2005 Q1 Strengthening Customer Relationships
What procedures can your company implement that will increase the likelihood that your customers will continue to buy from you? It’s been our observation that those companies that have developed strong relationships with their customers generally follow several key steps. The payoff is a high degree of customer loyalty including high recommendation rates and a return on sales that typically resides in the upper quartile of businesses in their respective industry.
1. Each Employee Owns the Customer
Everyone in the company must have an active interest in satisfying the needs of the customer. Although sales and customer service personnel typically have the most contact with customers, it’s important that each employee is viewed as a customer contact employee and should be trained in how to interact with customers. Why is this important? When you have customers visit your facility, encourage them to ask questions of anyone in the company. When employees can proudly explain how they add value to the product or service, that knowledge and enthusiasm will not go unnoticed by a customer or prospective customer. Customers realize, and several studies support the fact, that there is a direct relationship between customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction.
2. Make It Easy For the Customer to Do Business with You
Many times the opposite occurs. Policies or procedures may appear effective internally but create an obstacle for the customer externally. When too many obstacles occur, the customer is likely to look for a supplier for which it is easier to do business. Think of a situation, where you as a customer, refused to do business again with a specific company, primarily because it was too much of a hassle. I know of one company that intentionally inserted the phrase “hassle-free” in its mission statement to emphasize the importance of long-term customer relationships. Often times in customer surveys that we conduct, it is enlightening to our clients to ask their customers about how easy is it to do business with their company. It’s been our experience that a rating of less than 95% spells trouble for the company.
3. Accompanying Sales Staff on Customer Visits
Usually it’s the salesperson that visits customers. Encourage other personnel to accompanying the sales person on a customer visit. It will serve two purposes: First, it conveys to the customer that this account is very important to your company, and secondly, the employee will gain a perspective on customer needs that may not have been readily apparent without face-to-face interaction.
4. Emphasize Reliability and Responsiveness
Customer satisfaction is typically separated into five dimensions; reliability, assurance, tangibles, empathy and responsiveness. Of these five dimensions, studies show that reliability and responsiveness are the two dimensions that have the highest relative importance to customers, and therefore, deserve the most attention. Reliability is the ability to provide what was promised, dependably and accurately. Responsiveness is the willingness to help customers and provide prompt service. Rating of less than an “8″ on a 1 to 10 scale generally indicates a cause for concern.