Do you know your customer needs? Peter Drucker believed there was a frequent disconnect. Is this a question you and your staff ask often? It’s a question we ask a lot, and yet we often find so difficult to answer.
The customer never buys what you think you sell.
Peter Drucker
How a business handles this question and the answers will go a long way in determining its ultimate success. If you consistently offer your customers what they want at a price they feel is fair, you’ll have too many customers. Is having too many customers possible?
Related post: An Actionable Approach to Target Market Segmentation?
Many times when we consider this question, we go immediately to the complex side of the answer spectrum. But the truth is if we focus on the simple things and do them very well, the complex answers take care of themselves.
How often do you look to your customers for a true understanding of their challenges? We collect huge amounts of data on them, but rarely use that data. In fact, only 0.5% of the data available to us is ever used or analyzed according to MIT Technology Review.
To understand insight, we must understand the data that fuels it. Customer analytics data helps to understand the path your customers take, and insight is what we derive from the data. If, for example, selling something online is your goal, then you should know what your customers did before and after they reached the checkout.
Here are the top 10 simple things that we feel customers care the most about:
Acknowledge my presence quickly
One of the best ways for customers to get a very positive first impression is to acknowledge them as soon as they come in. Don’t make them have to ask. If you with another customer, explain that and tell them you will be with them shortly. If you cannot, ask staff to help them.
Customers needs … smile and be nice to be around
Smile and be pleasant to be around … smiling is not rocket science and makes a BIG difference.
List of customer needs … listen to me
When a customer is telling you his issue, give them your complete attention. Customers consistently tell us they hate dealing with employees who don’t listen or pay attention.
When you begin talking with a customer, stop whatever else you are doing and focus on them. Don’t multi-task. Don’t half-listen. Write down what they are telling you and get specifics from them. Make appropriate eye contact, listen, nod and show them you are paying attention. Then confirm that you understand.
Be easy to work with
You can tell when employees are trying their best to make them as easy as possible for you, can’t you. It adds up when done in others things on this list.
Show me you care
You may not be the owner, but you should care like you’re the owner. Not all owners or executives make great leaders, but the ones that are should be emulated. Watch how they take pride in how they deal with customers and employees. Then copy them. Act and care like you are the owners.
When talking with a new customer, give them your name and get theirs right away.This makes your conversation more personal and enables you to connect better with your customer.
It also tells your customer you’re willing to be accountable for helping them because if you don’t, they know who you are!
Identifying customer needs … know more than I do
We are definitely in a time where information on products and services is readily available. And customers have usually done their research well. So you need to be prepared with a good knowledge base. Whatever you do, don’t bluff.
Be honest
Tell the truth, ALWAYS … with no hidden agendas and ulterior motives. Marketing puffery is not the truth, and consumers are very educated on products and services.
Offer help without selling
Offer alternatives if you don’t have what I want. Have good referrals on hand; customers like to get those.
Always do what you say
Focus on what you can do, not what you can’t. Always follow up and follow through.
One of the biggest complaints people have is they never hear back from sales or service employees. Someone promises to do something, and it never happens.
Pay attention to trust needs: Build Customer Trust: The Subtle Art in This 9 Step Process
An easy way to thrill your customers is to do what you say you will. Whatever you promise, do it promptly, thoroughly and accurately. Then do a little more. It thrills them every time!
Follow through and keep me informed
A great way to assure people is to make a promise. Commit to something and give them your word. Then you are honor-bound to get it done. People respect others who make a promise and then keep it. It builds great credibility and loyalty.
Key takeaways
This list is your gold-plated ticket to increase customer loyalty. Make sure your company does all these things for every customer every time, and your customers will keep coming back again and again.
What your customer perceives about your company is what determines whether they will stay with you. And their perception is built one contact at a time. Even one bad experience can taint their perception of you.
So make sure every contact they have is a great one. Create customer evangelists by caring about your customers and showing it with everything you do.
Need some help in building better customer insights from your customer engagement? Creative ideas to help grow your customer base?
Call today for a FREE consultation or a FREE quote. Learn about some options to scope your job of growing customer insights and pay for results.
Call Mike at 607-725-8240.
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new insights that you have learned.
When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step. Call today.
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Check out these additional articles on customer service insights from our library:
10 Next Generation Customer Service Practices
Handling Customer Complaints … 8 Mistakes to Avoid
Customer Service Tips … How to Take Charge with Basics
7 Ways to Create a Customer Service Evangelist Business
Mike Schoultz is a digital marketing and customer service expert. With 48 years of business experience, he consults on and writes about topics to help improve the performance of small business. Find him on G+, Facebook, Twitter, Digital Spark Marketing, and LinkedIn.