If they were a company selling products and services, would you recommend either one to your mom?


What we've got going on right now are the worlds' two biggest silos duking it out. What is hard to tell is who they're fighting for. It seems in each side's quest for being right, they've lost sight of their customer.
Beloved companies earn the right to their customers' story, to being promoted in the marketplace and to their continued business by NEVER losing sight of their customers.
This doesn't happen accidentally. These companies make purposeful decisions to weave customers into their lives. They know them as people, and understand their lives. At the fork in the road when they are making a decision, they know in which direction to steer them because they know their customers as people.
For example, at beloved company Trader Joe's, the company obsessed and put off the decision to install scanning equipment because they didn't want the "pinging" noise to get in the way of the chatty conversations their check out folks have with customers. Conversations that fuel product development, service and create a powerful connection with customers. It turns Trader Joe's for their huge and loyal fans from a "grocery store" to my ONLY store.
USAA begins all new employee orientations by sending them "orders" like military folks would receive. During orientation new recruits wear the flak jacket worn out in the field. They eat the "MRE's," meals ready to eat, that the enlisted men and women eat. And they read letters from folks in the military and their families.
You've got to know your customers' lives to serve their lives. Then stay focused on serving them in the directions you make to run your business. That's how Trader Joe's and USAA have become so beloved.
Where are you today?
Do you have a picture of your customers in your minds' eye as you make decisions?