Meet The Needs
“Not only repair the car, heal the heart of the customer, who has come to get his car serviced.”
Soichiro Honda
Recently I had the privilege of interacting with a senior official of Honda Motors. He shared the importance of the service provider to be sensitive to the needs of the customer.
He gave an example, “if a customer is asking for a cup of coffee, some of us hear his request, step out to see if we can get him a cup of coffee, in some cases either we return with a cup of coffee or we return back, informing the customer that there is no coffee.”
The senior official went on to state that, the right approach for the service provider is to understand why the customer is asking for a cup of coffee. Is he sleepy, or is he thirsty?
If the customer is sleepy, the service provider can open the window, for the fresh air to come in, or give the customer a wet towel to wipe his face. If the customer is thirsty, if not coffee, some other beverage or water can be offered.
The service provider by being engaged will ensure that he succeeds in satisfying the needs of the customer, whether the customer articulates it clearly or not.
Same holds true when we are fulfilling our responsibilities at home, as a parent, sibling or a child.
- the child is asking for a toy, it always may not mean that he needs a toy. The child’s need may be attention or to overcome boredom. The parent by being sensitive, may engage the child in some meaningful activity, thereby fulfilling the need of the child.
Buying toys is not wrong, but to buy toys only for the child and not meaningfully engaging with the child is wrong.
Often people express their discontent about the ills of the material wonder. The solution is not to renounce the material things, but to use the material things as a supplement, or to complement the effort you and I need to invest in relating to our near and dear ones, be it at home or at work.
When you and I rely too much on the “material things” without understanding the needs of the customer, we may create situations where the customers remains unhappy, which may lead him to throwing tantrums, and in some case becoming “greedy” because we may keep throwing things at him, without fulfilling his needs.
Article By Vijay Michihito Batra