Company Philosophy and Customer Perception

Two customers tell you why they do business with you. Customer A says, “I really like that I get my products on time and that I always get what I order.” Customer B says, “I do business with you because I can order 24/7, I get my products the same week and I have a flexible payment plan.” Most owners hear those two statements and conclude the same thing: ship fast, ship right, keep them happy. They are hearing the words. They are not listening to the customer.

Philosophy is the inside; perception is the outside

Your company philosophy is what determines how your business is run. For most small business owners it is the same as their own personal philosophy, and how well you communicate it to your employees determines how they treat your clients. If it is misunderstood, people start doing things in a way that is not what you wanted, and the customer meets that version instead of yours. The book calls it the internal brand, and you built yours in the first half of this track.

Customer perception is the other side. It is what the customer believes to be real or true about you, whether or not it is accurate. Understanding what people are looking for, what need you are filling, and how the customer perceives you determines how many clients you get and how much you grow. The uncomfortable truth in the middle is this: there is no one way to reach everyone. You cannot design material that appeals to all people, and no matter how hard you try to treat everyone the same, it is close to impossible.

That is why big companies advertise the same thing in several different ways, and why car makers sell under several names. You cannot afford several brands. You can afford a well-defined target market and marketing material built for their perception, and the book is clear that this can be just as effective.

Listening for the code words

We all buy for different reasons, and those reasons are usually not as rational as we like to think. What is important to you when you choose a vendor is not necessarily what is important to your customer. So the work is to find out, and the simplest way is to ask, casually, in the conversations you are already having.

What you are listening for are the code words people use for what matters to them. Go back to the two customers. Customer A’s real word is security. What he cares about is the reliability of getting the products. He has tested you and learned you are dependable. How important do you think a couple of dollars in savings is to a man like that? He will stay until that sense of security is broken by you or offered more strongly by someone else. He is hard to win and hard to lose.

Customer B’s real word is freedom. Ordering at any hour, a flexible payment plan, the product within a reasonable time. Speed is nice but not the point. He will move between vendors as long as the freedom is there, and he can be just as easy to keep as A, as long as you remember what he actually values. For some businesses he is the better customer.

Here is the distinction: the same behavior, buying from you, driven by opposite motives. Treat them the same and you will lose one of them. Customer A probably wants direct, fairly frequent, structured communication that builds trust. Customer B probably wants to be left alone mostly, with an occasional note so he knows you appreciate the business. Check it by asking each of them how often they want to hear from you. Same product, two conversations.

What this means for the brand

This is a method for getting clear on the motives behind why you and your customers make decisions. Once you can hear the code words, three things change.

Your marketing material starts speaking in the customer’s motive, not your feature. The invoice, the follow-up, the way the phone is answered, all get tuned to trust for one avatar or to freedom for another, instead of to what you personally would want.

Your philosophy gets tested against reality. If your internal brand says “we take care of people” but your customers keep using the word “hassle,” the philosophy is not making it out the door, and the gap is usually in how well your employees understand it.

And you stop losing customers for reasons you never see. Many businesses never fully understand why the customer chooses them over a competitor, and some never even try. Those are the ones who lose business slowly and cannot say why.

Ask five customers

This week, ask five customers one question at the end of a job or a call: “What is the main reason you keep doing business with us?” Write down their exact words, not your summary. Then write the code word underneath each one: security, freedom, speed, being taken care of, looking good, saving money. Compare the list to how your marketing currently talks, and change one sentence on your website or your follow-up message to match the most common word.

It takes two or three hours across the week, mostly in conversations you are already having, and it costs nothing. Asking and writing down the words gets you most of the way.