limited end-user communication: how to bridge the gap

Do you want to feel like the work you do matters? Most people crave a job that they feel pride in doing. At work, people often enjoy interacting face to face with customers who use their products regularly. These meetings are called end-user interactions. They occur in business when the person using a product or service interacts with its provider. Now more then ever with record numbers of people working from home, communication can be important. Connection with end-users can be beneficial to employees. But not all companies can interact with customers directly.

What do you do if you have limited end-user communication?

So how do businesses who don’t see their end-users operate? What does a business lose when it has less contact with end-users? How can these setbacks be overcome? Well, with a little bit of planning, a company can maintain an end-user relationship with almost no direct contact. But first, you have to decide if that’s right for your business.

End-User Value

So what does having regular contact with end-users bring to the table? Direct customer interaction lets a company know how well it’s performing. If customers are talking about how much they love you, great! But if they have some suggestions you might be wise to listen to them. Interacting with customers can make or break a business. This kind of feedback is valuable. With limited end-user communication, companies often have to resort to costly neuromarketing studies to acquire the same information.

Besides information, end-users create a sense of fulfillment in a job. Without some of this feedback, it can be hard for some employees to feel the value their job provides. For example, let’s look at restaurants. A recent trend in dining spaces is open concept kitchens. These kitchens are designed to allow chefs to interact more closely with customers. Some restaurants feel like this improves the dining experience by creating interactions with end-users. So how can you generate more end-user interactions?

Pictures of People

A straightforward way to create a link between customers and providers is to see their pictures. People have an easier time relating to folks when they can put a face to a name. Because images can humanize a group, they are useful to business with less face to face interactions. When a company creates a front for communications, the difficulty is harder for people to generalize about the companies. Pictures have a similar effect on customers in reverse.

A lot of companies have seen success by showing real employees in their advertising. From spotlights ads to letting employees design the entire production, showcasing workers has seen real success. This also enables employees to understand the best examples of their work in action. Another tactic for businesses with limited end-user conversation is to spread these kinds of stories.

Internal End-User Stories

So we’ve talked about how customers benefit from workers’ success stories, but can workers benefit too? The short answer is yes—however, it’s important to remember to keep the stories focused on successes, not failures. Promoting success stories creates a positive environment that improves workplace morale. One typical example of this is nightly reports where workers mention highlights of their work shifts. This creates a source of positive stories that higher-ups can distribute. When looking for insider stories, and the end-user story should be inspirational to workers but also show the customer positively. But what if these interactions rarely happen?

External End-User Stories

Sometimes a Job requires very little interaction with end-users. One example of this would be forest rangers. A lot of times, forest rangers are isolated and can go weeks without contacting a random person in their park. Sometimes the value of this job can be overlooked, and it can be hard to be motivated to protect people if you don’t see them. By sharing success stories of forest rangers, the sense of duty is upheld.

Similarly, in any field where interaction is limited, sharing success stories can help motivate workers. If a person can see their peers succeeding, they will be driven to succeed too! This tactic can also improve employee retention.

The hiring process can be complicated and costly. So if sharing stories of employees succeeding can increase loyalty its a valuable too. If an employer takes the time to make their company feel like a community, everyone will benefit in the long term. This is the significant benefit of spreading end-user stories externally. Because the sample size grows, the employees can see the value of their work as an industry, not just an individual.