YOU NEED
TO AIM HIGHER
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,
but from getting
your existing customers to come back 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. Also, if you want to sell more to
your existing
customers, you first have to keep them. 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 you satisfy someone you simply give
them what they expect; and when they get what they expect, they don’t notice
it. And people who don’t notice you will not stay loyal.
You have to do more than satisfy your customers to retain them. Years ago,
Xerox discovered that very satisfied customers were six times more likely to
re-purchase than those who were simply satisfied. To make your customers very
satisfied so they notice you, you have to aim to make them successful. Rather
than accepting your customer’s order, you must be proactive and work to understand
what your customer is trying to achieve. Find out the problems your 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 customers “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 your 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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