Who is Rover?

Rover may sound like a trusty hound and he is in a way, but he's not a real dog. No Rover is more like friend, although a virtual one.

Rover is helping me remember a few things about customers that may be a bit of a radical thought for some people: customers are not stupid.

There you go, I have said it. Too many companies are still acting like they are! They actually think that the sultry youth in the shop who folds your new dress into a sort of scrunch and shoves it into a bag with a grimace won't make a difference to you shopping there again (It's you BHS). They actually think that we won't mind spending 50 minutes on the phone to someone in a "service" centre because the broadband is offline again and that we'll stay with the company anyway and won't tell our friends to stay well clear (it's you TalkTalk).They actually think that you can easily book a flight on their web site and that you don't mind paying £60 for your baggage (it's you Ryanair).

I would suggest these companies take a look at ROVER and just remind themselves of something really surprisingly simple about customers and what they want

R for Reception
a proper greeting in a timely fashion, in the place they decide and they way they decide
O for Options
A choice of options and the ability to make an informed choice.
V for Value for money
Evidence of value for money.
E for Efficiency
A simple and efficient purchase process.
R for Reassurance
Lots of reassurance that this is right place and this is a great purchase.

Not rocket science is it?