Redefining the “Customer Experience”

“A business absolutely devoted to service will have only one worry about profits. They will be embarrassingly large.” - Henry Ford

What the Customer wants!!

 Too often we become more concerned with what we can offer the customer instead of figuring out what the customer wants.  The easiest way is most often the last path taken: Ask them what they want.  Make sure you understand what their needs are so you can tailor your solution to that.  If they aren’t sure, that is where your knowledge of your industry, product and company can serve them best.  Help them figure it out by offering to work through the process with them.  More often than not, a simple conversation can help the customer decide the difference between what they want and what they need.  Once that is done, be prepared to offer them solutions to how you can provide for them.

Becoming the Customer’s Ally

Being an ally means that you are working to provide not just an answer to the customer, but a solution.  You are giving them another set of hands or eyes to help them solve their problems.  You are the subject matter expert when it comes to your product.  Utilize that expertise to give the customer confidence in how you can make their job easier and their business more successful.  As a business you are the customer’s partner.  Your success depends on theirs, and the more you can assist with theirs, the higher the level you will achieve.

Being there for the Customer

Customers need to be communicated to.  Every one of your customers know they are not your only one, however, being there for them means treating them like they are when they need something from you.  Being there means being proactive to how you approach your customer.  In order to best serve them, you must know what they need, and the best way to find that out is to become part of their business.

Forget about the Competition

When you are having a conversation about your product and services with your customer make sure it stays about what you can offer.  It doesn’t matter what the competition offers if you are giving the customer what they need.  Focus your attention and time on what the customer needs and how you can build your product or service to their demands.  All of your customer driven programs should be designed to be able to cater to different needs from different customers in the same market.  Using the competition as a benchmark for your product or success is giving them too much power and possibly undue attention.

Building a better relationship

Building a relationship with your customer base can be a difficult task if undertaken without the commitment to actually having the relationship work.  There is much more to a solid customer relationship than just putting yourself if front of the customer and your business card in their hand.  Relationships never work unless:

A.       They are built on a solid basis of trust and communication.  If you can’t deliver what you promise, they customer isn’t going to trust you.

B.      They are mutually beneficial.  You need the customer to spend their money with you, they need a good reason to part with their hard earned cash.  You must make sure that you go into the relationship building stage with the understanding that your main goal is to know the customer and understand their specific needs.

C.      You are willing to commit to the good times and the bad times.  People make mistakes, businesses make mistakes and yes, even customers make mistakes.  Being there for your customer to help them solve whatever issues come up shows them that you are committed to them.  In most cases, your business will be rated not based on how you handle your day to day operations, but how you handle it when things don’t go as planned.