Getting to Know Your Customers

by Harry T. Roman

Engineers don’t necessarily make things because they can, but rather because they generally have clients who can pay for them. How can you ensure that the things you make and the services you provide will be successful?

For starters, begin with a real, well-defined problem. It’s always easier to attempt a market-pull, rather than a technology-push, situation. If you’re just beginning your career, leave the technology-push efforts to the more experienced missionaries —  finesse is not the province of the inexperienced. This "unrefinement" is a tough fact of life that most young, technology-smitten, engineers learn — sometimes the hard way.

Instead, good nuts-and-bolts, down-and-dirty, in-the-trenches, everyday problem-solving strategies will go a long way toward growing the company — and your experience. You can still have long-range plans, dreams and home-run ideas, just choose your battles carefully. Shoot for getting some singles and runs batted in first to gain perspective and earn the respect of your superiors, colleagues and, most importantly, your customers.

For the short term, concentrate on getting to know your customers. Get out in the field and expand your understanding of the company, its products and services, and how their customers use those products and services. Walk in your customers’ shoes; work at their sites; and see what they deal with on a daily basis.

Be a Problem Solver

In addition, make yourself ready and willing to help them solve their problems. If you do, they will help your company grow by purchasing your products or services. It’s a simple, balanced equation. One hand washes the other. No magic, just shoe leather, commitment and teamwork equal the basics.

Be the Go-To Person

Be the "go-to" person for your customers. A sure-fire way to gain their respect is to make yourself so visible that people might actually mistake you for one of their co-workers. From this commitment comes the highest form of flattery any engineer can receive from a customer: trust. And when you earn your customers’ trust, you'll be able to propose new ideas and suggest things that might really change the way they do business.

While you're solving their short-term problems, they may tell you about other products or services they might like to have. Tuck this raw material away for your long-range dreams. Because it comes directly from your customer, it's virtually already pre-packaged, with a high probability of future sales. The missionary work is already accomplished!

Turning customers’ ideas into useable products or services will often take you further than trying to dream up ideas, then springing them on unsuspecting or unprepared customers.

Longer-Range Products

When you become able to implement a customer’s input about future products and begin exploring a demonstration or prototype phase, involve your customer — their input will be invaluable. In fact, they may even want to invest in the development, if it represents a solution to a problem they’re having.

My best successes have always come as a result of receiving extensive customer input. Many times, while I was on-site helping a customer solve one problem, I would take time out from a lunch break and talk informally about some new technology I was looking at. I listened to them, sounding out their thoughts. I often brought a demo of the new product along and asked for their thoughts, ideas and opinions. The "show-and-tell" format I learned in first grade paid off.

Switching gears gave everyone a chance to get away from the nagging problem at hand and relax. Plus, lunch is always a nice time to chat, commiserate and brainstorm without feeling pressured to produce results. These sessions never failed to give me instant feedback.

If my customers showed good initial interest, I would come back later with a full-blown demo and let the group play with it. Sometimes, I left an open microphone out on the table to capture all their ideas and comments.

The folks in the trenches — the first-line supervisors and workers — always gave me golden-nugget comments that focused my direction and future selling pitches clearly. Simply put, if you make these groups happy, they will become champions for your cause. They will push for their company to buy your product or service. You couldn’t ask for a better cheering section.

 

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Harry T. Roman is a senior member of the IEEE, a senior technology consultant for PSE&G and an adjunct graduate faculty member at New Jersey Institute of Technology.