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I find myself delving into some beautiful quotes of experience and expertise. The one for today’s quote analysis is an inspiration from Bill Gates about unhappy customers:

“Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.”

— Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft

The backdrop of this quote analysis is the objective of product management, customer services and business strategy. It is not always fun to receive negative feedback. I often find the roles of customer service management quite stressful and have a lot of respect for the people on the front lines. It is never easy dealing with an unhappy customer. At the same time, business longevity and strategy point us to working towards an inflated sense of customer delight.

It is easy to say that we have to be servile to our customers. After all, a lot of business strategies define “Customer is the king” and “Customer is never wrong” philosophy. Experience tells me otherwise. There are more than a few instances where I have been terribly wrong as a customer. The most valuable driving point in this article is the use of the ‘ Satisfier Dissatisfier Theory‘ for product management. In summary, this theory is about reasserting the fact that solving dissatisfaction can provide more value than trying to make a customer happy.

Product Management: Your Most unhappy customers are the greatest source of knowledge

By now you know that I am very fond of the product management perspective in business strategy. Perhaps this is owing to my background and sheer liking for that role. Customer feedback often is one of the greatest sources of information about product expectations and roadmap.

As we all know, a product or service is on a path of continuous improvement. We are often trained to think about product features, sales and new projections these enhancements can bring. Sometimes, the importance of product performance is lost. Keen product management ensures that you have your ear on the ground with customer feedback and constantly listen – I would point you back to the Moscow principle in product prioritisation and your most unhappy customers usually fall in the Must Have or Should Have column.

Of course, a business will be unable to act on all the feedback. Sometimes it is impossible to improve products in certain dimensions due to a lack of resources, time, legal requirements, etc. The list of reasons can be easily never-ending. I’ve seen some businesses completely ignore this segment for information gathering and building the product roadmap. One important thing to remember is: You cannot build more sales from an unstable product – at least not in the long run

Customer Services: Your most unhappy customers are the greatest source

Customer service is a hard role. If there are a lot of unhappy customers – the role can very well be about saying sorry multiple times and not being in a position to influence a change or improvement is a horrible feeling. It is extremely important that product development and customer service go hand in hand. At any given point in time, product improvements have 3 sizeable demands: Customer complaints, more sales and product direction in the long run. A business will have to balance the three.

It may be common practice to go out, meet customers and understand more about new prospects. In this scenario, a business will have to think about whether it is cheaper to find a new business or retain an existing one. Looking back at one of our previous posts, we discussed how expensive it is to find a new customer. It is a difficult role to keep finding new sources of revenue and the odds are not always stacked in your favour. Your most unhappy customers are often leaving a clue about keeping them happy.

I do agree that you are not in business just to serve one customer. This is where you would need to validate the feasibility of working on easing the pain of an unhappy customer – we discuss this in detail in – Dealing with unhappy customers

Business Priorities: Unhappy Customer Vs Revenue Projections

Market knowledge often says – deal with the unhappy customers, Your happy customers are the biggest source of marketing – word of mouth suggests that they can be your biggest advertisers.

On the other hand, as much as business is about customer service, satisfaction and delight – there is also a question of resource management, addressing stakeholder concerns. As much as it is important to provide excellent service and produce a great product – one also needs to think about sustainability. This is where it is not always easy being either a product manager or a business owner. You have the difficult job of prioritising and providing guidance to the team working with you.

In the end, it is all about decisions – whether you decide to focus on what’s ailing your most unhappy customers or the next shiny thing which can produce great results. Maybe it is not just a question of right or wrong. The right-wrong philosophy often says – to focus on the unhappy customers – provide them with an excellent service. But, there is also a question of where you want to take the business as a leader.

“Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.”

— Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft