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How to Keep Customers Happy by Anticipating Their Needs

September 5, 2019

There are no traf­fic jams along the extra mile.” — Roger Staubach, Heis­man Tro­phy win­ning, MVP foot­ball player

Despite many dif­fer­ent busi­ness mod­els, philoso­phies, approach­es and struc­tures, some­times com­pa­nies for­get the pur­pose of their main job. It’s not pro­vid­ing a prod­uct or a ser­vice: It’s the hope that you’ll solve a prob­lem and make the life eas­i­er for the per­son at the oth­er end of the transaction.

And they are hard to find.

The oth­er day, I found myself in yet anoth­er con­ver­sa­tion with peo­ple — who, like me, have a pas­sion for per­for­mance cars and race tracks – about the chal­lenge of find­ing some­one to do work on one of my cars. Some­one who does good work and deliv­ers great service.

I was giv­en the name of some­one who had been rec­om­mend­ed by some­one else, who had been rec­om­mend­ed by some­one else. So, I called him out and boy, am I thrilled!

Why? Because this inde­pen­dent shop own­er is an absolute delight to deal with. He answers all my ques­tions, keeps me in the loop, and even sends me pic­tures of his progress. He may or may not be the best guy (I don’t know because he hasn’t com­plet­ed the work, yet) but his lev­el of ser­vice is amazing.

This guy has shown me that he takes full own­er­ship of my prob­lem, so I don’t have to think about it. And, to me, that’s incred­i­ble val­ue. Some­one else may be bet­ter or cheap­er, but he makes my life eas­i­er because he’s so proactive.

And, even though I don’t have the final bill, yet, I’ve already referred oth­ers to him.

Scal­ing Up the Cus­tomer Experience

As a small shop, he may be able to do this more eas­i­ly. But as a busi­ness gets big­ger, how do you main­tain that lev­el of service?

Unless you have 100% cus­tomer sat­is­fac­tion, we must improve.” — Horst Schulze, Ritz Carl­ton co-founder

Orga­ni­za­tions like the Ritz-Carl­ton, that gen­er­al­ly charge a pre­mi­um for what they offer, invest a lot of time and ener­gy with con­tin­u­al staff train­ing to not only be respon­sive to their cus­tomers, but to proac­tive­ly expect what the cus­tomer might need and to offer it before they are asked.

This isn’t rock­et sci­ence. In an ide­al world, the cus­tomer should nev­er have to ask.

The Chal­lenge

  • How good are you and your team at antic­i­pat­ing what your cus­tomers need — and being ahead of it?
  • How could you, and those who inter­act with your cus­tomers, be one step ahead of what your cus­tomers want or need?

About Lawrence & Co.
Lawrence & Co. is a growth strategy and leadership advisory firm that helps mid-market companies achieve lasting, reliable growth. Our Growth Management System turns 30 years of experience into practical steps that drive clarity, alignment, and performance—so leaders can grow faster, with less friction, and greater confidence.

About Kevin Lawrence
Kevin Lawrence has spent three decades helping companies scale from tens of millions to hundreds of millions in revenue. He works side-by-side with CEOs and leadership teams across North America, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, and Europe, bringing real-world insights from hands-on experience. Kevin is the author of Your Oxygen Mask First, a book of 17 habits to help high-performing leaders grow sustainably while protecting their mental health and resilience. He also contributed to Scaling Up (Rockefeller Habits 2.0). Based in Vancouver, he leads Lawrence & Co, a boutique firm of growth advisors.