Makers and breakers, that affect your customers, are the biggest factors that will impact on your long-term success. How you manage them will make or break your business.
In previous issues I have introduced the idea of makers and breakers. To quote: “a maker is something a business does that enhances and reinforces a magnetic xperience. A breaker is the opposite. It damages the xperience and pushes people away from your business.” In How to eliminate your competition—without committing murder, the example was ‘The Clean Plumber’ www.thecleanplumber.com.au
In this issue we can look at some more examples of M &
B’s (easier to do that than type the terms all the time).
Before we get into examples the basic question is this:
Why is all this important to my business?
There is one principal reason. It’s the shift of commercial power from the manufacturer/seller to the customer. 10 years ago the manufacturer or seller of a product determined what the customer knew and understood about what was on offer. We read brochures and listened to the sales people to gather information. We also listened to our friends who had an influence, which we balanced up with what the manufacturer or seller let us know.
Now we have many more sources of information and opinion of which we take notice. 67% of people Google information before making major purchases. Accepting what the manufacturer or seller says as the only, or major source of information, is past. The internet has had a major impact. Forums, chat rooms and consumer sites abound. Pick up business, special interest (Wired, House
&Garden, Wheels etc) and in-flight magazines and they all have a product evaluation section with comments on how products and services perform—or don’t. This is the shift from product and service centric to customer centric. Customers having information that shapes their decisions and the information come from multiple sources.
Next time you listen to someone or read something about a product or service notice what they are really talking about. People will describe what they like or dislike about what they have used. “It looks great”; “When I got the thing home I couldn’t get it to work”; “The people were really helpful”; “I phoned them and got put through to the wrong department”. What we talk about and illustrate is the experience we had. That’s what your customers do and what your potential customers get as feedback. When you and I describe and hear is what we consider to be the makers and breakers.
Makers and Breakers come in various shapes, sizes and levels of impact.
The steps:
1.Look at the business; determine and list the makers and breakers.
2.Decide the size and impact of each entry on each list.
Determine what breakers could be makers and what effect the switch would have.
4.Establish what the effect on the customers would be with the new offerings.