Customer · Retail · Decisions
In a shop, customers explain quite clearly what they like, what they miss and what they would change. Listen for long enough and a temptation appears: to turn every reasonable comment into an instruction.
I had many of those conversations at La Cucharona. Almost all of them contributed something. Not all of them described an opportunity.
An opinion points; behaviour decides
A customer may request a new option and continue buying the usual one. They may praise a product and never return. They may also say nothing and come back every week. Words help us understand; behaviour helps us size the issue.
A conversation therefore became more valuable when I could connect it with something observable: repeat business, purchase occasion, price sensitivity or abandonment. Not to overrule the customer, but to understand more clearly what they were trying to solve.
Listening helps formulate a test
The response does not have to be a major change. It may be a different explanation, a format tested for a few days or an alternative offered to a specific group. The important thing is to decide in advance what we want to learn.
Without that question, a test can easily become an idea we are trying to justify. With it, even a negative result helps us decide sooner and at lower cost.
Customer focus also requires saying no
An offer that tries to answer everything becomes difficult to understand and operate. Saying no to a request can be the most coherent decision when it distracts from the main need or weakens the experience for other customers.
Customer orientation is not obedience. It is looking at the business from the customer’s experience, understanding the decision they are trying to make and helping them move forward. Sometimes that requires changing the proposition. At other times, it means holding it with greater clarity.