The Customer is Not Always Right: Five Probing Questions That Challenge Assumptions and Deliver the Best Outcomes
As we all know, every business is part of a constantly evolving technological landscape that can be difficult to navigate. Decision-makers face a myriad of choices to stay competitive and innovative. One of the most important things an engineering team does is challenge their clients’ assumptions.
Here, the experts at Codiance – the people-centric enterprise system builders – ask critical questions and guide their partners towards strategic and impactful decisions and solutions.
As part of this, they have five fundamental questions that help ensure their customers make the best decisions for their organisations.
Adam Arkley, Director of Technology, at Codiance discusses why it’s important to be asking these questions and how others can benefit from asking them:
“At Codiance, we challenge assumptions to drive innovation and growth. By asking the right questions, we ensure every project aligns with our clients’ broader goals, leading to smarter, more strategic investments. The customer is not always right, but with our guidance, they’re always on the right path.”
- What is your ‘why’?
“Every project should start with a clear understanding of its purpose, along with alignment to the overarching organisational goals. Particularly with large organisations, we sometimes find our customers embark on initiatives without full visibility to the knock-on effect within the wider business. In many instances, we’re fortunate to have a better birds-eye view of business operations than many of the business units themselves, allowing us to add further value to decision-making.
“By ensuring a project is considerate of the entire organisation, we help clients avoid siloed thinking and promote a more integrated approach to growth. In addition, this holistic perspective often reveals hidden opportunities and potential pitfalls, enabling more informed decision-making.”
- Is what you’re asking the right thing to do?
“Many clients come to us with preconceived solutions that may solve the challenge but may not fully leverage the potential of modern technology. Our role is to help clients explore the full spectrum of technological possibilities.
“As we often work across several business units within a company, we can also support clients to think beyond immediate fixes and consider transformative solutions that can drive substantial long-term value. By challenging those initial assumptions and ideas, we can often open-up new pathways for innovation and efficiency, ensuring that technology can be an enabler of business growth across the wider business.”
- Is this project reactive, or a long-term investment?
“In the fast-paced environment we all live and work in, it’s easy to fall into the trap of reactive decision-making. We help our clients and partners to differentiate between reactive projects and long-term investments. We ask our clients to evaluate whether their initiatives are addressing immediate pressures or contributing to sustained success. Both are legitimate reasons to carry out development work, however, it’s key that short-term versus long-term are conscious decisions.
“By supporting our clients in making this distinction, we can better foster a forward-thinking mindset. The outcome is ensuring work is focused on investing in projects that are not only relevant today but also scalable and adaptable for the future. This strategic approach ensures investments yield long-term benefits and resilience.”
- What does success look like to you?
“Defining success is crucial for any project. We work with clients to establish clear, measurable goals and realistic expectations for return on investment (ROI). We challenge clients to think critically about what success means for their specific context and how it can be quantified.
“This does not mean we exclude qualitative benefits that don’t easily measure against data-driven analysis alone, however being able to measure impact in a meaningful way is key.
“This process helps align stakeholders and creates a shared vision of success, enabling more focused efforts and better outcomes. It also helps us gain buy-in from the wider business and support broader business objectives. By setting precise benchmarks, we ensure that every project has a clear trajectory towards achieving meaningful results.”
- Can you realistically achieve what you want with your budget?
“Budget constraints are always a key consideration. However, we are always encouraging clients to view budgets as a strategic tool – rather than a limitation. We ask probing questions about the feasibility of their goals within any financial constraints and explore the potential benefits of increased investment.
“Discussing and encouraging increased budgets is an area that requires trust and requires the relationship to be a true partnership. Sometimes, spending more upfront can lead to superior long-term returns, or open new engineering opportunities that drive further efficiency and innovation. By carefully considering the balance between cost and value, we help clients make informed financial decisions that support sustainable growth.
“Challenging assumptions and asking the right questions is essential to our approach and ensures we become trusted advisors in the use of technology within every business we support. By fostering critical thinking and strategic planning, we empower our clients to achieve their goals in a way that is thoughtful, innovative, and future-proof. The customer is not always right, but with the right guidance, they can always be on the path to success.”
Asking these critical questions can help guide your partners and clients towards making strategic and impactful decisions that drive results.
For more tips from the team at Codiance, please visit The People-Centric Enterprise System Builders | Codiance and get in touch for further expert commentary.