How to deliver the acceptable best

In our previous post, we shared a few practices that can help organizations be the best in the business and make names for themselves. We also mentioned that one of the practices—identifying the acceptable best—deserves an exclusive article. That's exactly what this one is all about.

Just a quick recap before we begin: There's no such thing as "universal best," but there's something called "acceptable best," which constitutes certain asks and expectations that matter to all customers.

How do you identify and deliver them?

Let's find out.

Get the basics right

Whether it's a product or a service, there are a few things that form the core of the offering. Some of them might be negotiable—meaning your customers won't mind much if they don't get them. Some of them are non-negotiable—meaning they're must-haves.

Take an airline company, for example. Adequate leg room, food and beverages for long-haul flights, working entertainment systems, refreshments in case of short delays in departure, and accommodations in case of long delays are just a few essentials that customers expect. Similarly, each industry has a few critical customer expectations like these—the non-negotiables. Identify the non-negotiables like these that relate to your industry and make sure you deliver them without any compromise on quality or availability.

Conduct surveys

The next straightforward way to achieve the acceptable best is to speak directly to your customers via surveys. Ask them if they're getting the best experience with your offering possible and continuously find out what can be improved.

Establish both a periodic survey practice and an efficient feedback management mechanism that enables you to sift through customer feedback easily. Today, thanks to genAI tools, this kind of effort-intensive work can be done in a fraction of the time it'd take to do manually. You can collate feedback from multiple sources, such as webforms, user reviews, and survey responses, and run them through an AI tool to identify the most requested features or most commonly suggested improvements.

Additionally, if you're a top-level decision-maker, consider doing undercover shopping to get a first-hand idea of customer perceptions and sentiments towards your offerings.

Follow accepted norms and standards

Each industry has a set of established standards intended to make things easier and more convenient for customers. For instance, in the US, faucet inlets are mostly 1/2 inch in size, in accordance with the National Pipe Thread standard. Because most faucets follow this standard, replacing one with another is much easier. The thing with standards is that they're introduced and enforced after rigorous research and study. Each standard has a reason behind it. Therefore, it's a good idea to stick to them until an improved and better standard comes along.

For example, starting in 2012, iPhones came with Apple's proprietary Lightning port for a little over a decade. However, Android smartphones started incorporating the USB-C port by 2015. USB-C proved to be more versatile and useful for different purposes, including faster charging and data transfer. It saw wider adoption across different types of devices, and as a result, Apple eventually discontinued its Lightning ports and started manufacturing iPhones with USB-C ports. So it doesn't matter even if you're the most valuable company in the world; your customers' best interests are paramount, and it's prudent to prioritize them.

Invest in R&D

As we mentioned in the previous section, standards are replaceable; an improved and better standard can come along anytime, and your organization can even be the one that introduces it. This, however, is possible only through a dedicated and meaningful investments of time, money, and effort into research and development (R&D).

By investing in R&D, you can go one step beyond delivering the acceptable best; you can present something new that customers come to accept. Organizations like Samsung and Toyota—giants in their respective industries—invest heavily in R&D and own patents that even their competitors use.

So once you identify the acceptable best in your industry and start delivering it consistently, aim to expand your horizons and try to be a trend-setter—not just a trend-getter.

Being the best in the business isn't easy by any stretch of imagination. It requires mindful direction and meaningful action. Delivering the acceptable best is an effective starting point towards providing your customers with a great experience and becoming a market leader.

Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments, and follow Simplified CX for more such useful content.