*Written by Superdream’s Managing Director, Jason Manning. *
Our customers are the lifeblood of our business.
Good customers will be loyal, will return again and again and most importantly, will recommend you to others – acting as ambassadors for your company, your brand, your products and services.
Far too many businesses focus all of their energy and activity on the acquisition of new customers but fail to recognise the importance of their existing clients. In some cases, businesses go further and can often be found guilty of taking their customers somewhat for granted and neglecting them.
Taking our customers for granted is, for me, the cardinal sin. There is simply no excuse for this. We know that our competition is constantly trying to attract our customers and win them from us. We must, as business leaders, work in equal measures to protect our client base and to then expand it. We must wear two hats and be equally great at hunting and farming. Hunting obviously refers to the acquisition of new business, whereas here I’m taking about the farming function – caring for and nurturing our existing customers.
## Deliver a superior service
As business leaders we have to make sure that our service is consistently better than the competition. Customers will, in turn, feel valued, special, and will return again and again. Most importantly, they will tell others and will become part of our sales force!
Great businesses take customer service even further and seek to provide a better service than anyone else. This simple philosophy assumes that your competition is everyone else who provides a service to your customers whether they are in your sector or not. In this case our goal is to provide the best level of customer service available.
Think about yourself as a customer, and the businesses you are loyal to. Quality of service will play an important part of why you return and we want our customers to feel the same way about our business.
In my experience there are two types of businesses out there. The first over-promise and often under deliver. This is the case for the majority of businesses who place all of their service effort at the front end and not enough at the back end. They win lots of new business but lose customers as a result of poor service delivery. The result is often disappointing for customers who understandingly, vote with their feet, and go elsewhere. The second type are few and far between but are always highly regarded and rewarded by loyal customers. These businesses under-promise and over deliver. We need to excite and thrill our clients by giving them a wonderful experience in all of their dealings with us. We need to deliver a service that is the best our clients have experienced from any business at any time.
## Build a simple contact strategy
Good businesses are consistent businesses, and consistent customer contact is the key here. Look at each category of customer and think about an appropriate service level for frequency of meetings, reviews and updates. Talk to the staff involved in managing these customers and define a level of service that will ensure for every tier of client, their spend with you is protected and they are both carefully and appropriately managed.
Obviously, our contact strategy needs to cover far more than face to-face meetings: there are phone calls, emails, newsletters, and updates from your business, offers and incentives. Plan for, and schedule everything and stick to the plan. If you are due to meet a client this week then arrange it. If an e-shot is scheduled, send it, if a catch up phone call is due, make it.
What we are doing here with our contact strategy is making sure we maintain an on-going and regular dialogue with all customers and servicing each type of client appropriately.
A word of caution here though: Don’t use every point of contact to try to sell something new to your customer. Instead, use some contacts to remind customers of the good work you are doing, with news to help them in their line of work, with ideas or incentives that may help them.
Remember, happy customers are made happier by knowing you care, and having a considered contact strategy in place to maintain a regular dialogue will only serve to remind clients that they are valued and will make them less inclined to go elsewhere.
## Customer touchpoints
As well as a contact strategy, map out every contact or touch point with clients and check that every one is consistently handled and as good as it can be. Making appointments, confirming meetings 24 hours in advance, allocating a parking space for customers closest to the front door (there’s nothing that annoys me more than businesses that park the Directors right outside and expect their visitors to walk!).
Imagine seeing your offices for the first time and through the eyes of a customer. What does a client see, hear, taste, smell and how do they feel? Have a clean up and fix what can be fixed. Tidy up reception, offer drinks in new crockery, clear the meeting room and hang some artwork. Do what you can to enhance the appearance, professionalism and image of your offices, and therefore of your business.
Always follow up after a meeting as agreed and think about ways in which you can go the extra mile, maybe an article or contact that could help your client. I once introduced a client to my financial advisor when he was discussing uncertainty over his pension provision; he went on to become one of my best ever customers.
Remember, good service can be a number of small things all done very well that when combined represent great customer care. Ask good questions and listen carefully to the answers. Remember the small things and show genuine interest in your customer. They will love you for it.