Do you know what your customers really need?
This post was written by Matt Douglas, Founder & CEO
Do you know what your customers really need? I believe there is only one way to really know. Be your own customer. Experience what your customers actually experience. There is simply no substitute.
Allow me to illustrate how to know what your customers really need with a story from today. Today (Monday, April 20, 2009) was the 113th running of the Boston Marathon. I’m lucky enough to live along the marathon route. My house is a short block away from Mile 10.
Now, I know what it is like to run a marathon. I ran the New York City Marathon in 2004. It was a grueling, memorable experience. There are many things I remember about that day, but I remember one thing vividly from the first handful of miles. It’s really quite simple: my nose was running a lot. From miles 5-10, I used my shirt, my sweatbands, and the back of my hand to wipe my nose. It was pretty miserable. All I needed was something dry to wipe my nose and face.
The following year after the marathon was my first Boston Marathon as a spectator. So I decided to give the runners the one thing that I wished I had that day: a piece of dry paper towel. That year, I took all of the paper towels in my house and went down the street to Mile 10. The smiles on the runners faces said it all. Within a half an hour, all of the paper towels were gone.
Since then, it’s become a bit of a tradition at Mile 10. Today was the best ever. Along with a handful of my neighbors, we handed out about 15 rolls of paper towels to the runners. We welcomed the runners to “Paper Towel Mile,” and were thanked by countless runners. It was worth every penny that I spent at BJs.
One thing that stuck with me today — so many of the runners looked me with deeply thankful eyes and said “Thank you! That is exactly what I needed.”
Do you know what your customers really need? There’s one way to find out. Walk a mile in their shoes. Or better yet — try running 26.2 miles. Then you’ll really know.
April 21st, 2009 at 7:13 am
So much fun! Can’t wait until next year and next time we will head to BJs too. We will have to make a sign saying “Paper Towel Mile”, maybe even get some press. I have a few good pics I will send along.
Laurie
April 28th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
Kudos to you Matt…how’s my little girlfriend Briana doing? Her guests at the restaurant miss her. I do too! “Moving on up…”
May 27th, 2009 at 4:21 pm
Hi Matt,
How about next year, you get My Punch Bowl paper towels made and hand those out? I know you hand out paper towels to help people, but you never know which of these marathon runners would want to hold a party to celebrate
Every runner in a marathon is a winner. Another idea is to hold a party for the runners afterwards and for the people who stick around. I’m not sure how huge the crowds so this idea might not be feasible.