Customer Obsession: A Product Managers Guide

Customer obsession is a business philosophy that puts the customer at the center of everything a company does. It involves deeply understanding customer needs, anticipating their desires, and consistently delivering exceptional experiences across all touchpoints.Amazon's Approach to Customer ObsessionAmazon, often considered the gold standard for customer obsession, has built its entire business model around this principle. Here are key aspects of Amazon's customer obsession:

1. Working Backwards: Amazon starts with the customer and works backwards. They begin by thinking deeply about customer needs and long-term problems.
2. Leadership Principle: Customer Obsession is the first of Amazon's 16 Leadership Principles, stating that "Leaders start with the customer and work backwards. They work vigorously to earn and keep customer trust".
3. Focus on Durable Needs: Amazon concentrates on customers' long-term, durable needs like price, selection, and convenience.
4. Continuous Innovation: 90% of what Amazon builds is driven by customer feedback, leading to rapid iteration and feature development.
5. Long-term Thinking: Amazon prioritizes long-term customer value over short-term results.

Apple's Customer-Centric Approach

While not explicitly using the term "customer obsession," Apple has built a strong reputation for customer-centricity:

1. Anticipating Needs: Apple focuses on creating products that customers don't yet know they want, as exemplified by Steve Jobs' philosophy.
2. Experience-Driven: Apple prioritizes giving customers the best possible experience, from product design to in-store service.
3. Relieving Purchase Anxiety: Apple offers comprehensive warranties, easy access to support through Genius Bars, and self-help content to alleviate customer concerns.
4. Personalization: Apple uses customer data to offer personalized recommendations and experiences across its services.
5. Unique Customer Experiences: Apple empowers its employees to go above and beyond in resolving customer issues, creating memorable positive experiences.

Incorporating Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) Principles

To truly achieve customer obsession in the digital age, companies should incorporate HCI principles into their product design:

1. Feedback: Provide clear, immediate feedback to users about the results of their actions.
2. Visibility: Ensure users can easily understand the state of the system and its components.
3. Constraints: Use physical or logical limitations to prevent user errors.
4. Mental Models: Align the system's design with users' expectations of how it should work.
5. Affordance: Offer clear cues about possible actions and how to perform them.
6. Learnability: Design systems that are easy to learn and use with minimal training.
7. Error Prevention and Recovery: Build interfaces that prevent errors and allow easy recovery.

Strategies for Becoming Customer-Obsessed

1. Map the entire customer journey
2. Collect and analyze customer data and feedback
3. Personalize experiences based on customer insights
4. Implement a Voice of Customer program
5. Empower frontline employees to solve customer issues
6. Continuously test and optimize touchpoints
7. Build products and services around customer needs
8. Create feedback loops to capture insights

Measuring Customer Obsession

Key metrics to track:

• Net Promoter Score (NPS)
• Customer Satisfaction (CSAT)
• Customer Effort Score (CES)
• Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)
• Retention and churn rates
• Customer feedback and sentiment analysis

Conclusion

Customer obsession is more than just a buzzword; it's a fundamental shift in how businesses operate. By combining the customer-centric approaches of companies like Amazon and Apple with HCI principles, organizations can create products and experiences that truly resonate with their customers. This approach not only leads to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty but also drives innovation and long-term business success.