I personally feel that there is some sort of mediocrity that has infiltrated most businesses.  Needless to say, I hate shopping and only do it with my wife Barbara.  Over the last 6 months, I’ve created a list of some of the things I heard when shopping and that turned me completely off.  Here they are:

1. “If you purchase this item now, you will help me meet my quota for the month. “ It meant to me that this individual was not really successful and was using me instead of helping me with why I should purchase that item.  What he should have said was something like:  “This (whatever) has been very popular and our customers are excited about the results they are getting.”

2. “We can deliver your item sometime next week and will call you when we are in your neighborhood.”   This clearly showed that they were making it convenient for them rather than convenient for me.  Very selfish.  They should have said. “We can deliver this to you next week.  What day and time is convenient for you?”

3. “That’s not my department.”  They didn’t even tell me who or where to go to find my item.  They should have said: “I know the right person who can help you with that item.  Please come with me.”

4. “Oh my God.  It’s been so hectic for me this morning.  I barely made it to work, traffic was terrible, my Mom is sick and I had to take my dog to the vet, and my leg hurts.”  I didn’t want to hear about her problems.  I wanted to purchase what I was there for and get out.  All she had to say with a smile was, “Good morning, I’m glad to meet you.”

5. “You’re the first person who has complained about our service.”  This statement was made to make me feel inferior and to imply that I was a troublemaker and that the company could do no wrong.  He should have said,   “Even though we receive many compliments about our product, we know there is room for improvement, so I’m beholding to you for making me aware of the problem.”

6. Here’s another problem, one I encountered just this week while I was talking to a sales rep.  She said, “Tell me your name again and why you are here.”  It made me feel as if she didn’t listen to me in the first place.  We walked out and will never shop there again.  She should have said, “Mr. Varga, as I understand you, when you wife got home, she noticed a rip in the blouse where the security sensor was taken off. Right?   Then let me help you with that.”

7. When my wife wanted to exchange an outfit she bought for another one, she was told: “That’s against our policy.” Wow! Turned my wife completely off. She wasn’t asking for her money back, just to exchange to a different size.   The sales rep should have said: “Mrs. Varga, while that is against our policy, I believe we can find a way to accommodate your request.” Doesn’t that sound better?

8. Last but not least.  When we walked into a store we heard, “Sorry, it’s closing time; you can’t come in.”  This told me that this person wasn’t trained properly, as all of the above weren’t trained properly, and should have said, “As you can see, the store is closing now, but I will be happy to stay and help you.”

Could any of your reps be unknowingly telling your customers what they don’t want to hear?  Might you also say the wrong thing when you are having a “bad day”?  Or when you are rushed?  

How can you make sure this doesn’t happen in your business?  Let me know.

Technorati Tags: customer experience, customer loyalty, Customer Retention, customer satisfaction

Customers may not remember what you said, but they surely will remember how you made them feel.

It is very important to cultivate direct connections with customers and clients. Give them your direct phone line. Invite them to call you and let them know you are willing to help them in any way you can.

When you offer advice or information without immediate return, you gain a huge amount of influence with that customer.

This to me is building for the future. It very well may be beneficial down the road. So treat each person well, and take care not to get sucked into your own importance or self-hype. 

Make people feel special and they will come back for more.

How do you make your customers and clients feel special? Tell me in your comments below.

Technorati Tags: customer experience, customer loyalty, Customer Retention, customer satisfaction

Stop for a moment and ask yourself this question. “What is the purpose of any Business?”

Most individuals would say, “To Make a Profit.” Personally, I feel that is the wrong answer. It’s part of the answer, but not the answer. Profits are a result or an outcome of what we do and they only tell us if our business strategy and execution are viable.

Peter Drucker stated that, “concentrating on the belief that creating profits as a purpose was not only wrong, it could very well be harmful. “ He felt that it causes a business to make bad decisions and lose sight of those things that delight customers. He also said, “There is only one valid definition of business purpose: to create a customer.”

The ultimate objective of a business is to satisfy customer needs and wants at a sustainable profit. The sustainable profit part is critical.

Customers are the ultimate asset for any profit making company. They really provide all of a company’s real value. Unfortunately, customers are one of the few aspects of a business that are not managed as an investment. We must always keep in mind that we must profitably provide a better solution for our customers than our competition.

There is an old saying, “A good salesman can sell anything once. The trick is getting them to buy again and again.” The reason I say this is because marketing gets translated most of the time into simply persuading someone to try something for the first time. Companies are constantly trying to change someone’s attitudes or behaviors.

Today’s customers buy competing products from multiple companies with seemingly no real loyalty. Therefore, the most important element in profits is designing ways to have your customers allocate a larger share of their wallets to you. In my Marketing Tips of the Week, and also this blog, I try to help you accomplish that.

So, in essence, the primary goal of marketing must be the creation of loyal, long-term customers out of first-time or occasional buyers. Accomplishing this requires a clear and precise understanding of what makes customers want to be loyal. Gathering and understanding customer needs is the job of marketing. Review the issues in my Marketing Tips of the Week that help you to accomplish this.

If you have any additional ideas to build loyalty, please comment.

Technorati Tags: business purpose, customer, customer creation, customer loyalty, Customer Retention, lifeling customers, profit, profits

Today is very uncertain. We wonder how our customers are going to have the money to purchase from us and constantly hear about the government taking more of our hard-earned dollars and wasting it.

When a market is crowded, burdened by a sluggish economy as we now have, only the fearless survive.

In economic times like these, the natural tendency for a business is to hunker down, cut back on expenses and try not to lose the business it has. Here’s a news flash—that’s exactly the strategy that will do you in and destroy you.

If you are not the business that is standing out, and standing for something important, your days could be numbered. Use the strengths of what makes you different to make a difference with your customers.

Now is the time to reward your customers for their loyalty, take them out to lunch, and stay connected through communications to them. This is the time and the moment, to deepen customer relationships to ensure your security and your business’ future.

It’s time to focus on what you do better than any other business and put that out there to your customers and prospects.

Businesses that shine a light on what is different about them are well positioned to make a difference in this economy. Getting behind a cause is good for business and makes you look like a hero.

Conformity is not distinguishing you as unique. You must keep reinventing yourself, changing with the times and with your customers as they change. You should be true to the essence of who you are, and giving everyone the image that you are brand new.

In these times of uncertainty, many individuals are confused about what to do and how to do it. Remember, uncertainty makes everyone, including me, question our own personal value and the value of our business, and why we are doing things. The fearless among us overcome these doubts by creating action, belief, and courage.

It is time to start raising your hand to make a difference. The story you convey about your company is what others will believe. You have a unique power to have others believe that you are indispensable; that is exactly what you will be, if you believe. So believe in yourself and you will overcome these times.

This brings up another important point: belief in yourself and what you offer is an important part of succeeding in this economy. Do you agree?

Technorati Tags: customer loyalty, customer relationship building, surviving the recession

A few posts ago, I wrote an article similar to this one.  I think this topic is so important, that I’m saying something about it again.

Businesses spend so much of their money acquiring customers, yet can lose them over one complaint.

All of us, at some point in our careers will have a few customers who complain.   It’s the way we deal with these dissatisfied, even angry, customers that makes the difference.  In my book, “How to Get Customers To Call, Buy and Beg for More”, I mention that one dissatisfied customer, through word-of-mouth, could cause 100 or more customers to stop doing business with you.

There are times that the customer is justified in their complaints, and other times they are not.  You all know that the handling of a dissatisfied customer can have a far-reaching impact on that customer.

I remember reading an article in the American Management Association magazine that the average satisfied customer tells three people about their experience, but the average dissatisfied customer will tell up to eleven other people.  Now with Twitter and other social media, that number can be in the thousands.

The first thing I would do when a customer complains is to make a positive reassuring statement to the customer.  I might say, “I want you to know that I will get something done about your problem.”

Then I’d acknowledge that the person is upset by saying, “I can see that you are very upset with us, and I am sorry you have a problem, but I’m very glad that you called it to my attention.

I’d then ask them, “What would make you Happy in settling this problem?”  Then I’d settle with them. I’d say that I was truly sorry that they encountered this problem, that I was going to do exactly what they requested, and that I wanted to keep them as a valued customer.

The reason I’m writing this is because a company I was doing business with just lost me as a customer; they didn’t resolve a problem to my satisfaction.  They have lost a lot of future money with me.  I don’t want you to lose business that way.  Handle complaints like they are the most valuable thing at hand…because generally they are.

 I won’t badmouth this company to other people I know, but I sure won’t be doing business with them anymore.  

Let me know what you think.

Technorati Tags: customer complaints, customer loyalty, Customer Retention, customer satisfaction, keeping customers, Twitter