What the customer wanted
There is an old cartoon which depicts several different versions of a tyre swing. The various panels show the evolution of the concept - as marketing requested it, as sales ordered it, as engineering designed it, etc... The final panel in the sequence shows "what the customer wanted".
What's the point of this story? Too often in business it seems to me that people simply don't listen to what the customer wants. Granted, many of the concepts we deal with are pretty abstract, and it is impossible to climb inside someone's head and truly see what they are seeing, however more often than not, a typical supplier response is effectively - if you don't like our solution, then you must have the wrong problem.
Keep it simple! Don't be afraid to read back to the customer what you think they want - far better to get the details correct up front than to go down a winding road which ultimately won't satisfy anyone.
Don't forget - everyone has a customer. Try and listen to them!
here's the original
The original tree-swing drawings (with interesting discussion) can be found here.
Having been in Customer
Having been in Customer Service for over 30 years, having traveled both domestically and abroad. I have seen this picture hanging in all kinds of offices for years. I no longer travel but still am assciated with service. My work is much closer to purchasing than ever before and recent events made me think of this tree-swing. Thanks for hanging on to it and making available to those of us that are some times caught in the middle of and must deal with the "communicating" of others.
Thanks,
Jeff Fisi
Customer Service Specialist
tree swing
Many thanks for the information and images of the tree swing.
In the late 70s or early 80s, my dad brought home a copy very similar (if not an exact copy) of the first of your images. I was a kid but understood the humor and loved it. I saved the hard copy for years but eventually lost track of it. Thanks to the web, it was easily found and pictured at the cite you linked into.
I think supplier has to
I think supplier has to listen to his customer during service fullfilment. Besides, supplier must be sure customer listened and understood the proposal before proceeding with the purchase. On many ocassions, customers are tempted to purchase a product/service that actually doesn't suit their needs. Later it's very difficult to comply with their requests, as the service is not intended for the actual needs.
Unfortunately, sometimes
Unfortunately, sometimes what the customer wants takes away from the profitability (although more efficient) of the product and therefore gets ignored. In the end it's all about dollar signs.