Brand Matters : Now That's a Good Question!

How to use questions to strengthen your brand image

Part of what’s made Chinaberry successful for 27 years is this extreme level of customer care. It isn’t just a friendly customer service experience; it goes deeper.

Ruethling shares, “So much of what we do here is intuitive. And it comes from a personal place. For example, unless one of us can personally picture wearing this item or having it in her home on a permanent basis, we wouldn’t think of trying to sell it to anyone. ... We always ask, ‘Will this item truly enrich the life of the person we hope will buy it?’”

Boonstra agrees wholeheartedly. One of the company’s main questions is: “Are we doing what’s best for our customers—not necessarily what’s best or easiest for us?” He adds that he also likes to ask, “How would you handle that order or contact if you knew it was your mother-in-law (assuming you loved your mother-in-law!)?”

Madeleine Mellini, vice president of communications for TouchMath, a multisensory teaching and learning math program, wants to know how her customers measure the effectiveness of TouchMath. This not only helps product development and marketing teams, but also provide insights into Reichheld’s question of the likelihood that TouchMath customers would recommend these products to other teachers and parents.

Listen Up
Thirdly, as questioner-in-chief, I like to encourage my clients to uncover their customers’ pain points. What makes them mad, frustrated or just plain tired in relation to your product, service, category or overall brand experience? If you spend time uncovering these issues and then creatively addressing them, both your customers and your competitors will take note.

Amazon.com wrote an open letter to its customers this past holiday season about “Wrap Rage,” the “frustration we humans feel when trying to free a product from a nearly impenetrable package.” During a recent hotel stay, I found an oversized index card printed on both sides with instructions on how to use the alarm clock on the bedside table. An alarm clock with two pages of instructions! Life just shouldn’t be this hard. No doubt about it, there are many examples of product/service/experience rage out there. Are companies listening? Do they care? Good questions!

So, take some time to question your culture, your customers and your results. And then ask Dr. Phil’s favorite question: “How is this working for you?"

Andrea Syverson is president of IER Partners, a strategic consulting company specializing in innovative brand and merchandising directions. She may be reached at asyverson@ierpartners.com.