The Unexpected Lesson from Chamois Butter: A Customer Service Perspective

Biking Adventures and Customer Insights
My friend Tom and I enjoy long bicycle rides, and one of the most memorable ones was the Ojai Century — a 100-mile ride through the stunning vistas of Summerland, Ventura, Ojai, and Santa Barbara. These events typically start early, and this one was no different — we had to be in Ojai by about 6 a.m.. One of the nice customer service touches at such events is that they give you a swag bag full of goodies.

As I shuffled through the bag, I felt what seemed like an energy gel. For those unfamiliar, these are small sachets of liquid that supposedly provide a boost of electrolytes. Thinking it would be helpful for the long day ahead, I ripped off the top of the sachet and downed it.

After a few seconds, I realized that what I’d just consumed was definitely not an energy gel — it was too pasty. I shouted to Tom, who was nearby setting up his bike, that I was a numbskull for eating sunscreen! I hadn’t read the instructions, but that’s sure what it looked like. Panicked, I began rubbing the rest of the sachet onto my arms and legs, but it wasn’t soaking in. What was this stuff?

Tom, a man of few words, noticed my distress and strolled over. After inspecting the sachet, he said, “That is chamois butter.” I had heard of chamois leather but never chamois butter, so I asked what it was. His response: “For your buttocks.”

This was my first encounter with chamois butter — apparently, it’s used to ease discomfort from long hours in the saddle. Who knew? I jokingly thought it might come up on “Jeopardy!” or “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” — and I wouldn’t even need to phone a friend.

Tom, ever the philosopher, added, “Look on the bright side, at least the sachet wasn’t already open.”

For the next 100 miles through beautiful Southern California, I couldn’t stop thinking about three things. First, would the taste of chamois butter ever leave my palate? Second, why did the designers of chamois butter present it in the same form as an energy gel? Was that an oversight, or did someone think it would be funny to confuse people like me? And third, I vowed to always read the instructions going forward.

This experience made me think about customer service and how, too often, we don’t fully understand what our customers want. We assume we know best. At the root of many customer service issues is simply not reading the instructions — not fully understanding or delivering what the customer has asked for.

I’ve observed that many leaders, who eventually fall from grace, do so because they didn’t read the instructions on what being a leader truly involves. Many consulting firms fail because they don’t understand exactly what their customers need. Similarly, many salespeople try to sell products or services their customers don’t actually want, failing to fully grasp the customer’s instructions.

The one time I think it’s acceptable to challenge customer instructions is in the area of innovation — where the instruction is to challenge the status quo. Henry Ford famously said, “If I would have asked my customers what they wanted, they’d have asked for a faster horse.”

I don’t think I’ll ever use chamois butter again — certainly not in the way I first used it. But that little sachet taught me an important lesson: always read the instructions.