As most of you know, I am an active member in the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce. I make great business connections there and it also serves as a great resource for hearing best business practices from other businesses.
Today I attended a “customer care” meeting. Now this meeting was talking about the chamber members being the “customer,” and basically how do we make the customer experience better so that they remain chamber members.
Regularly Interact with Customers
It got me to thinking about how I interact with my customers. And am I doing all that I can do to make their interaction with me and my team the best possible?
I am fortunate that many of our customers have been with us for more than 10 years. But I also have to be careful not to take them for granted. And I admit I did for a while. I got busy and didn’t stop by as often or even touch base regularly. While I didn’t lose any customers it was an eye opener when one mentioned that they only knew what was going on from receiving my newsletter!
Social Networks Won’t Replace Personal Interactions
And while we may be active on social member and connected with clients on one or more social platforms, it doesn’t replace the face to face interactions.
We had a big discussion about that at the meeting today. Why do people need to be members if they have LinkedIn and other social networks? And the answer was the personal touch. People still like to do business with people they know and trust.
If you are on LinkedIn and you ask for a referral from someone you don’t really know personally, how often do you get a response? Not very often I have found. However, if you have lunch with someone and they mention they know someone you’d like to meet and you ask for the referral (you do, don’t you?), how often does it happen? Pretty often, right?
The same goes for providing good customer care.
Be a Partner
If you aren’t interacting with your customers on a regular basis then you may be seen as just another “vendor.” I personally hate being a vendor for a customer. At the minimum I want to be a vendor partner, but truly I prefer being their partner. For one, it’s not as easy to fire a partner as it is a vendor.
So that’s my on-going goal in my customer care. Build a long-term relationship where we are seen as a valued partner.
I start by learning as much about my customer as I possibly can. That way I know I will be able to recommend the best possible products and services for them to make their job easier. Also, I learn how they personally work so that I can interact with them in the way they prefer.
For instance, some people like to plan ahead and get it off their plate. Others, need a bit of prodding to meet deadlines. So I have to be politely persistent to make sure they don’t end up without a project being completed on time.
Make them a Star
In my mind, it’s our job to help our customers be a star in their organization. We’re the ones there to remind them of an upcoming annual event, a special anniversary date or just bringing them an idea that we believe is a perfect fit for their brand. It’s our job to take the stress out of their job. Making sure they know that we will take care of it so they can move on to other things.
It’s also our job to pull off the impossible because we don’t want to let them down. And, again, we want to make them a star.
When I have a customer tell me that their CEO has just decided they want a thank you gift for a luncheon in 3 days, I’m going to make it happen. Why? Because I’m their partner, and that’s what I think a partner does.
Be a Part of Their Team
We celebrate their successes and understand when we really do need to pull off the impossible. Our team is part of their team. It’s “we” not us and them.
So if you don’t have a process for staying in touch with your customers (Outlook, CRM program or even just a spreadsheet) I’d suggest you may want to think about instituting one and then using it. You may miss a deadline you’ve given yourself for touching base, but hopefully not by more than a few days. It’s better than a few months!
We all get busy but we don’t want our customer thinking that we don’t care.
Danette Gossett is the founder of Gossett Marketing, co-founder of Promotions Rescource LLC and co-author of the best-selling book "Transform" with Brian Tracy. Danette utilizes her more than 30 years of advertising agency and corporate marketing experience to develop effective promotional campaigns and products for her clients. Visit GossettMktg.com or SalesPromo.org and follow us on twitter @MarketngTidbits.