The Liquid Lunch Project The Importance of Customer Empathy with Chris Hood
In the words of the illustrious British pop group sensation, The Spice Girls, "So tell me what you want, what you really, really want."
Why TF are we bringing up a 90s girl group on The Liquid Lunch Project podcast? Because that's the theme of today's episode. (Plus, it's a banger of a hit.)
Chris Hood, digital strategist, speaker, and former Head of Business Innovation and Strategy at Google, is here to talk about customer empathy. It's a simple idea: Understand the customer's wants, needs, desires, and expectations and translate that into products and services that will meet those wants, needs, desires, and expectations.
Straightforward, right? And not a new concept. But that might just be the reason it doesn't get the attention it deserves. In Chris' experience, too often, companies, leaders, CEOs, etc. THINK they know what the people want, but they haven't actually ASKED the people what they want. They have their own agenda and "big" ideas and create products and provide services without actual insight into what the customer desires. Customers are driving business like never before, which means you must be plugged in like never before. By understanding a company's biases and getting down to the basics, aka just ask, he helps them uncover what their customer ACTUALLY wants.
Chris also touches on the (perceived) job security of working for a large company vs. venturing out on your own, why many entrepreneurs will fail - and why that's OK, and makes a case for starting something new that you have to figure out along the way.
So, if you want to know what your customer wants (what they really, really want), don't miss this episode.
What You’ll Learn:
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His favorite project he worked on at Google
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His transition from corporate America to entrepreneurship
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A look at his new book coming out in May
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Why it’s so critical to have a viable fallback option in your career
Favorite Quote:
“Customer empathy basically just boils down to walking in somebody else's shoes.
Connect with Chris:
How To Get Involved:
Matthew Meehan and Luigi Rosabianca use their combined experience to provide insight and strategic advice to help small and medium-sized businesses in America have the same opportunities as corporate 500 companies. If you’re looking for tailor-made solutions to grow your small biz, learn more at www.shieldadvisorygroup.com.
Stay Connected:
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