Make your customers appreciate you

One mid-December morning, I took my son for a medical check-up. The receptionist at the health facility asked me thrice whether I wanted to see a “peed” and each time I begged her pardon because I could not figure out what a “peed” was. Eventually, she asked if I wanted to see a paediatrician. That is when I understood that she was asking if I wanted to see a “paed.”

Given that my son was the patient, it was a good idea that he be attended to by a doctor who specialises in children. However, since I am a lay person in health matters, it was presumptuous on the part of the receptionist to think that I understood her work place slang or that I knew there was a category of medical doctors called paediatricians. There was a knowledge gap between the receptionist and me.

Many businesses face this knowledge gap between what the business knows as the benefits of its products or services and what solution the customer is seeking. The responsibility lies with the business to effectively communicate its value proposition to customers, namely: what customer need is the product or service meeting; how the need being met and what is the benefit of the product or service compared to available alternatives.

The Christmas story presents a classic case study of how to present value to customers. From the time Adam and Eve yielded to satan’s persuasion and disobeyed God, man had a continual problem of separation from God that required a product or service to fix it. God found the perfect solution to man’s problem: a sinless man had to stand in the place of sinner man and sinner man had to be convinced to accept this solution. Jesus himself said the solution he brought has no alternative in John 14:6 “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

What is very touching about Christmas is that God brought himself to the level of man in order to effectively communicate the spiritual value proposition in the birth, and later death and resurrection of Jesus. As you celebrate Christmas, may you also be reminded to constantly put yourself in the shoes of your customers in order to make them appreciate that you offer them the best value.

James Abola is the team leader for Akamai Global. Email: james.abola@akamaiglobal.co.uk