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Archive for the ‘Loyalty’ Category

Through a brand promise, a company commits to its customer a certain experience each and every time the customer interacts with that business.  When a customer enters a bricks and mortar store and makes a purchase the experience is complete when the sales associate remembers to say “thank you, please come again” so shouldn’t the experience be the same if you make a purchase online?   

Many online retailers and marketers make a big mistake in not leveraging this simple tool.  The customer finds your website, takes the time to surf around reviewing your products and decides to make a purchase, sign up for a whitepaper or register for a seminar only to be met with a simple and unbranded default thank you page that doesn’t complete the entire customer experience. 

1.        Reassure

After your customer makes a purchase or signs up for additional information, your thank you page is a great place to reassure your visitor that you did received their information or request, that the product, price and deliver is in order and what they should expect next from you. This could include information about shipping including links to track delivery or how to download whitepaper, or call in information for your seminar.

2.       Re-engage

Your thank you page is also a great place to re-engage your customers by offering them additional products to add on to their orders or to entice them to return back to your website with a coupon for a future offer.  Once the customer is already familiar with you enough to make a purchase, here is an opportunity to introduce them to another product they may be interested in at a compelling discount.  This is a place to also inform your customers of upcoming specials, events or contests you might be offering and to provide them with a link so they can participate.

3.       Reinforce

 Similar to a bricks and mortar store, your thank you page is a great way to reinforce your brand.  Depending upon what your brand promise or commitment is, you can use your thank you page for marketing messages, education and commitment to your customers.  For example, if you sell widgets, you can include a “how to guide” to educate your customer on how to use the widget.  Another example is to provide your customer with a free gift.  Similar to the “Free gift with purchase” concept at a department store, you can immediately increase the perception of value by offering a free gift on your thank you page. 

Your thank you page is just one of many ways your customers experience your company and should have the sole purpose of creating a lasting impression on your customers.  Make it really special and make it support your brand.  Too many companies put up a really great website, supply it with strong content and build in incentives for people to sign up, yet they use a very poor thank you page.  This is a great opportunity to stand apart from your competition and leave a powerful impression on your customers. 

©Kellie D’Andrea & Associates

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You can, just include this complete blurb with it: Kellie D’Andrea is the creator of the Build a Better Ezine System and publishes “The Marketing Edge” a FREE award winning ezine for small business owners who want to gain the competitive edge with strategic marketing and branding techniques that actually work. Interesting in starting your own business, sign up for a FREE mini course “The Empowered Entrepreneur” and learn how not to make the 23 Common Mistakes Most Entrepreneurs make with a FREE report offered at www.kelliedandrea.com.

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The word “integrity” is the most overused and misunderstood word in business. Many claim to have the upmost highest level of integrity when it comes to serving their customers, respecting their service partners and treatment of their employees but very few really know what the word means. By definition, integrity means “a steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code” so the question that comes to mind is whose moral or ethical code? Yours? Your parents? Society? Your religion? Your friends? The list could go on and on.

Having integrity is doing what you believe to be true and moral based upon the ethical code you have chosen to adopt in your life. All of the experiences you have had and all of the influences you have met, how you were raised and the religion you follow are all part of the composition of your ethical code. Integrity is the developed by making the right choices that support your ethical code consistently and without waiver. Integrity is something you have even when others are not looking.

Many successful people are successful because they have integrity. It is through integrity that you develop trusting relationships. And it is because of trusting relationships that good business is formed. Integrity is one of the easiest qualities to detect, or to detect the lack of in people you meet. Once you become familiar with a person’s actions and the choices they make, you will begin to anticipate their integrity level. When you act with integrity on a consistent basis, your actions become more predictable and your behaviors can be anticipated by others.

Integrity is one of the most sought after qualities by customers, business partners and employers so what can you do to ensure your actions are communicating a high level of integrity?

1.   Know Your Beliefs
Understand what makes you tick. What beliefs do you hold as true and as right? Before you can act with integrity, you must first understand your limits and your beliefs and the actions that you would take when those beliefs are challenged.

2.  Be Consistent to Your Beliefs
Integrity is about consistency and holding true to you not matter what the risk. It is about creating predictable behavior that not only you but others will begin to rely upon and depend. Don’t waiver in your actions and hold true to your beliefs each and every time.

3.  Don’t Lie or Exaggerate
Integrity is about creating trust and lying is always associated with lack of integrity, even if you feel the lie is justified. When you are honest and true, your integrity will shine and draw others to you.

4.  Stay True to Your Values
Sometimes we are easily influenced by others and our beliefs are challenged. We often find ourselves on the edge with a choice to go right or go left. To have integrity means to stay true to your values and your beliefs.

In order to succeed, you must not only have drive and ambition, but you must also act with integrity at all times. In the words of President Eisenhower “The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionable integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army on in an office”.

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When companies have successfully connected with their customers and live and breathe every moment in support of that connection, is when they create a brand – an emotional element connected to your company, its people, its process and all of its points in between that support that emotional connection. So what are the points in between? Simply, anyway your company touches a client or potential client. It could be your people and their behaviors, your internal systems – technology, invoices, phone, website, etc. and your external systems – your product, how the product is delivered, your marketing and your customer service. When this connection happens, your customers become loyal to your brand.

Your identity defines who you are and more importantly why you are in business. You should focus defining yourself strategically rather than the functions you perform. Focus on your core values, core differentiators and the markets you serve. Know who you are with confidence and conviction and your customers will come to rely on that identity.

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The winds – “they are a changing my friend”…. The current state of the economy, a new President, failing financial systems, fluctuating prices and high unemployment have caused many of us to pause and evaluate opportunities to reduce expenses and to optimize our performance. As our economy continues to fluctuate, controlling expenses and optimizing service levels from partners and vendors is going to become the focus for all of our customers. We all must be sensitive to these “changing winds” and enhance the experience of our customers each time we interact with them. We must go back to the basics of serving our customers and take the actions that make a difference. The simple actions – a patient ear, a please, a thank you, a quick update on status (even if you don’t’ have update to give – the fact you are reaching out to let them know you are working on their problem goes a long way) and a smile that can be heard over the phone are all simple things that we can do each and every day to stand apart from our competition.

The art of hospitality can be very profitable, but it does take some practice and effort. To succeed, you must be dedicated to customer service first, always demonstrating that you care about their issues. Although customers may not always be right, we all must agree that it is okay for them to be wrong. Treat everyone with concern and compassion. After all, our business is not about us – it’s about the people we service and that single fact is more critical now as we navigate the changing winds.

Below are 6 strategies that when applied, will evolve your customer service to the next level – customer loyalty.

Master Strategy # 1: Know Your Customer

Customers are not a dime a dozen…they come with a variety of different characteristics, desires, needs and expectations. It is important to know everything that you can about your customers to ensure you are offering the most value. From basic information, name, address, title and area of responsibility to wants, needs and pressures and everything in between, it is important to understand your customer to enhance communication, articulate your proposition and to develop the foundation for trust.

Master Strategy # 2: Develop A Customer Strategy

Companies spend a lot of time and money developing strategic plans for their business, their technology solutions, operational strategies and financial strategies but rarely develop a customer strategy. Developing a good plan to enhance each client’s individual experience will result in uncovering areas for improvement and areas where you excel that may easily translate to another client. By writing a strategy on each client and personalizing that strategy based upon what you know about your customers (Master Strategy #1), you will memorialize a systematic approach and philosophy that will be easily followed by all in your company.

Master Strategy # 3: Deliver On Your Promise

Customers bought your product or service based upon a promise that you or your company has made. Make sure that you always deliver on your promise and therefore maintaining trustworthiness with your customers. Customers want to purchase from companies and people they trust to deliver the product and/or service they need and with the value they expect. According to the book, Trust Based Selling, Trustworthiness consists of four factors: Credibility, Reliability, Intimacy and Self-Orientation. The combination of these factors used in the right combinations will develop a connection with your customers that will lead to a long time relationship.

Master Strategy # 4: Educate Your Staff

Educate your front lines with your customer knowledge. The characteristic of your customers, what they are buying, the promises that were made and train your staff on how to not only deliver customer service but how to go over and beyond the basics. They should know how to react in all situations and be empowered to respond to the customers’ requests. They should know it is okay to tell the customer that they don’t know the answers, but will find out and get right back to them. Customer service is a culture and a theme that must permeate your entire organization.

Master Strategy # 5: Over Promise and Over Deliver

Make sure you provide true customer service. In today’s market, service has become a buzzword thrown around by every company, but it is important to understand that customer service is now a baseline expectation and not considered an added value. Customer service is no longer a key differentiator but going over and above the call of duty, well that will set you apart. I recently heard of a story of a retail store owner, selling women’s clothing, overheard customers in her store looking for a place to eat. She not only made a recommendation but picked up the phone and called the local restaurant to make a reservation on behalf of her customer. – She went over and beyond the basics. Here is a great opportunity to over promise and over deliver. Set yourself apart from the competition and be unique. Be creative and personalize your service specific to your individual customer. One size does not fit all in this case and offering personalized customer service will assist you in developing your unique bran

Master Strategy # 6: Make It Easy For Your Customers To Do Business With You

Leave all the guess work out and make it easy for your customer to do business with you. Have your staff go through the same process and channels that your customers will so they can experience the same exact experience your customers will have. Make adjustments to your current process if needed and always put on your customer hat and understand how your services are being evaluated through the customer eyes. Is it easy to request your product or service? What if there is a problem? Is it easy to escalate an issue? Is it easy to check on a status? Is there a long wait time? Is there a consistency each time the customer calls? These are all important questions that you must understand in order to make it easy for your customers to do business with you.

By taking the time to apply some or all of these strategies, you will create a culture centered on top notch customer service. By educating your team on expectations and providing them the roadmap to deliver the serviced you expect, will not only make your customers more loyal but will make your business more profitable. Simply stated, happy customers buy more and tell more friends about their experience. Use that as an opportunity to build upon your already stellar brand!

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©Kellie D’Andrea & Associates

Want to use this article in your newsletter or web site? You can, just include this complete blurb with it: Kellie D’Andrea is the creator of the BLAST system and publishes “The Marketing Edge” a FREE award winning ezine for small business owners who want to gain the competitive edge with strategic marketing and branding techniques that actually work. Find out the 23 Common Mistakes Most Entrepreneurs make with a FREE report offered at www.KellieDandrea.com.

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