Cathy Stucker - The Idea Lady

Attract Customers and Make Yourself Famous

Time Is Money–to Your Customers and to You

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Will your customers spend more money if it saves them time?

With all of us feeling more pressed for time these days, it is likely that your customers are making decisions about where they spend their money based on convenience. Yes, price and quality are important, but time has become an important part of our buying decisions. Customers are more willing to do business with companies that save them time, even if it costs them more money.

When I had more time than money, I was willing to spend time to save money. These days I find myself less and less willing to do so. I will pay more if it saves me time–and aggravation.

How does this affect your business? To get and keep customers make it easy for them to do business with you. And don’t be afraid to charge premium prices if you deliver convenience.
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Great Customer Service in Six Simple Steps

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How important is customer service? It has always been important, but today it is more important than ever. It used to be said that a happy customer would tell one or two people, and an unhappy customer would tell ten to twelve. With the ease of communication provided through the Internet with social media and review sites such as Yelp, customers can easily share their experiences and opinions with thousands of people. And the unhappy ones may be more likely to do so.

Providing service that keeps customers happy creates strong customer relationships, and builds your company’s reputation. Here are some tips for providing great customer service. [Read more…]

Dealing with Customer Complaints

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customer-complaints

Even if you offer outstanding products and services, you will get an occasional customer complaint or refund request. Mistakes happen and, to paraphrase a famous quotation, you can’t please all of the people all of the time. Getting a complaint now and then isn’t a measure of your business. How you respond to that complaint is. 

Is the customer always right? Not necessarily. However, it may not be worthwhile to argue with the customer. Often, the best policy is just to politely refund the customer’s money.

What if the customer is truly wrong, and giving them a refund is not the right thing to do? First, listen to the customer. You may learn something that will help make your business better, but you’ll will certainly learn what is important to the customer.

If the customer is angry, give him a chance to vent and calm down. Then, ask what would make the situation work for him. It may be that he just wants a small concession, such as a free replacement part.

If you can’t do what the customer asks, make a counter offer. ‘We can’t give you a full refund because . . . but we can . . .’ Be willing to give a little.

Remember that this customer will tell others about his experience with your company, and you won’t have an opportunity to give your side to all of his friends. With online review sites, an angry customer can influence hundreds or thousands of others. If you can come up with a workable solution, you’ll leave him with a positive impression. In fact, a complaining customer can sometimes be turned into a raving fan by a company that responds in an effective and sincere way.

What if you have a customer who is a chronic complainer? There are people who can’t be satisfied, no matter what. The best way to handle them might be to give them the name and phone number of your least-favorite competitor! No, that would be bad karma. However, it is acceptable to simply give them a refund and not do business with them again.

No one likes to get complaints; however, they are a fact of life. Deal with them the right way and they will not harm your business and may even help.

Keeping Customers

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keeping-customersMost marketing efforts are aimed at getting new customers. What are you doing to keep the customers you already have?

Many banks are actively encouraging customers to sign up for their online bill paying services. Some banks use this as a profit center, but others are offering the service free because they realize that customers who use online bill paying are less likely to change banks. Once you have set up all of the information for your payments, it is a hassle to move to another bank and do it all over again.

Making it inconvenient for customers to leave is one way to keep them. Here are a few ways that are more positive:

Reward frequent customers. Offer a discount or free item for a certain number or volume of purchases. The airlines may have started this with frequent flier miles, but now it seems that everyone from the local coffee shop to credit cards to parking lots have followed with their own programs.

Make customers feel valued by asking for their opinions. How can you improve service? What do they like best about your product or service? Are your hours convenient? Then, when you make changes, let them know it was because of feedback from customers.

Get personal. Ask for customers’ birthdates, and send a card to acknowledge them on their special days. Keep track of past purchases in order to make recommendations of other products they might enjoy. Let them know when something new is available.

Say thank you. It’s a simple thing, but it goes a long way. Send a brief handwritten note thanking them for their business. Keep a supply of post cards or note cards handy, and dash off at least a few every week to new or long-time customers.

It is usually less expensive to keep customers than to find new ones. Although it is always important to keep looking for new customers, keeping the ones you have gives your business stability over the long term.

Personal Attention

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personal-attentionToday’s customers expect—demand—more personal attention from the companies that want their business.

When mail merge first made it possible to put a customer’s name throughout a letter, making it appear a mass-mailed letter was written directly to the customer, it got attention from the recipients. Today you have to do better.

The more you know about your customers, the more you can personalize your interactions, before and after the sale. Amazon.com takes this to a new level with the personal recommendations they offer each time you visit the site. By customizing the array of books, DVDs and other products displayed, they let customers know about products they may want, encouraging them to buy things they may not have known about otherwise.

Amazon uses the customers browsing and buying history (and other input) to determine what they will show. You can gather information from your customers and prospects to make your messages to them more relevant and useful. For example, you might want to know where they live, if they have children, how they heard about your business, their occupations and income, etc., as well as past interactions they have had with your company (e.g., What products did they inquire about or buy?).

Although customers want personal attention, they may be hesitant to give you the information about themselves that makes it possible to personalize your interactions. They may be more willing to give personal information if they see how they benefit from it, so make sure they are getting something useful in return. Of course, you will also gain information about your customers when they make a purchase.

No matter how you get the information, be careful how you use it. Some people are made very uncomfortable when they feel a business knows too much about them. Make sure they know that you are not sharing their information with other parties.

A simple way to make customers feel special is to remember them on a special occasion. You might send a card and discount offer for customers’ birthdays. Or reference purchases and other interactions you’ve had with them in the past. Keep track of information about your customers by using data base or contact management software.

Make your customers feel special by offering a personal touch.