Imagine you’re having some big, high falutin’ meeting. Perhaps it’s a
board meeting. Or, if you don’t have a board, perhaps it’s a
management team meeting. Or, if you don’t have a team, perhaps it’s
just you talking to yourself at 3:00 a.m. in the morning. Whatever
mechanism it is you have to talk about important issues and make
decisions, imagine that meeting. Are you imagining it? Good.
Now, imagine that same meeting with one important change: One of your smart, savvy, customers is at the table. And, she has an actual voice. She’s a peer. She makes arguments, some of which are wrong and misguided, just like you and the rest of your team. If the customer were there, I think you’d have better meetings.
Practically speaking, you probably can't actually put a customer in all your meetings. If that’s the case, you should act as if she’s there. Pretend like she’s sitting in the room. In the past, I’ve actually designated an empty chair in the meeting as being where the customer is, and looking in that direction while asking “what does the customer have to say?” (yes, I’m weird). When you’re trying to make an important decision, and you’re sort of divided on the issue, ask yourself: If the customer were here, what would she say? You don’t actually have to do everything she says, but it’s useful to at least factor in her point of view.
To read the full, original article click on this link: Startups: Your Customers Are Not Ignorant, Selfish, Control Freaks
Author: OnStartups
