I’ve mentioned Drew McLellan‘s concept of the watering hole here. The idea in his own words:
“You’re on a photo safari. You want to get a great shot of the elusive white tiger. Where do you go? How about where the tigers hang out? Where is their watering hole? Odds are pretty good that if you hang out where the tigers hang out, you’ll get that shot.
The same is true of your customers. Want to have access to them? Go where they go. Walk their walk. Talk their talk. By hanging out at your customer’s watering hole, they become a person you’re having a conversation with, not a crowd you are shouting at.”
Makes sense. Your customer’s watering hole is a social place, a location where she hangs out or talks or drinks with friends, and, ideally, you. But what about the times when your customer is not at her watering hole, when she’s not being social, the times when she’s alone?
When I was a kid, for years my family would spend two summer weeks at Zemplinska Sirava, “the Slovak sea”. After dinner or whenever I was mad or sad or just wanted to be alone to think, I’d climb the huge weeping willow that stood near the hotel. I’d take a toy car with me or a book or an action figure, something safe, something to keep me company when I become invisible to the world. Each object was my number one favorite thing at the time and I brought it along even when I had no desire to interact with anyone.
What I’m saying is: If you can, be with your customer when she’s at her weeping willow. Create products she’ll grow fond of, love, and bring along, to keep her company when she’s by herself, in her safe place.
It won’t work for every company or product, of course. But for those that it can, it’ll work wonders. It requires relating to your customer, empathizing with her, being there for her, knowing and understanding what she needs in alone times, as well as some luck (though the harder you work, the luckier you get…but that’s for another post). And it also means finding the weeping willow in the first place. Go forth, explore the weeping willow land!
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Image credit: dospaz
