ISN’T ON YOUR SIDE oh but they are until you have a claim….that’s the way they work