March 19, 2019
Not-A-Customer Appreciation Activities
When I was in industry, customer appreciation lunches and banquets were very common. I know some Extension professionals, local units, centers and departments hold similar appreciation activities for individuals or groups that frequent and support our Extension programs. It is a good practice.
What have you done to show appreciation for the people that are the subject of the following:
• “Why doesn’t that person ever come to my workshops?”
• “If they were dealing with that issue, why didn’t they call me?”
• “I haven’t seen a twenty-something at my meetings in a long time.”
• “Our meetings are open to everybody. I don’t know why they never attend.”
Wait. These people don’t frequent our meetings. Why would we hold appreciation activities for a “not-a-customer?”
The reason is simple. We want them to frequent our programs, but, for whatever reason or reasons, they do not. It is important to understand why they are not coming. They may not know we exist. Maybe the issues we place a high priority on are less important to them. Perhaps their learning style differs from how we typically educate. There could be language or cultural barriers. They may just feel unwelcomed.
There is an old business adage, “If you are not growing, you are dying.” In order to grow, we need to determine why and have an appreciation for why our not-a-customers don’t use us. Taking a key prospective learner to lunch, holding a focus group, or meeting a group’s key influencer for a discussion over coffee may help you understand why you aren’t reaching a certain group of potential learners. You can then use the information gleaned from those discussions to make tweaks or significant changes to your programs to make them more attractive to the groups you are not reaching.
Holding not-a-customer appreciation activities are as important as customer appreciation activities. They may be the thing you turn a not-a-customer into a Knowledge for Life customer for life! Why don’t you give it a try?