Susan is the VP of Sales at a large company. She’s more than a little frustrated that her sales team keep selling legacy products to customers and don’t make the effort to introduce new product lines to them instead. Of course it’s easier for the sales guy to earn his bonus by filling repeat orders than it is to spend valuable time educating customers about what’s new and what the future might look like. And so the cycle perpetuates because of the way the sales team is compensated and rewarded.

Joe is an electrician, he has four children and his wife works full time, so he purposely doesn’t work 9 to 5. He’s designed his business to serve people who need an emergency call out service that operates after hours, when all of the other electricians in his area have gone knocked off for the day. Joe’s mobile phone number is the most visible thing on his website and that, along with his hours of operation are the main calls to action. Because of this he only gets relevant calls and doesn’t have to field enquiries from the kind of customers he doesn’t want to work with.

Messina sells the best gelato in Australia, and so they are not short of customers even on a cold winter Wednesday evening. In a world and an area where nobody carries cash, Messina runs a ‘cash only’ payment system in order to keep the lines running smoothly. Every Melburnian knows that if you want the best Salted Coconut and Mango Sorbet in Australia you’ll need to bring cash. In the end the constraints of the system the company has put in place creates a better experience for their customers.

For every action you take in your business, every signal you send and story you tell there will be a reaction from your customers. We often overlook the power the choices we make have to shape what will happen next.

What do you want your customer to do in the moment?
What does he need to know in order to be able to do that?
What systems and processes do you need to put in place to help him?

When you design your business (health care system, company, platform, family and on and on) for the outcomes you want, you not only get them, but your customers and your teams thank you for lighting the way.

Image by Ivano Bellini.