Taking Care of Business
 
Even though the economy is on an upswing, it's always a wise strategy to plan for the inevitable downturns. What can you, as a business owner or manager do to insure, that even in the most uncertain times, you maintain and even improve your profitability? Develop better relationships with your existing customers. No, not just give better customer service, but deliver experience after experience that sends a consistent message to the customers that you sincerely care about them, appreciate their business and are concerned with giving them the value they deserve, and, that you are in it for the long run.

Customer Care is a marketing strategy that is based on building and maintaining the best and strongest relationships you can with customers, where they provide you with the feedback you need to continuously improve your products and services to meet their changing needs and expectations. It is also based on the belief that in order to create that kind of value in the marketplace you must also create value in the workplace. In a business where workers feel appreciated and cared about, positively motivated and challenged, they will in turn deliver better more caring service to the external customers.

In organizations that practice Customer Care, a long-term view is adopted and even smaller customers are viewed for their "lifetime value". As long as employees think of customers as merely "sales" or "transactions" they lose the focus on the long term. When every single person in the organization understands the potential lifetime value of the customer, they treat customers differently. Car dealers that understand that the lifetime potential of a customer is $300,000 (not the $30,000 they may spend with you on one car) simply treat those customers differently. From the salesperson to the mechanic who services (and maybe even washes) your car, to the billing clerk who collects your money, every person sees the future buying potential in that car owner. Perhaps the owner will then purchase a new car, every three years, buy more cars for other family members, recommend that dealership, who's treated her so well, over another to five or more friends over the course of the relationship.

Compare a car dealership with a clean, pleasant waiting room with fresh coffee to the somewhat grease stained, smelly, ripped-vinyl-on-the-chairs version many of us are used to. Compare the difference between one that provides a loaner car, or free drop off and pick-up service to the one who figures transportation to and from is your problem. Which one makes you want to return?

Companies that shout "WE CARE" have noticed each and every one of the moments of truth their customers encounter and work to turn them into moments of magic. A moment of truth, according to Jan Carlzon, former President of SAS Airlines, is anytime a customer has an opportunity to make a judgment about the quality of service you are delivering.

One of the first tasks of a company embracing the idea of Customer Care is to understand, from the customer's point of view, where and what the moments of truth are and how they can be improved on to the delight of the customer.

What are they in your business? What do they think, more importantly how do they feel when they encounter your parking lot, the attitude of your security guard or greeter at the door, the latest direct mail piece or order form, your phone answering process? Do you make it easy for customers to do business with you (or are there 9 selections in your automated answer system that they have to listen to, only to find out if they need to call the customer service department they need to dial another number entirely?) Are your order forms easy to understand and use (or are they full or your jargon and designed for the convenience of your data processing people?) Are people in all departments highly skilled in the art of personal interaction (or are you using the "we are a small company, we can't afford training" excuse for lackluster, why-are-you-interrupting-me-can't-you-see-I'm-busy-here attitudes?)

A retail client of mine tells a true and meaningful story to all his new employees about a woman who once felt mistreated by one of his cashiers. Seems the woman, a regular once a week shopper, left one day very upset and didn't return to the store again for twelve years. When she did, she sought out the owner, my client, and "announced" her return, finally ready to tell her story (having never voiced a complaint after the incident.) My client listened patiently, apologized, thanked her for her comments and for coming back, and then, rushed to his calculator.

Having committed to a practice of Customer Care, he understood the concept of lifetime value and began to add up the lost business. If she had continued spending $25 a week and never referred the store to anyone, or increased her buying he had lost $15,000! If he had been able to keep her as a happy customer over that period of time in likelihood between increased spending and referrals she would have brought him upwards of $75,000 or so! All lost because of a hapless remark made by an untrained clerk.

Are the clerks trained now? You bet. And by telling this true story he illustrates clearly the concept of lifetime value in a very personal way. What have you done to help everyone in your organization understand the long term value of your customers?

So, take a look at how many customers you are losing and why. Then, understand, calculate, and educate everyone in your company in the concept of long term lifetime relationship value. Set out to create a workplace where people feel valued and set out to discover what the moments of truth are and how you can turn them into moments of magic that will delight your customers and keep them coming back year after year, bringing friends and carrying money.

This article originally ran in the Free Enterprise Journal