PointConcept

Customer first

Over my working life I have adopted a very customer focused outlook. This is in part because I know how I like to be treated as a customer but also because I have seen so many examples of the value of such a view. It goes without saying, to be in business you need customers. Yet communicating and collaborating with customers is something which so many companies large and small seem to get wrong. But others get it very right.

So I ask, do you have relations with your customers, or do you manage your contacts?

Working for a large multinational I was introduced to the idea of internal customers. Other people and departments within the company. This Idea has become a corner stone of my approach to customer relations. I don’t have contacts, I have Customers ( and friends). So everyone you talk to is a customer of your service. They may not be paying money but they pay something else. Return good service and referral.

Customer second

What this means is that every one you deal with could potentially be, or refer you to someone who could be, a customer; who then pays for your services and supplies you with an income. So the lady at the corner shop who says hello and asks you how your day is, when she knows what you do and that you are a nice person she will pass that on to another customer or family member who needs such a service.

Its networking but at a much more subtle level. All too often we think of networking as spending time with those we identify as most likely to pay for our service. Some times the five minute chat every day leads to better results than the regular 2 hour network session.

When ever you discuss your business or attend a meeting and talk to someone of interest record it. Especially if you gave or received a card.

Of course anyone who has received good customer service from you is more likely to pass that on to others and put you forward. But because of human nature people tend to moan about bad service quicker than good service. Which means you have to give good service all the time, and that means pressure, pressure not to forget, pressure to supply on time, pressure to anticipate and pressure to inform.

All of that requires recording information about your customers. Information which is current and accurate. It needs to be easily accessible and understandable by everyone who may need to use it. To achieve this means colaberating on the most fundamental component of your business, your Customers.

So value them all as customers not contacts.