How to Focus on Your Customers to Survive and Thrive
Even in a time of uncertainty where markets are shrinking, some organisations can continue to find opportunity and growth. The secret is in caring for a precious asset your organisation already has: your customers.
The concept of “customer-centricity” has been steadily gaining recognition across a number of industries for several years. Customer-centric organisations have more than just a feel-good culture. When properly implemented, customer-centricity is a model that impacts upon a business’ processes, culture, and technology. Customer-centric strategies work by making customers a central focal point, around which the organisation structures its operations. The goal is not only to deliver a more satisfying customer experience, but to provide greater customer insight and value to the business, thereby improving profitability.
Here are 5 practical tips to focus on your existing customers:
1. Get Closer to your Customers – know them so you can position products and services more effectively to win more business. Share role-appropriate customer information and profiling with staff. As part of your CRM strategy your staff can be trained to engage customers in healthy rapport and ask helpful questions that customers are happy to answer. Cross selling and up-selling are basic techniques that staff should be properly trained in, to customise the information they share about what else your organisation does that could be of interest.
2. Less is More: Fewer contacts of better quality and efficiency are preferred by your customers and are more cost-effective for you. Are systems and procedures the best they can be? Are staff trained to use them effectively so data is properly captured and quality checked first time around? Simple techniques such as using the phonetic alphabet (visit www.real-results.co.uk to download free monitor cards) and repeating back numbers and post codes can avoid problems and delays. At shift/holiday/rota changes do your staff update each other about on-going customer issues effectively?
3. Check the BEAT (BEhaviours and ATtitudes): Your front line create the impression of your organisation to customers, and need to be properly trained, supported and managed to do so well. Key BEAT’s to develop include:
- Communication – how well do your staff listen, enunciate and respond to customers? Check the energy, articulation and speed of their speech and conduct coaching. (If you can’t playback telephone calls then try using a second headset and a simple Dictaphone)
- Flexibility- do your staff flex their approach effectively to different customers? For example – a customer may need your team member to speak more slowly and clearly and requires a patient and empathetic approach. A time-pushed person wants the transaction/interaction completed quickly and professionally.
- Pro-activity – Your customers get in touch for a reason. How well do your staff handle their requests? Solving queries quickly at the first port of contact significantly increases customer satisfaction. For this to happen more do your staff need more empowerment, more training? Passing customers from pillar to post does not go down well, but if it is essential then ensure your staff are trained to feed information to their colleague on behalf of the customer - having to repeat themselves increases the frustration of even the coolest customer. Consider how knowledgeable your staff are in products and services. Their ability to solve problems at the front-line is crucial to the customer having a positive experience. If this can’t be done they must take ownership of the issue and do all the chasing and updating of the customer thereafter
4. Experience it For Yourself: If you don’t already conduct mystery shopping then now is a good time to start. Try the service for yourself. By experiencing what it actually feels like to go through your own system, what your offices sounds like down the telephone and the energy, empathy and knowledge of your staff – you can identify improvements for your customers. Customers want an efficient, easy experience –if your organisation doesn’t give it to them they may find someone who will. Training and coaching your staff is critical to delivering what customers want and need.
5.Tell It to me Straight: Ask for customer feedback and really listen to what they tell you. The average business doesn’t hear from 96% of its unhappy customers. For every complaint received, on average, there will be at least 26 other customers with problems, 6 of them will be serious ones. People do not think complaining is worth the time and effort or else they don’t know where or how to complain or they don’t think anything will happen as a result of their complaint. Non-complainers are the least likely group to buy from the organisation again. 65-90% of them will never come back and the organisation will never know why. Satisfactory handling of complaints means that 54% of customers will buy again. If the complaint is handled quickly and efficiently this rises to 80-95%. The customer who gains a satisfactory outcome to a complaint is unlikely to continue to hold the complaint against the organisation. Building rapport and using customer service techniques gives you the opportunity to find out customers’ likes and dislikes to avoid complaints; but if complaints do arise, the customer should feel comfortable and confident about telling you. This gives you a chance to redeem your organisation, that otherwise may have been missed, so welcome those complaints!
Finally, remember: Who Cares Wins! Your hard-earned customer relationships could be quickly lost if you provide inferior service due to cost cutting.