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I remember when I began dating as a young woman and being made to feel as though I was the most important person in his life.  It’s a feeling that even now gives me fond memories of warmth and tenderness.

Now, I don’t mean to get mushy, but think of your customers as the one and only reason that you are in business.  Let’s face it, you already spend a lot of money on marketing and advertising to attract them, so why not do more to keep them?

Try this:

A)   Take customer loyalty to a higher level.  Beef up your company’s “Thank You For Your Purchase” webpage.  Add resourceful information on how to get the best use out of the product/service they bought.  Follow up with a call/text/social media contact.  Consider making the “Thank You” page engaging and attractive.

B)   Do you have the right person/team managing your customer loyalty program?  They must possess crucial qualifications to work well with others.  They MUST believe in the value of qualitative and quantitative data analysis and understand how to read and interpret it.

Are you turning off your clients by asking the wrong questions? Not asking enough questions?  Are you trying to sell to everyone or have you narrowed your focus to a specific demographic?

Organizations who want to use their time and resources wisely, don’t try to sell everything to everyone.  They develop a target plan, stick to it and revise as necessary.

The best way to “hit the target” of delivering stellar customer experiences is to:

* Thoroughly analyze your products and services so that you can answer identifiable problems.  Every prospect is not a good fit for your business.

* Know your customer;  what are the demographic characteristics of your customer?

Photo courtesy of Pixaby

Few things are more beautiful than a single rose.  White roses speak of appreciation sustained by loyalty.

Any business worth its salt is in constant pursuit of loyal customers.  I believe that the best path to obtain customer loyalty is for companies first be loyal to their employees.  According to the research firm, Adobe, 47% of Americans would leave their jobs, even if it meant less pay.  Employees want security and want to be assured that their employers are faithful to them. Among other things, that faithfulness gives employees a sense of job stability and less feeling of a threat of being terminated.

The Memorial Day holiday is near!!  It is time to remember and honor the men and women who died in active U.S. military service.  Memorial Day was first known as Decoration Day; it originated after the Civil War and became an official U.S. federal holiday in 1971.

This year, make Memorial Day extraordinary by honoring living veterans and deliberately giving them excellent service.  By doing so, it will show your appreciation for their service to our great country.

Now, suppose I were to tell you that 91% of consumers will NOT return to your company after a negative experience…would that make a difference in how you and your team deliver customer service?  Make a point to clarify in the minds of your employees how, when and why they should give customers amazing experiences.  After a designated period of time, meet with them and ask how they felt when they gave amazing service.  Allow them to share with their peers; use the exercise as a teaching moment.  The activity will result in employees who feel empowered and a sense of belonging which will increase morale.

You wouldn’t play football without a helmet so don’t run your business without a great customer service plan and philosophy.

To retain existing customers and to get new ones, companies MUST get smarter about customer service delivery and understand how to give them CONSISTENT amazing experiences.  You must know your customer!

For example.  Customers of almost every demographic are moving away from using the telephone for self-service and going directly to company FAQs, websites and other channels to obtain answers to questions about products and services.  They will not tolerate difficult navigation through your web pages and shopping experiences.  A whopping 78% of consumers have bailed on a transaction because of a bad experience.  (Source:  American Express Survey, 2011)