HAVE YOU
FALLEN INTO THE TRAP?
Like
all savvy business people, you know that your financial success this
year will not come from going out and capturing lots of new customers,
it will
come from getting your existing customers to come again and again to
buy more and more. The cost of attracting new customers is very high
- often
much more than the value of the first sale. Existing customers, on
the other hand, are easier to sell to because they already know about
you, they have
a relationship with you and they probably trust you. But in this crowded
and competitive market retaining customers can be very difficult. Customers
are so fickle. They switch suppliers for no apparent reason.
The problem is that most businesses aim to satisfy their customers and that
target is too low. Satisfied customers walk. Research shows that 68% to 85%
of the customers who switch from one supplier to another were happy or very
happy at the time they switched. Happy customers deserting you. Now that is
a scary thought! The trouble is that when human beings get what they expect,
they do not notice it. And people who do not notice you will not stay loyal.
To retain your customers, to get them to notice you, you have to do more than
satisfy them. You have to work to make them successful. Rather than accepting
your customer's order, you must be proactive and work to understand what you
customer is trying to achieve. Find out the problems you customer is trying
to solve and help them to solve them. Understand the value they expect to obtain
from your product and service and make sure they get it. Identify customers
they have that they are trying to satisfy and help them to satisfy them. Basically
you have to get inside your customer's business, find out what they hope to
achieve and work to make them successful. Do not just talk to your customers.
Talk to your customer's customers and find out what they want from your customers.
And, then work to help your customers make their customers successful.
But understanding your customer's business is only part of it. You will not
be able to make your customers successful unless you have the right attitude.
You must follow the philosophy that if your customers win, then you win. This
is not what most of us do. Our policies, procedures, terms of trade and methods
of doing business scream at the custom "I'm going to win out of this transaction.
If you get something out of it that is nice, too. But I definitely will win." As
a result, we end up making our customers work for us, take the risks and pay
the price when things go wrong. Today's customers are simply not prepared to
do that.
If your customers believe that you are an important part of their own success,
they will not think of themselves as being your customer any more. They will
want to be your partner. Most businesses want to develop partnership relationships
with their customers but they do not realise this will not happen unless the
customer wants the relationship. And that will not happen unless you customers
believe you are committed to their success and see evidence that you can make
them successful. Partners are worth having. They are easy to retain, easy to
sell to and easy to profit from.
They are also easy to turn into advocates and that is the best kind of advertising
you can get. And its free!
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