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With the warmer seasons over and
behind us, I lament for Spring now more than ever. I love that time of
year. Everything is in bloom and the vivid colors of red, green, gold, and
more, contrast with the browns and grays of the Nevada desert, where we
live. What beauty. So much so that last Spring my wife and I got inspired
to go flower shopping so we could accent our landscaping. So, we ventured
out to our local nursery and sludged through the mud to gratify our
botanical desires.
Being new
residents to Nevada, my wife and I had a lot to learn about desert flora.
There are many choices and decisions to make. However, the biggest choice,
which has nothing to do with geography, is whether we wanted Perennials or
Annuals. How were we supposed to know? We knew there were flowers that die
each season and others that always return, but we didn’t know what they
were called or how to control this miracle of nature. Since we never did
this before, we pleaded ignorance and asked for help. What we learned was
that Perennials come back every year and Annuals last only for one season
and never come back. Sounds pretty simple, doesn’t it? Well, not quite.
There’s a price to pay for the yearly return of these flowering marvels.
While
Annuals don’t need much tending to, aside from routine watering, it
seems that Perennials need a bit more caring. Perennials need to be fed,
they need to be weeded, they need insecticides, they need pruning, and
they need continuous attention to ensure their healthy return and growth
each and every year.
At this
point I began to think about work and my customers and saw a striking
resemblance. Being somewhat of a workaholic, and since Customer
Relationship Management (CRM) is the reason for my existence, or at least
for my business, this analogy isn’t as far fetched as it may seem. It
occurred to me that customers are like flowers and you can treat them
either like Perennials or Annuals. Sure, you can acquire a new customer,
sell them what they need, and then move on to the next prospective buyer.
These customers will blossom nicely for a while with their new product or
service. You can even use them as a showcase, or reference account, to
show other prospects what a good job you do for your customers. However,
without continuous care and attention, they will eventually die off, not
as a business entity or individual of course, but as a customer of yours.
You will lose them as a client. Like an Annual, their flowers will fall
off and they will wither away and never return.
With the
costs of acquiring new customers being 7 to 10 times higher than selling
to your existing customers, according to studies, why would any business
not want to do everything they can to retain their existing customer base?
This, of course, requires businesses to treat their customers like
Perennials, not Annuals. With constant care and attention, your customers
will remain loyal and dedicated to your business. They’ll keep coming
back year after year flowering you with more business.
It’s not
sufficient, either, to simply care for your customers “just enough” to
keep them from complaining. If you barely water and feed your Perennials
just enough for them to flower and return each year, you will more than
likely only get marginal results. The flowers will be sparse and
lackluster. Likewise, if you simply keep your customers satisfied, you may
also get marginal results. Today, customers are so used to poor service
and performance that they have learned to accept mediocrity as the norm.
It’s a sad state of affairs, but an unfortunate reality in today’s
business world. As a result, when customers receive minimum service and
attention, they are satisfied only for the simple reason that they were
not treated poorly or negatively. This sort of treatment will never yield
a fully blossoming relationship, nor loyalty to your company.
Marginal
service will yield marginal results. Consequently, loyalty and commitment
to your business will suffer. Your clients will migrate to another
competitor as soon as they see a better offer. What many businesses
don’t realize is that the relationship begins, not ends, after the sale
is made. Once the sale is made, this is your time to shine and show the
customer what you are really all about.
What is
needed is exceptional service – above and beyond what is expected. Your
customers should be so happy with your service, support and attention that
they actually tell other people about their experience with your business.
This is what Dr. Ken Blanchard calls “Raving Fans” (see Dr.
Blanchard’s book entitled “Raving Fans”, William Morrow and Company,
Inc.). If you take really good care of your Perennials, they will come
back year after year in full bloom and continue to grow and prosper. Your
customers will do the same.
Exactly how
should you care for your customers? Let’s review 5 tips on the proper
care and feeding of your customers.
1)
Feeding. Just like Perennials, you must feed your customers.
Feed them with attention. Show them you care. Feed them information about
your company, your new products, the market place, their competitors, and
any other information that can help their business grow. Even though they
are already a client of yours doesn’t mean they know everything going on
in your business. If you won an award, expanded your business, delivered a
new product or service, or changed in any way, let them know. This shows
them that you are not stagnating and will continue to be there for them in
the future. It will also help their business as well.
2)
Weeding. Don’t let your customers get choked by problems.
Just like clearing deadly weeds from around your flowers, help solve
problems for your customers. Your sales ordering and delivery processes
should be problem free. If they aren’t, fix them. If there’s a problem
with your product or service that is affecting your customer, do
everything possible to resolve it. The best way to know if there are
problems is to ask. Don’t wait for your customers to call you with
problems. Call them and ask how things are going and be prepared to jump
to the rescue if there are problems. Just like Perennials, weed before
they start to die.
3)
Spraying. You don’t want those pesky bugs destroying your
Perennials. Likewise, you don’t want those pesky competitors destroying
the relationship you have with your customers. So, prevent that from
happening by ensuring you have a healthy, positive relationship with your
client so when a competitor comes calling, your client isn’t prone to
listen. We all know someone who pays a little more or travels a little
further to deal with a business simply because they like the relationship
they have with them. It isn’t always about money, but it’s almost
always about the relationship. Keep the bugs, and competitors, away.
4)
Pruning. Perennials need to be pruned, or cut back, to
prevent wild growth. Wild growth is not just unsightly, but it is bad for
the plant, since the food and water cannot reasonably satisfy the
requirements of an overgrown plant. The result could be weak and sickly
looking flowers. Businesses need to prune their customers as well or else
they will grow larger than their capacity to service their clients
successfully. Don’t be afraid to walk away from business. If it is too
large for you to handle, don’t let greed cause you to take on too much
and get over your head. It will negatively affect the relationships with
your existing customers. Don’t be afraid to fire your customers. If they
are causing you to move into a direction that is not the focus of your
business or that is not in line with your business plan, tell them so they
can either work within your business strategy or move on to another
vendor. Controlled grow is good growth whether you are a business or a
Perennial.
5)
Caring. Perennials don’t grow healthy all by themselves.
The previous tips show there is a lot that needs to be done to ensure
healthy plants. This means you have to care for them and about them. Same
with your customers. In addition to the previous tips, general caring is
in order. Stay in touch and don’t be a stranger. You sold them your
product; therefore, it is your responsibility to make sure it is indeed
what they needed, that it solved the problem in which it was intended, and
that they know you honestly care about the success and growth of their
business. Caring means going beyond a client-vendor relationship. It’s
about a Partnership. You take care of them, and they’ll take care of you
– year after year.
So now that
we have a beautiful floral garden in our yard, we expect to see it grow
and flourish every year with proper care and feeding. Your customer base
is the same way. They are your garden and you have to take proper care so
you can enjoy them year after year. This is called “Customer Lifecycle
Management.” You market to suspects, sell to prospects, and support
customers. As you ensure your customers are happy, Raving Fans, you
continue to market and sell to them. This is more cost-effective and
efficient for you, and better for your clients since they continue to
benefit from what you have to offer and from your lifetime relationship.
Now, it’s
off to the garden to do some weeding. My only challenge now is how to get
all this mud off my shoes.
Good Luck
and Good Selling.
Russ Lombardo
PEAK Sales Consulting
Russ
Lombardo is President of PEAK Sales Consulting (www.peaksalesconsulting.com)
and an experienced sales specialist, trainer and speaker. Russ works with
sales executives and sales teams to develop processes for dramatically
improving results and increasing revenue. Russ is also the author of the
book, “Customer Relationship Management For The Common Man (or
Woman).” For a free paper on “10 Tips to CRM Success”
call 702-655-5652 or send email to russ@peaksalesconsulting.com.
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