Here's a question: Would you rather
have 10,000 customers
buy your products once, or 500
customers who were raving
fans? I hope the answer is obvious.
Advertising and marketing make it
possible to sell your
products around the world, and getting
customers to try
your service once is a relatively
well-defined science. You
can hire experts on marketing and
branding, and consultants
to "target" your niche and
refine your message.
What you cannot buy (at least not in
the same way) is
customer loyalty. You buy customer
loyalty and repeat
business with extraordinary customer
care--not customer
"service," but honest,
extreme, personal caring for your
customers. Fortunately, this is not
difficult or expensive.
Caring for your customers means
working with them to solve
their problems and achieve their
goals. It means listening
to them, and responding. It means
the old boundaries
between "seller" and
"buyer" break down and we work as a
team to achieve win-win results that
enrich us both.
Recently, a friend and I compared
notes about two local
businesses. Bob talked angrily about
a company that refused
to provide service, a refund or
credit when it's product
failed to meet his needs. Then we
talked about another
local vendor who has a reputation
for always going the
"extra mile." Guess who
we'll do business with next time?
A few dozen customers, well taken
care of, can make you
rich. Never, never, never forget
that!
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