Customer Service Chronicle

Are you delivering the value customer most want?

 In today’s world, many business owners, CEOs and managers are concerned about losing customers and in today’s economy, who can afford to lose any customers.  In addition, the economic pressures are forcing the customers to actively look for ways to reduce expenses and to save money.  As a result, business are desperately scrambling to develop clever campaigns, promotions and giveaways in hopes to either attract more clients or at a minimum, keep the clients that they already have.

But while these special promotions can generate a temporary interest, there is one proven method that will guarantee you to keep your customers coming back again and again… its called value.

Bringing value to your customerconsistently with each interaction will make all the difference and sometimes the best defense is a strong offense.  Some easy tips:

1)      Be able to truly define your differentiation and then evaluate your operational strategies and confirm that you are adding value and supporting that proposition.

 

2)     Educate your staff on how to communicate with your customers.  Train them on what you expect in terms of frequency, tone, responsiveness and encourage them to go the extra mile.  Strong customer service is no longer a value add, it is a minimum expectation of performance.

 

3)     Re-evaluate your offering and make adjustments if necessary.  If you are in the restaurant business, evaluate your menu items, if you are in the service business, evaluate your customer requirements such as invoice or administrative process.

 

4)     Take a look at offering training or education as additional value you can offer your customers.  Put together a training document educating them on the importance of your product, a new technique or best practices.

 

5)     Determine your signature item and deliver on it every time.  Every business has a signature item, that one thing that sets them apart, this is the time for you to capitalize on that item.

The final thing you can do to really find out if you are delivering the the value that your customers want most, is to ask your customers what you can do more of.

The Key to Turning Strangers into Customers - a Blog Review

With my twitter obsession, I am connected to great resources and passionate people.  One of my connections is to the Guerrilla Marketing Coach and he sent out a post (or in twitterland) a "tweet" on Turning Strangers into Customers and do you want to know what the morale of the story is....  Connect with people on a human level, build relationships and don't sell!

In his blog post "The Key to Turning Strangers into Customers", he gives some great stats on why customers leave:

15% leave because of quality issues

15% leave because they found a better price

70% leave because they didn't like the human side of doing business - Customer Service

I would recommend checking his site out, it is informative and light... have fun!

Making a Difference With Your Customers

It’s no secret that we are in a very competitive market with heavy competition seeking to gain additional market share.  Companies are deploying various tactics to get in front of your customers and wooing them away.  Those who are using the same “business as usual” methods are at risk of losing their loyal customer base.   In today’s market many business owners are asking what to do next.  It is simple. Put yourself in shoes of the customer and use these tips for making a difference with your customers.

1.       Your customer is facing the same economic pressures – re-evaluate your pricing model and see if there is any room to offer some discounts or additional value.  Even 1% will make a difference and show that you understand the turmoil they are in.  If you can’t offer a discount in pricing, evaluate if there is an additional service or product that you can offer at no charge.  Look at the process and see if there is something you can provide to streamline the entire approach to help your customer become more efficient.

2.      Your customer has been giving more responsibility with a reduction in departmental staff.  – You hear it on the news every day, unemployment is at an all time high and 10% of the workforce is unemployed.  Most likely, your client has been impacted and has reduced staff doing the workload of many.  Be sensitive to this factor and see how you can take off some of the burden.  Perhaps there is an administrative process you can take over on their behalf or a function that complements both business models.  Now is the time to look how you both can be more efficient and coming together to work on a solution will build your relationship.

3.      Your customer is being bombarded with calls from your competitors. – Competition is at an aggressive place.  Everyone is looking to supplement their losses and are willing to offer anything to stay afloat.  In times of weakness, some offers may appear attractive to your customers – remember they are under a lot of pressure.  Don’t give your customers a reason to talk to the completion.  If you are doing a great job, have strong customer service and are going over and above the call of duty, your customers will not want to go over to the competition.  Transitioning business is a difficult tasks and requires focus, time and resources and your customers don’t have that luxury so it is easier to continue to do business with you rather than make a change.  So don’t give them a reason to want to change right now and continue to over deliver – you will have a customer for life.  

4.      Your customers want to know what is going on.  Stay in touch often and over communicate with your customers.  Give them a friendly ear to vent and a partner to offer solutions.  Remind them why you are in business together by living up to your end of the agreement and continue to demonstrate your commitment by using these tips.  They will begin to feel as though they are losing control or dropping the ball because they are so busy, help them keep that control and keep them updated at all times.  Contact them even if you don’t have an answer, just to let them know you are working on their project.  Create a report for your customers that provide them with updates and send it to them on a regular frequency.  Your customer may never say it, but they will greatly appreciate it.

Now is the time for Client and Service Provider to come together to weather the storm.  We are all navigating changing winds and need to work together to build solid and profound business relationships that transcends space and time.  By putting yourselves in the shoes of your customers and making changes to support the times, you will be building solid partnerships and creating customer loyalty.