Worried about spending marketing dollars in today’s economy?
by LuAnn Buechler, CMP
It’s easier to hold on to current customers than it is to find new ones. We have probably all heard this before. However, most people spend more of their time on marketing strategies to attract new customers rather than following up with current customers and/or building strong relationships with them. Relationship marketing is answer. Think of the time you spend building relationships as marketing to shift your paradigm to a customer service focus, rather than a customer “search” focus.
A friend of mine told me a story recently of how he was on hold with his web hosting company with a question. The system told him that he was number 12 in the queue to speak with someone, which he appreciated knowing. He was happy to wait, as long as he knew how long he might expect that wait to be. So, he kept working on the problem while on hold. Turns out he was able to resolve the problem on his own before the company representative came on the line, so he just hung up.
The Supervisor of the web hosting company called the next day to check with him on what happened. Why had he hung up? Did he get the service he needed? Was the wait time too long? In my friends experience the company has always provided good service but this was “wow” service. His comment “I will stay with them forever, because they care.”
The web hosting company took the time to follow-up and make sure their current customer was happy with the service that they are providing. They wanted to ensure that his service needs had been met. Rather than run the risk of loosing a customer based on an overloaded call center or something that could have been easily handled. So they followed up to see what happened. Any company with phone banks/service centers typically receives a “Dropped Call” report. This company is using that report to maintain strong relationships with current clients.
In a recent column by New York Times Best Selling Author Harvey Mackay, he told a story that he typically shares when delivering presentations on customer service. “A man walked into a bank in Spokane, Wash., to cash a $100 check. The bank teller refused to validate his parking ticket, saying he had to make a deposit. The customer asked to see a manager, who also refused to stamp the parking ticket. At that point the customer proceeded to withdraw $1 million from his account and walked across the street to a competitor and opened a new account. The next day, he went back to the same bank teller and withdrew another $1 million.
That’s an expensive lesson to learn. So is losing any customer.”
Mackay’s Moral: Disappoint customers and they’ll disappear. (www.HarveyMackay.com)
LuAnn Buechler’s Moral: Relationships, relationships, relationships; build them, care for them, and provide them with exceptional customer service. The rest will show up.
Worried about spending marketing dollars in today’s economy. Shift your paradigm to spending time with current clients, serving them with exceptional care and the new customers will come!
LuAnn is working on a new Customer Service book, if you’d like to share a customer service experience with her for the book, send them to her at LuAnn@BNI-MN.com.