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Photo courtesy of Pixaby

I live for teaching and speaking about how to give outstanding, knock-your-socks-off customer service.  I share ideas on how to expand company profit margins, increase employee morale/productivity, how to retain existing customers and get new ones.

For many years, I have spoken about the importance of knowing your customer.  It’s the best way to anticipate their needs, fulfill their wants and to get in front of and solve potential problems.  Some businesses claim they know the secret to winning customers.  They say it’s the quality of their product or service, however, a Walker study shows that by year 2020 (less than 3 years from now), the customer experience will overtake price and product as THE key brand differentiator—and you HAVE to know HOW to deliver that experience and one of the ways is to understand how to manage the digital experience.

Photo provided by Pixaby

A company hired me to consult with their managers who were having difficulty satisfying customers.  The managers told me, “We do the best we can to satisfy clients!  What do they expect us to do, walk on water?”

My response:  No, they want you to rock their world by:

(1) Giving them your UNDIVIDED attention when they are talking to you.

(2) Not being too quick to assess their situation (don’t assume you know what your client is going to say).  Customers want you to be PATIENT with them.  When a client doesn’t know what they don’t know, it may take them longer to convey what they want YOU to know about their situation.

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.