Know Thy Customer - What AirBnB Did For Business Growth!

INTRODUCTION:

As small business accountants and advisors, I am fascinated by industry disrupters and how they buck the status quo. Having a point of difference makes such a difference and really does give an advantage in the marketplace.

If you ask people why they think that AirBnB has become so successful they will mostly assume that it's because they can offer something cheaper than a hotel and provide better value like for like. However, Karen Dillon in Harvard Business Review and author of the forthcoming Competing Against Luck: The Story Of Innovation and Customer Choice recently talked about the concept of "Jobs To Be Done". What this means that your product or service is really just for hire to get a specific job done for your customers.

Here is a brief summary of how AirBnB and others understood this and experienced massive business growth.

Figure 1: What differing experience could you offer as an AirBnB host or in business that makes people go "Wow!"  Photo courtesy Lara Scolari Gallery Balmain

1. StoryBoarding

Prior to starting the company the owners painstakingly sat down with hosts and guests and "story boarded" 45 different emotional moments.

They asked things about hosts and guests such as:

• What are their  gender?
• How old are they?
• Where do they live (city or country)?
• Why do they host and why do they travel?
• What do the guests hope to experience when they show up?
• How will the host fix issues for the guests during their stay and have they made this very clear?

From here they started to design the model for every type of particular use.

2. Putting Yourself In Customers' Shoes

AirBnB focused very much on customer experience. This is true for any enterprise whether you are a small business accountant Sydney or Dubbo or a publican in Birdsville. How are customers greeted? Will soft music be playing with a scented candle?

Exactly what job is the customer expecting the product or service to do for them? If you truly understand this and put yourself in their shoes they will keep coming back and spread the word about the amazing experience they had dealing with your company.

This issue is that many business owners or salespeople do not analyse what their customers want or the experience they are after. They sometimes focus on the benefits and try and ram these down people's throats! This will work sometimes but it would be far better to get out and survey existing or potential clients and really get to the bottom of what they are looking for and what others in your space are not providing.

Figure 2: Sometimes you just have to really put yourself in somebody's shoes to understand what they want.

3. Problem Solving

Dillon points out that Uber is more than getting a nice car from point A to point B. It is a problem solver. People like the fact they don't need cash and will know exactly when the driver is going to turn up. Their alternatives do not have these abilities and this is what made Uber so popular. More information on her article can be found here.

Figure 3: Seek advice from your customers - ask and listen! Talking too much will kill the sale. Photo courtesy Balmain Baz and Lara Scolari Gallery Balmain

CONCLUSION:

If you are a business owner or a salesperson for a company, what lessons can be learned from AirBnB and Uber? Do you really understand what "Jobs Need To Be Done" by your product or service?

Until you understand your customers and find out, your sales will not nearly grow as quickly as they could have. This means increased revenue and profits are walking out the door and all of those marketing dollars spent to create leads are not being converted as much as they could have.

Now that is what I call a crying shame!