Is it safe to assume that all Customers want to save money?
I think so… But I think it is important to keep in perspective how your Customer wants to save it.
We could fix their problem two ways…
1. 
Fix it cheaply now – but not completely (a “bandaid”) – the problem may come back later at a worse time.
2. Fix it right – now – fully, without a doubt that the problem will not recur.
Key thought – Are you creating Customer Service Value or are you subjecting them to your perspective?
Are your assumptions of trying to save your Customer money actually causing more harm than good? Are you putting a “bandaid” on a problem that will recur at the worst possible time for your Customer?
It is important to remember… Many Customers will do EXACTLY what you suggest. They trust you. You are the EXPERT.
Do not assume they want to save money. Assume your Customer wants the most valuable solution to their problem that will fix it completely.
Please allow me to share a story to illustrate.
A year ago, we purchased a building that has four apartments on the second floor. We allowed the existing property manager to continue managing the apartments. Little did we know that the property manager was a “penny pincher” to the extreme.
That might sound really great – to have a property manager who is conscious of cutting costs. But this property manager took it to a level we did not want. He thought he was helping us when he was actually hurting us by destroying Customer Value with our Tenants.
The benefit of having a property manager is that they deal with all of the renting, maintaining, repairing, and cleaning of the apartments. When there is any type of problem that a tenant has, the property manager brings in a repair person.
The four apartments are heated and cooled from one furnace and one air conditioning unit. The “magic” of being able to do so and keep everyone comfortably happy is through the use of “zone controllers” that are wired to a thermostat in each apartment. The “zone controllers” enable each tenant to choose their own desired heating and cooling setting. There is one “zone controller” for each apartment or four total.
During a big storm in March, one of the “zone controllers” failed. The property manager brought in a heating and cooling contractor who asked the property manager what he wanted him to do. The property manager thought he was there to save us money so he said, “remove all but one of the zone controllers”. In other words, the contractor removed three of the four zone controllers to “save” us money.
The results were ugly. With only one zone controller working – one tenant had their desired temperature of 70 degrees. The rest varied from 73 to almost 85 degrees.
Imagine living in 85 degree heat. Yes… The tenant became very, very upset.
The bottom line – the tenant with the 85 degree heat became VERY frustrated and ultimately left the window open all the time (wasting energy) and then proceeded to flood the apartment in frustration.
We (the building owners) did not know what was going on until we had water damage on the main floor and the 85 degree apartment was flooded.
What was the real problem?
The property manager wanted to save us money on repair costs. His primary objective was to “save” us money. Our primary objective was to take great care of our Customers. In other words, we wanted each tenant to comfortably choose their desired temperature. Therefore, we did not want only one zone controller. We wanted the heating system fully-repaired to maximize comfort for our valued tenants.
Our property manager destroyed the Customer Value we were hoping to create by trying to save us money.
The question I have for you…
What assumptions are you making for your Customers that may not be accurate? Are you trying to save money for a Customer when it is actually hurting them more in terms of additional costs down the road and causing their Customers to be upset? How are your assumptions about what the Customer wants destroying Customer Value rather than creating it?
The best solution is to solve both today and tomorrow’s problem. Solve the current problem and solve the future problem. Doing this will Maximize the Customer Value that your organization is able to create.
Now go Maximize Possibility! Other blog posts you may be interested in: Chris Young helps organizations Maximize Possibility through talent management, cultural transformation, and strategic intervention. Bring Chris in today! 
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