How can Engineers become Customer Obsessed!
Time has come for even Engineers to get Customer Obsessed. Here I show how!
I am not an engineer but I do work a lot with PMs/Designers/Content people who in-turn work a lot with Engineers sometimes on a day to day basis.
I have seen first-hand and keep hearing how Engineers tend not to relate to the market/user feedback which other team members bring.
Cant’ really blame them, or perhaps it's tempting to blame them. :)
On a serious note, it’s easy to not be cognisant of a problem unless one himself/herself goes through it.
Considering the trio of PED (Product, Engineering, Design including Content) work together very closely, its time even for Engineers to get started on the journey of being Customer Obsessed.
So with this post, I am not doing any favour to any Engineer…it is my own self-interest for below reasons —
- The whole project goes along smoothly when PED is aligned.
- Quality of products gets better when it's designed and build keep the user in the centre of it.
- Regularly I, and I am sure many of you, face sub-par experience in many products around us and I wish they had thought of me as a User when designing and building for it.
- Any company for it to survive and thrive Customer Obsession needs to be spread far and wide. Where I work is no different.
Without a doubt, we all deserve better products and for that its critical that the makers are Customer Obsessed.
Which begs the question why are Engineers not Customer Obsessed?
I have a couple of theories —
- Customer obsession has lately become an important strategy across the Org and is not siloed only for Sales/Support/Product/Design. It was never expected that Engineers need to be Customer Obsessed as well.
- Customer obsession requires to interact with Customers on a regular basis. Unfortunately, the expectation is not set anywhere (Engineering education, Job Description) that meeting Customers is an inherent part of the role.
- The archetype of a typical Engineer is wearing headphones and coding away oblivious of the world around. This has resulted in a lack of soft-skills to interact with Customers. There is an in-built shyness of fear of Engineers to interact with Customers for whatever reason.
- Since Engineers work with Product Managers, it’s assumed that it is the Product Manager’s role to bridge the gap and get back with Customer Insights from the Market.
- They see their role as to execute and code whatever requirements have been given to them, nothing more nothing less.
- Blindspot of “I have been building this insanely successful product for years, I obviously know what my users want”.
In my experience all these theories (and probably more exist, please mention in the comment section) are true and I have personally faced all these multiple times.
And this doesn’t bode well for any Company who wants to survive and thrive in today’s age where Customer Obsession is not only a serious differentiating competitive advantage but is increasingly becoming essential for staying relevant in the market.
So how can Engineers actually start becoming Customer Obsessed —
- Go through various in-bound customer communication — this can be in-house CRM where Customer reaches out for any Sales/Support issues. If there is a Call-centre, listening to Calls can really bend how you look at things. That thing you coded and thought it will help the user, well they are stuck even to start and to take them through its 12 mins on the call and counting!
It can be various social media channels — Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIN, Twitter where Customers are sharing both positive and negative experiences of your product.
Doing this alone consistently (key) will change how Engineers think and empathise. Next time they are designing or writing code, at-least few past Customer interactions will come to their mind.
2. Tag along with Sales/Business Development or Product Managers/Designers/Researches when they go out to meet Customers — This can be nerve-wracking at first, but trust me its the most rewarding thing of being in a Product company and getting to talk to your users first hand and that too in THEIR environment.
It’s easy to have a distorted view that every user sits on their comfortable desks in an AC environment, sipping coffee and going about their tasks. But the reality can be and actually is very very different. Users are doing multiple things along with multiple tools while trying to get things done with your product.
Also if you have not used your product (which I recommend every employee should), meeting Customers will alone give you a fair idea of what your product is being used for, how it is used for and why your users are still using it.
And you will get many different reasons for the same, that’s the exciting part. So when you are building products, you are not catering to one specific user profile but many!
What can even be nerve-wracking but more rewarding is to go out to meet Customers alone or take another Engineer with you!
Let me give you some encouragement— when you call Customers and say you are an Engineer working for so and so product and want to come and meet you, they will be surprised and yet very eager to have you! They want to share and show certain issues they might be facing or even certain delightful experiences they are enjoying. Very few companies do this and when you do it, it instantly sticks with the customer that here is a company where even Engineers routinely meet customers and they truly care about their customers!
If you are unsure what you should speak on the call while taking an appointment, sit with PMs and see how they are making calls. They would be more than happy to enable you and perhaps give you a script which you can use to call customers.
3. Sit in a Usability Testing session
When you go through Customer’s Support Tickets, it's reading the experience they have been having, especially if its something which is troubling them.
Taking it a step forward is watching them live how they are using your product. Where are the areas where they are struggling, which are the areas they are finding delight in and so on?
If there is a “viewing room” then its the safest and 2nd nearest place to be and soak in your Customer’s experience.
Or if you truly want to experience, sit with the Customer and watch them use your product. Imagine, them praising something you were closely involved with. And also imagine they struggling or complaining something you were closely involved with. Both can be very touching experiences in their own way. It’s an experience every Engineer must go through!
That’s it, in 3 easy steps you are on your way to becoming Customer Obsessed. These steps are not natural especially for Engineers, but they are not difficult at all. All it requires you is going beyond your comfort zone, being curious and having an open mind.
This post won't be complete without answering the most often question and apprehension which Engineers tend to have…
“I do not know the whole product, what if the Customer asks me some question, how will I answer?”
It’s a valid question on the surface and I had the same apprehension when I did my first (6 back to back) Usability Testing session on 4th August’17.
After doing it for a good number of times I have come to realise that the apprehension is misplaced. First and foremost Customers are human beings like you and me. If they are having an issue with a product they paid for, it's natural to ask questions about it. More often than not what they do not expect is an immediate resolution of the same. All they want is someone who really listens to them. This itself diffuses their anger and frustrations.
One can also overcome this by setting the right expectation when meeting the Customer. You can always say “Sir/Maam I am not the expert in the product or this area of the product, but I want to understand what problem you are facing and I will ensure it is passed on to the concerned team and you will expect a call back in X hours/days.” Being honest never fails.
I really hope this post has given you some motivation and encouragement to start your journey towards Customer Obsession, it is truly worth it!
If you have any questions or need help to be Customer Obsessed, reach out to me. Happy to help!
