Do You Have a Strategy to Delight Your Customers?
Do You Have a Strategy to Delight Your Customers?
Most businesses are just not tapping the potential to do more business, more frequently with their existing customers and are leaving money on the table for their competitors. Lacking the internal systems to manage the customer experience, most businesses invest too much in chasing new customers and do too little to delight and retain existing customers.
It is well established that:
• Satisfied customers are predisposed to purchase again, purchase more and purchase different products.
• It costs less to motivate a known customer to purchase again than to acquire a new customer.
• Customers are only fickle when a new competitor is paying more attention to them than you are.
Here's your recipe for customer delight.
Woo the Customer as Much Before as After the Sale.
How much do you really know about your customers or clients? Is it possible that some assumptions you've made about your customers are incorrect?
Ask yourself "Are there commonalities that are shared by many of my customers that I am unaware of?"
Find creative ways to meet and ask them.
Develop a system to touch your customers at least once per month.
The most successful companies are touching their customers once a week or more.
Continue to Market to Existing Customers
Do not make the mistake of assuming that current customers know what you are about? Do not take shortcuts or feel that you are boring customers by constantly promoting to them. If you have quality, service, guarantee price or other advantages point them out. Remind the customer why they came, what they have and what they can still get. Let them know more benefits will come from having more of your product or service.
Develop a Loyalty Reward Program
Determine who your best customers are. (Recently I asked a client of mine to do this exercise, and I was shocked at the lack of clarity in the determination of "best customer" - Her top revenue producing clients were the worst payers, drove the company's margin down, created the most logistic problems and bought a limited number of items in the company's product range) Here is my rule of thumb. Your best customers contributes 80 percent of your profit, buys more/large ticket items, buys often, buys on your recommendations, and pays well. Create a loyalty reward program based around what they value most Some of the factors that drive this group are symbols of exclusivity such as VIP parking, quick personal access to you, regular updates and private promotions or cross promotion with other VIP groups. Ask!
Ask for Advice and Get Creative.
Use the Law of Attraction Make your best customers aware that you are in the market looking for others just like them and would appreciate referrals who may want to experience the kind of service they have been receiving from you. At the same time you need to identify the next level of customers say 5-10% who you assess aspire for VIP status. Create a buzz among this group, give incentives such as discounts and volume upgrades for them to cross the hurdle and elevate to your VIP club. You will be amazed at what people will do for recognition or what a well thought out loyalty programme could do for your business
Now You Have Them, Keep Them
To who have you assigned the job of Customer Relations and Retention? Have you accepted the notion that your clients are mobile assets? Are you leaving your customers vulnerable to theft by a partner or employee with whom you just parted company? Are you implementing checks and balances that will alert you to customer maltreatment or negligence? Many customers will not take the time to complain they will simply vote with feet?
Entrepreneurs and business owners who don't take orchestrate a system for customer relations and retention, place their company's fortune on shifting sand. Regardless of the number of layers of distribution between you and your customer find a mechanism or forum where you can periodically establish some direct link. The owner of a restaurant can do that by coming around and chatting personally with the customers. The chief executive officer of a large company can do it with a hotline telephone number, well designed easy to fill and return comment cards or maybe a newsletter featuring a voice of the customer segment. Your customers are the most powerful assets in your business, even if you sell the business, they can become a great source for referrals and given the multidimensional nature of most clients they have desires that transcend the ability of any single industry or product to satisfy. A strategy top delight your customers should be an integral part of any business strategy tool kit
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