March 7, 2012
Who Else Wants to be Valued More by Their Customers?
BY John Paul Narowski IN Sales and Marketing, Small Business One Comment
Customers are the primary source of any profits for a business. This ultimately means that our customers are our most valued asset in order to achieve success in our business. We know that the cost of acquiring a new customer far outweighs the cost of keeping and nurturing a relationship that already has begun with “know, like and trust.”
The question is always – how can you be more valued by your current customers?
Achieving this relies on your ability to give customers exactly what they want and then some. Satisfying a customer is basic – it takes delighting a customer to be memorable and referable.
Manage your value
The largest part of creating a valuable business is your ability to be available to listen, respond and engage with your customers and this means you need to manage your time wisely. Managing and organizing time effectively throughout your business requires several steps.
- Developing a schedule for your daily tasks would be your first priority.
- Eliminate factors that can be distracting, such as interruptions during projects or attempts to “multi-task” several projects at once. There are also other distractions that can hinder your productivity, and ultimately de-value your efforts.
What these distractions create is your inability to provide services and products in a timely fashion. If your business falls behind because you focused your efforts on less important projects or mishandle your schedule, you will lose customer credibility when you can’t deliver promptly or properly.
This is the reason why you need to know where to focus your energy and efforts. Some products and services have higher demand, and potentially provide more profit for your company. These need to be at the top of your list of concerns.
Focus time on your valued assets because it can greatly affect your success.
If you allow your efforts to be spread out between valuable and inconsequential projects, you can water down the unique benefit that the customer appreciated when they first chose to begin a business relationship with you.
You will have to learn to say “no” to activities that yield less or little profit for your company. This means you may have to say no to potential clients that want services from you, since you can’t allow yourself to become tied up in less valuable projects when you can take on more valuable ones.
This also means that you need to learn to say “no” to yourself. Ideas, plans, and epiphanies may arise, but not all will take your business in a forward direction. You need to learn to be able to tell the difference between what will help, and what will hinder you.
Provide value by satisfying demand
Watch out for any changes taking place in your industry and monitor what’s going on in your client’s industry, too. This is often the difference between an ordinary salesperson and an extraordinary one. An extraordinary one – builds relationships and utilizes tools to help them focus on client connections and relationships.
Become irreplaceable through unique service
Your ability to create a product or service that is excellent enough to become irreplaceable is the next step.Each customer is unique in personality, demands, and qualities. How can you uniquely deliver your company’s brand promise to them?
In order to provide not only excellent and timely service, you must know what your customers are seeking from you. This requires you to develop a connection with your clients. This occurs through personal meetings, reoccurring communication (letters or phone calls to update your developing relationship), and even through social media communications.
Knowing your customers isn’t always enough if you are to become valued by your clients. You must also know your strengths and what sets you apart as unique in your industry. What can you do to prevent your customers from leaving you and turning to a better alternative? You need to seek ways to develop loyalty from your customers, which often requires that you develop a sense of authority in your field. When you know what you are doing, discussing and producing, customers will see you as an expert in your field, defining your credibility.
Not only must you become an authority in your field, you must also be able to provide consistency through your services and products. Customers are searching for more than promises; they need to witness a consistency in your business’ ability to provide quality services to everyone, every time.
