Listen and measure

With any amount of change you have to consider the impact on existing customers and be able to measure the impact of the changes. With large-scale changes you increase the risk of alienating customers and it’s much more difficult to understand where the problem lies. With small, incremental releases it’s much easier to measure the impact and roll back to a previous version if necessary.

We might have high-tech tools at our disposal, but the rules of business are still the same. To achieve success we have to listen to customers, measure our efforts, and make informed decisions about the actions and adjustments needed to maximise potential opportunities.

Until recently, measuring was a mind-numbing, laborious activity done by marketers and bean counters. Likewise, listening to the customer has always been a direct quantitative activity that was done only on a small scale by frontline sales or support staff or by field experts. What’s more, the information gathered has remained within the domain of the division affected by or instigating the collection activity, rather than being shared with a wider audience who might also find it valuable.