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Eight Ways To Turn Customers Into Fans, part 2

Apr 13, 2014 | Customers

Raving_Fans

Eight Ways to Turn Customers into Fans, part 2

So how did you do this week with turning your customers into raving fans?

Are you connecting with your audience on social media?  Did you set aside time in your calendar to explore ideas? Did you spend any time thinking about the four principles we looked at last week? Did you take action on any of them?  Did you tell anyone else about your goal?

But how do you actually achieve that?  Here are the last four of eight proven principles you can use to make sure your customers are raving fans (the first four I posted last week):

  1. Bounce back with effective service recovery.  Sometimes things do go wrong. When it happens to your customers, do everything you can to make things right again, as soon as possible.  Fix the problem.  Show sincere concern for any discomfort, frustration or inconvenience.  Then “do a little bit more” by giving your customers something positive to remember – a token of goodwill, a small gift of appreciation, a discount on future orders, or an upgrade to a higher class of product.

This is not the time to lay blame for what went wrong, or to calculate the costs of repair.  Restoring customer goodwill is worth the price in future orders and new business.

  1. Appreciate your complaining customers.  Customers with complaints may be your best allies in building and improving your business.  They point out where your system is faulty, and where procedures are weak or problematic. They show you where your products are below expectations or your service doesn’t measure up.  They point out areas where your competitors are getting ahead, or where your team is falling behind.  These are the same insights and conclusions that people pay consultants to provide…but a “complainer” gives them to you free.

And remember, for every one person who complains, there are many more that won’t even bother to tell you.  The others just take their business elsewhere.  At least the complainer gives you a chance to reply and set things right.

  1. Take personal responsibility.  In many organizations, people are quick to blame others for problems or difficulties at work: managers blame staff, staff blame managers, engineering blames sales, sales blames marketing and everyone blames finance.  This doesn’t help.  In fact, with all the finger-pointing going on, it tends to make things worse.

Blaming yourself doesn’t work either.  No matter how many mistakes you may have made, tomorrow is another chance to do better.  You need high self-esteem to give good service.  Beating yourself up doesn’t help.

It doesn’t make sense to blame the computers, the system or the budget, either. This kind of justification only prolongs the pain before the necessary changes take place.

The most reliable way to bring about constructive change in your organization is to take personal responsibility and help make good things happen.  Make recommendations, propose new ideas, give your suggestions, volunteer to help out with problem-solving teams and projects. .

See the world from your customers’ point of view.  We often get so caught up in our own world that we lose sight of what our customers actually experience

  1. Make time to stand on the other side of the counter, or listen on the other end of the phone.  Be a “mystery shopper” at your own place of business.  Or be a customer for your competition.  What you notice is what your customers experience every day!

Finally, remember that service is the currency that keeps our economy moving.  “I serve you in one business, you serve me in another.”  When either of us improves, the economy gets a little better.  When both of us improve, people are sure to take notice.  When everyone improves, the whole economy grows stronger.  So, let’s all start looking after our customers and let the economy look after itself.  If you need help on creating raving fans in your business, get in touch with me to set up a complimentary consultation.

Eight Ways to Turn Customers into Fans, part 1

Apr 7, 2014 | Customers

turn customers into fans

How do you turn customers into Raving Fans?

Like it or not, we live in the fast paced, high stakes world of social media.   Make a mistake with a customer and the world will know about it instantly on Twitter, Facebook, Yelp, Pinterest and the like.  How do you stay ahead of the game?  The best way to generate positive posts and reviews, and retain your customers in the process, is by paying constant attention to your customer’s needs and expectations, and giving them only positive fuel for the fire.  It doesn’t take much for someone to feel like they need to go post the bad news about your business.  But if the mix is right, the occasional negative ones will go largely unnoticed.

But how do you actually achieve that?  Here are the first four of eight proven principles you can use to make sure your customers are raving fans (the last four I’ll post next week):

  1. Understand how your customers’ expectations are rising and changing over time.  What was good enough last year isn’t good enough now.  Use customer surveys, interviews and focus groups to really understand what your customers want, what they value, and think about what they are getting, (or not getting) from your business.  When was the last time you did a customer survey?  Turning customers into fans is a never-ending process, never stop doing this.
  1. Use quality service to differentiate your business from your competition.  Your products are reliable and up to date … but your competitors’ are likely to be, too. Your delivery systems are fast and user-friendly, but so are your competitors’! Make a real difference by providing personalized, responsive and “extra-mile service” that stands out in a unique way which customers will appreciate and remember.  Brainstorm ideas with your team. Come up with something that will truly stand out, something that no one else is doing.
  1. Set and achieve high service standards.  Go beyond basic and expected levels of service to provide your customers with desired and even surprising interactions.  Determine the “norm” for service in your industry, and then find a way to go beyond it.  Give more choice than “usual”, be more flexible than “normal”, be “faster” than the average and extend a “better” warranty than all the others or a better guarantee. Your customers will notice your higher standards.  But your competitors can eventually copy even the highest standards.  So don’t slow down.  Keep on improving.
  1. Learn to manage your customer’s expectations.  You can’t always give customers everything their hearts desire.  Sometimes you need to bring their expectations into line with what you know you can deliver.  The best way to do this is by first building a reputation for making and keeping clear promises.  Once you have established a base of trust and good reputation, you only need to ask your customers for their patience in the rare circumstances when you cannot meet their first requests.  Nine times out of 10 they will extend the understanding and the leeway that you need.     The second way to manage customer’s expectations and turn them into raving fans (indeed, to exceed them) is with the tactic called “Under Promise and Over Deliver”.  It works like this: your customer wants something done fast.  You know it will take one hour to complete.  Don’t tell your customer.  Let them know you will rush the project…but then promise 90 minutes.  Then, when you finish in just an hour (as you knew you would be all along), your customer is delighted that you actually finished the job “so quickly”.

Set aside an hour this week, put it into your calendar right now, when you can spend the time to think about these four principles to turn customers into fans.  Pick one, and spend the rest of the hour coming up with how you are going to implement it in your business.  Make it a goal.  Set yourself a deadline for achieving it, and write out all of the steps it will take to achieve it.  Put those steps on your calendar.  Now tell someone else about your goal, and when you’ll achieve it and how you will measure your success.  Need help?  Ask your team, your partner, or call your coach.  Remember, it doesn’t matter what you know, it only matters what you do with what you know.  Go do something.

Stay tuned, next week I’ll post the last four principles!  Can’t wait?  Get in touch with me now.

Critical Non-Essentials

Jan 21, 2014 | Customers

Colleagues working on project

Critical Non-Essentials – Make A difference to your Customers

Critical Non-Essentials.  Principles
You need to know your talents – and lack of them.

You have to know your stuff if you want to succeed.   But being technically competent in the core part of your business is not the be-all-and-end-all.   There are other things even more important if you want to build a successful, profitable enterprise.  Your experience and training does not always reward you for the things that are useful in the real business world.   Sometimes it even  encourages behavior that will be detrimental to your future business.
People use the environment to make value judgments about the character and talents of the people in that environment.  For good or bad, we do use the personal appearance of others to make judgments about their character and value.  Do not expect your customers to value the same things that you and your peers value.  The way you appear to do something is often more important than what you do.
Concerning what you do:
·        Logic – what people think is powerful
·        Emotion – what people feel is far more powerful still!!
·        People don’t always value technical excellence…sometimes they just tolerate it.
Introducing the CNE’s
Customers judge your expertise in areas they do not understand by your expertise in areas which they do.  When you pay attention to detail in the very visible, non-technical part of your business, clients will tend to judge your core product or service as also having the same level of quality control.  So these little things that are quite inessential for doing your job (and which don’t impress your peers at all) nevertheless seem to play a great part in persuading customers that you and your people are good at what you do.
So CNE’s are not really non-essentials at all.   In fact they are highly critical to any business.
That said…because they seem to be so unimportant it is often hard to find the time to systematize them…it’s far easier to justify the time to develop systems so that the main areas of your business are taken care of predictably.
Super CNE’s
·        They persuade uninvolved third parties to say nice things about your business.
·        Word of mouth is a powerful, speedy and cost effective way of marketing your business.
·        People value relationships above everything else.
·        I need to understand the power of the CNE’s to effortlessly do ‘good’ in my business.
How To Create CNE’s
Step 1:   Choose an area that will convince customers that you’re good at your core business.
e.g.   an electrician who creates a system for cleaning up after himself so that the work area is absolutely spotless, i.e.
   •    A detailed description of the method
   •    A checklist
   •    A system for reporting
   •    A small clean-up box with cloths, cleaning fluids, small vacuum, rubber gloves etc
  • e.g.   a dentist who has immaculately clean walls, floors and carpets etc doesn’t have to worry about posting impersonal notices about how they sterilize the instruments.
  • e.g.   a dental laboratory that presents caps with care to a dentist will have find that the dentists are far less likely to regard the quality of the cap suspiciously.
  • e.g.   a bank that sends out a statement that’s plain, easy to read and human is far more likely to keep customers happy than one that looks like it’s from an automatic blood-scanning machine & which is full of cold, impersonal words
No matter how good you say you are. It often takes a well-designed CNE to convince people that what you say is true.
Step 2:   Make sure everyone in your work team understands the power of the CNE.
The way to  persuade people to be vigilant and tireless in their creation & maintenance of CNE’s is to educate them to the real importance of the seemingly non-essentials.  You must show your people that it’s in their best interests to impress your customers…and then that CNE’s really WOW customers.
Step 3:   Make a system to ensure that the task is always completed flawlessly.
Design simple, routine systems to do your CNE’s  the same way every time – without a lot of effort or brainpower (which would be silly).
Systems = consistency 
It takes some effort to set them up but once perfected they’ll take little effort or thought. The outcome is…simple systems that make a large impact on the customers and, after initial development, require relatively little effort.
e.g.   Washrooms in a supermarket that are always immaculate
     •   Manual for the cleaners
     •   Training for the cleaners
     •   Card showing when due, cleaned
     •   Notices urging customers to report unsatisfactory state
     •   Periodic supervisor checks
     •   Weekly check of all cards
You & your team will be rewarded each time a CNE impresses a customer…and once the team realise the importance…your standards will rise.
Six Insights Into CNE’s
Well constructed CNE’s take on a life of their own – complex tasks will happen automatically. They work behind the scenes & s sometimes it’s hard to spot their immediate benefits.
Insight 1:   CNE’s will work with your team
Insight 2:   CNE’s will work with your suppliers. Concentrate on the little things in business & the big things will look after themselves.
Insight 3:   CNE’s are very efficient. They offer a far greater return on your investment of time & effort than most other things in your business. Work today while you have the time & energy in order to make things easier for you in the future when you don’t. Make sure that any effort you expend has an effect beyond the effort involved.
Insight 4:   CNE’s bring out the best in people.  A good CNE has a positive effect on everyone.
Insight 5:   You can create situations where other people’s CNE’s work for you.
e.g.   Paddi’s gardener goes the extra mile to keep his gardens immaculate because he’s allowed him to place a plaque advertising his business on the garden wall, i.e. it’s in his best interests to keep Paddi’s garden looking amazing.
Insight 6:   CNE’s need celebrations.
e.g. including the building cleaner in the bonus scheme & displaying her photo along with he other team members.
The Birth Of The Super CNE’s
How to systematize the process of delighting your customers.
Everyone likes to spin a good ditty – so why not create one for your customers to tell about your business?
e.g.   Tea Set & Tea Ceremony vs. the X-Ray Machine.
No-one ever told a story about the excellent X-Ray machine.  Over the years the Tea Sets have returned many times the investment but the X-Ray machine has barely broken even.
e.g.  The 4 Door, V8 Cappuccino Machine.
C
NE’s versus Super CNE’s
CNE’s
     •             are the little household tasks that give people reasons to believe in your business, particularly the parts they don’t understand.
     •             In the background somewhat.
     •             Important but not exciting.
     •             Stop you getting bad press.
     •             Show you’re competent.
Super- CNE’s
     •             Are CNE’s taken to a sensational degree so that everyone remembers and talks about them.
     •             Get you good press.
     •             Provide the WOW that gives people a good ditty to spin.
     •             Provide the dazzle.
More About Super-CNE’s
What sets one business apart from another is often more to do with a product’s presentation than its actual quality. Super-CNE’s get you talked about = Lead Generation.
CNE’s get you the customer = Conversion Rate.
Some CNE’s will also increase Number Of Transactions, Average $$ Sale & increase your Margins.
Understand The Dialogue Between Customers.
A – Tells Super-CNE .
B – Yeah but is he good at his job?
A – Tells CNE stories which have convinced them that you are.
Super- CNE’s Are A PR Boon
How To Create Super-CNE’s
Step 1:   Pick something you’ll enjoy.
Step 2:   Choose something distant (but not too distant) from the core of your business.
Step 3:   Build on CNE’s that are extremely visible.
Step 4:   Pick areas of customer concerns to.
Step 5:   Take your Super-CNE’s to the extreme.
Step 6:   Make sure your Super-CNE’s appear difficult – but really aren’t.
Come back and let me know how you did!

When Your Best Customer is Actually Your Worst Customer

Aug 30, 2013 | Customers

Have you ever worked in a business where one customer is viewed as the most important and precious to the company, who everyone treats with kid’s gloves? Yet this customer seemingly pays later than all the others, demands special terms, takes up all the managers’ and staff’s time and never seems satisfied?

when_your_best_cust_is_your_worst_cust

When asking about how it works that one customer can seem to dominate a firm, the reply is often along the lines of, “they’re our longest serving customer” or, “they’re our biggest customer” or even “they’re a personal friend of the owner”.

Bottom line; is this customer adding to the growth and well being of the firm or, actually detracting from it? This is particularly acute when a customer’s business represents greater than 40% of the overall turnover. This benchmark indicates that the customer has so much influence, in effect, it runs the business, not the owner.

For a SME it’s easy to accept large orders or, to grow on the back of one customer placing more businesses into a dangerous position. Indeed I’ve both been in a business where this has been the case and worked with clients in this position. The key point though is that if this large customer starts to dictate how your business operates, what markets it is in, what products it offers and then, crucially, pays late, then the business owner is in real trouble.

How to get out of this? In the short term, work towards educating the customer about the terms of business you want to have. Easier said than done you may say, yet when explaining what you want, need, and why, to many people, it often does produce the change you’re looking for. In the long term, work towards expanding your customer base and even, towards exiting doing business if desired. Again if a customer doesn’t pay on time, no matter what their size, are they really a customer? And how much time could be freed up to handle those that do pay with better margins? Remembering to work this plan in alternative customer sources and cutting of ties when the time is right for you.

In ActionCOACH we call this getting rid of ‘D’ Class customers (from grading all customers A to D). Therefore, review your customer base. Does your ‘best’ customer upon inspection really live up to this premise- or if you had a choice, you’d rather not to have taken the order and would prefer to have other customers?