THIS IS THE PHASE OF YOUR BUSINESS WHERE you must start learning, understanding and applying the three guiding principles of customer relationships:
1. Attraction
2. Conversion
3. Retention
Remember that customers’ buying decisions are as emotional as they are rational – and much of this emotion resides in the human relationships that characterize the interaction. So, to respond effectively to the customers’ emotional needs, your company must do two things:
• Guarantee a positive and respectful human interaction at every point of the interaction – even (and perhaps, especially) in times of conflict.
• Deliver a differentiated and treasured value proposition that connects with the customers’ most valued emotional needs, as well as their technical needs. This delivery should take place as the result of an intentional, consistently executed, company process.
Your value proposition is where most of the emotional connection points, between you and customers, live. You need to look at this part of your business critically, and on an ongoing basis, because if you don’t connect with your customer, you will not be able to sell effectively. Nor will many people buy your product.
CUSTOMER RETENTION
TO ENJOY THE MANY BOTTOM-LINE BENEFITS of thriving customer relationships, you must first grow and retain a set
of valuable customer relationships.
If you don’t nurture relationships, before and after a purchase, you could easily lose up to 90% of them.
Think of the implications, given the fact that 81% of sales happen after seven or more contacts with prospective customers. Nurturing existing relationships increases the number of quality contacts between you and the client, increasing the likelihood of ongoing sales.
My advice is twofold:
– Do an outstanding job in delivering the product or service; and
– Use a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system to nurture your relationships, and to maximize your Customer Lifetime Value.
HOW TO ‘WOW’ YOUR CUSTOMER
I ONCE VISITED MOUNT SHEBA for a few days’ holiday. When I stepped outside our room on the first morning, I realized our dusty car had been washed. “Wow!” I thought. I was too sleepy to think anything else. I was, in a word, simply wowed.
Today is surely one of the best and easiest times to “wow” your customers, because so many companies just don’t bother with this aspect of business. This is particularly true when it comes to small and medium-sized businesses, many of whom seem to think that customer satisfaction isn’t something with which they need to bother. If you put a little bit of effort into impressing your customer, the chances are very good that your effort will be rewarded several times over.
The hearts and minds of our customers is what we are truly competing for. Access to their wallets is secondary. We are operating in the age of “being in a relationship” with customers, and this relationship (like any relationship) is defined by the mix between matters of the heart and of practicality. If you think logic is the only force necessary to cement strong relationships with your clients, think again.
Logic says, “don’t do what’s unnecessary”. Logic says, “don’t add value if you don’t get paid for it”. But logic forgets that it’s the human relationship as much as anything else that gives people a reason to come back to your business. Back to Mount Sheba, for example. It’s what you do today to show your customer that you value them, and that you want to help them live their best life possible, that establishes a long-term relationship that stretches far beyond today’s transaction.
Within this context, remember that a strong relationship focus is very logical in a strict business sense. It costs close to seven times more to get a new customer than it does to get an existing customer to spend more money with you. If you put a little effort in now, to secure future business, you lay the foundation for a life-long relationship with a customer where you both gain significantly from each other.
FIVE STEPS TO WOW YOUR CUSTOMER
If your efforts to wow your customer are fake, don’t bother. Human beings are instinctively skilled at recognizing fake smiles and fake effort. When a customer perceives this kind of fakery, the impact on your operation is negative. You’re hurting your business.
Wowing customers doesn’t happen by accident. Wow only happens when you have the intention to wow.
You need to be willing to incur some costs. It doesn’t cost a lot to wow a customer, but if you also understand the relationship between cost and value, you will be able to use what budget you do have to maximum impact. Accept that some spend will be necessary and look for areas of activity that will cost you the least and create the most value in your customer’s mind.
Surprise your customer. Wow them when they least expect it. If you implement your wow only when a customer buys from you, then you lose the impact. This is the most expected moment. Why not do it months after your last interaction? Look to explore unexpected times and spaces and reap the rewards.
Even the simplest CRM (Customer Relationship Management) packages support wow campaigns.
THE BOTTOM LINE OF WOW: IT’S A SIGN OF GENUINE HUMAN CONTACT
IF A SURPRISE OR GIFT WAS NECESSARY, then it wouldn’t be a surprise (or much of a gift), would it? Therefore, husbands don’t buy their wives vacuum cleaners for their birthdays, and wives seldom splash out on lawnmowers for their loved ones.
Always remember that a little goes a long way. That washed car at Mount Sheba cost the owners less than $5. But the act of washing the car was one of thoughtful human contact. Just think about how much positive word-of-mouth benefit Mount Sheba is getting from this action right now. Then, multiply this impact out across the number of cars they have washed through the years.
Wow!
Understanding the Benefits of CRM (Customer Relationship Management) Software
CRM IS A SYSTEM USED TO ORGANISE AND AUTOMATE marketing, sales and customer service.
Why use a CRM system? Why not just do it all yourself?
The idea behind your business should be to achieve scale – to move beyond the point where the business owner is doing everything always. It may be possible for you to manage customer interactions on the fly right now, but soon you will be too busy to give this aspect of what you do the proper attention it requires. You’ll stop wowing your customers because you’ll have other things on your plate.
A CRM system allows you to keep a grip on vital customer interactions, no matter how busy you are personally. It also allows a staff member to manage this function without your direct input. Think about the medium- and long-term implications of this.
In my view, CRM is a must.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking CRM systems are only relevant to large organizations. There are a range of powerful and cost-effective systems available for small and medium-sized businesses that allow you to manage your interactions and relationships with customers, using all the data associated with them, drawn from your relationship.
I recommend the following CRM and marketing automation systems for small and medium-sized businesses:
For a comprehensive sales and marketing automation course, log into the A-Game Business online course, which can be purchased here: www.agamebusiness.com/online-course/
It’s time to let go.
You created this thing, this business, and this group of people.
You need to let it fly. You need to step back, and give it wings. The biggest wings you can find. There is no way you can be in the middle of it all anymore.
Letting go takes vision. A sharp, clear picture of where you want it all to go. It also takes faith and trust in what you’ve created.
