Even though your company may have lots of customers, some large and some small, every one of them wants to feel special. It stands to reason that no one likes to be treated like a number or to be taken for granted.
If organizations want to build thriving businesses, employees must learn the value of long-term customer relationships and understand the consequences of not properly servicing them. They must abandon the view that customers represent immediate sales transactions and a quick buck. Instead, they must view customers as long-term relationships, keeping in mind the potential business that these relationships will bring over the years. They must learn to see themselves through their customers’ eyes rather than focusing inwardly. They must go beyond a selling role, offering value-added advice that recognizes their customers’ ongoing needs. And, focus must be placed on expanding relationships with a few customers instead of living in a turnstile –– searching for new prospects one day only to lose them the next.
Because superior customer service is as much a philosophy as an activity, it is important to discover just what kind of culture produces the mind-set necessary to exceed customer satisfaction. Ask yourself:
- Does my organization make policy changes to benefit its employees or the customer?
- Does my company take customers for granted because they’ve “been around” for a long time?
- Do my company’s employees do their best work only after the competition has made inroads?
- Do our employees know that customer satisfaction is their top priority?
- Are my company’s policies geared to the best interests of our customers or to profitability?
- How well do I really understand my customers’ businesses? How much do they know about mine?
- Do I know why customers are happy or unhappy with my company’s services? What steps have I taken to find out?
- Am I accessible when my customers need me?
- Do I treat my customers differently now than when I was courting them?
- Am I so concerned about losing customers that I fear making innovative suggestions that might rock the boat?
- Do I encourage and reward employee performance that is in the best interests of customers?
Remember, it is easier and five times cheaper to keep an existing customer than to attract a new one. Treating each customer as your only customer brings far more long-term rewards than the “love ’em and leave ’em attitude.” Not only will you improve market share and reduce your marketing costs, but you will also improve employee morale. In the end, you’ll feel good about yourself and know that your customers feel good about you. What can you do today to make your business more customer-centric?
Frank Sonnenberg has written four books and published more than 300 articles. This article was adapted from Frank Sonnenberg’s new book, Managing with a Conscience: How to Improve Performance Through Integrity, Trust, and Commitment (2nd edition). The book was named one of the Top 10 Small Business Books of 2012 • Trust Across America named Sonnenberg one of the Top 100 Thought Leaders of 2011 and 2012 • In 2011, Social Media Marketing Magazine selected Sonnenberg as one of the top marketing authors in the world on Twitter. • Sonnenberg was nominated one of America’s Most Influential Small Business Experts of 2012.
