So another Valentine’s Day is over. As business owners, we may have had Valentine’s Day specials or promotions, and maybe we’ve even extended them to the end of the month. This is a great way to get a few extra sales this month, but at what cost? How much profit did we give away to get a customer back or create a new one? And what is your plan to get them to come back time and time again where there isn’t a sale or special?
Show the Love All Year Long
In business, we need to make it Valentine’s Day for our clients, customers, and patients 365 days a year. What are you doing to “Show your Customers the Love”? I speak to so many business owners that tell me their customer service is what makes them different, yet I still experience similar levels of service at the majority of businesses I buy from. As much as I prefer to shop locally, I too often get better service from online businesses than I do from those I walk into.
So what are you doing to show your customers how much you appreciate them, other than a February sale? How do you show them your appreciation the first time, and then again every single time you interact with them? That’s right, every time you interact with them, not just when they buy from you.
Review Your Customer Service
The first thing I want you to do is review your customer service – really take a hard look at what your customer experiences from the initial contact to the day after the sale. That’s right, the day after the sale. Customer service doesn’t (or shouldn’t) end at the end of the transaction, so how does your system ensure your customers feel loved by you and your team when they aren’t in front of you? Look at every way your prospects and clients can interact with you, online, in person, email etc… Does your customer service process treat them with the same quality in every channel? If not, there’s a huge opportunity to differentiate yourself.
Add Value in Between Visits
Now look at what you are doing for your customers between visits – are you sending them daily/weekly/monthly sales pitches like I used to? Or are you sending them useful information for their lives, regardless of whether it has anything to do with buying something from you? If you don’t have useful content for them, borrow it from someone else! Share an article you read that might interest them, or that might enhance or enrich their business or their lives. The more we add value to our customers’ lives, the more they feel loyalty to us, and we don’t need to pitch them our latest sale or product. They will simply come back because they value you in their life and/or business.
Train Your Team to Show the Love
The last thing I will mention is to train your team – make sure they know why this is so important, not just what words you want them to memorize. What is your Mission, what are your Core Values, and how well do they serve your customers? When your team fully internalizes and buys into WHY you want to treat your customers so well, they will deliver out of this world service to them!
If you’d like help reviewing your Customer Service systems, let us help you by scheduling a free 60 minute Strategy Session with one of our coaches.
Author: Mark McNulty, Business Coach in Louisville, KY