The call to action after you read this article is to not think about customer bur that think LIKE
the customer. It's amazing how easy it is to make your current and
future customers go gaga for your business. What's even sadder is that
it cost next to nothing to delivery a wow experience. Here's what's even
more tragic (if that's even possible) you have relatively zero
competition for delivering an amazing experience!!
Can you believe that? The minute you create policies and build a customer centric culture, you leave all your competition in the dust. Did you read the second sentence? It will cost your company next to ZERO dollars to do this.
What you are about to learn is not new. You have heard it before in some expensive customer service of flashy sales seminar. Or read it in a fancy smart sounding magazine. You know, the kind of magazine that makes you feel a bit above everyone else.
Who am I kidding; I've been a fan of Fast Company since the first printing. I was in my early 20's when the magazine first came out. The paper felt so different from anything I had ever felt. They were bold, descriptive, and sexy. I wanted to have it on my desk in my future office so people thought of me as savvy and forward thinking. Not to mention young and entrepreneurial. That's the feeling a magazine gave me and still does. But I digress.
I am describing an experience. Fast Company has created a reader experience from the moment you pick up the product. It's on purpose with a purpose and for a purpose. They are in the service of making readers feel connected and in touch with up and coming insights to business that matter to a specific market of spirited people. Whenever I see a copy even 15 plus years later, I still get the same feeling of being a savvy reader. I tell everyone I know about the magazine because it rocks.
So what will make your customers go insane for your service? What will make them tell everyone they know about your service? Below are 7 ways for your customers to literally go Gaga for you! This list is not exhaustive. There are so many more ways but this is a start.
1. Attention: Customers want you to notice them. Get to know your customer so well that they see you as a mentalist! Make them feel like you can read their mind. You must anticipate their needs even before they have them. Can you imagine how your customers would respond if you sent them an email just at the right time when they need your service. Get to know them better than they know themselves. Give them your attention and they will give theirs.
2. Access: Customers want to know that they can access you as much as they want. Lady Gaga is a perfect role model for any business who wants to grow his or her own legion of Little Monsters. That is what she calls her followers who are the most loyal fans of any rock star. She has given them unprecedented access to the pop star in a way that makes them feel connected to her AND each other. Bonded by a common experience and adoration they follow her and unite as a community. She has capitalized on people's need of belonging. Sound familiar?
3. Interest: How interested are you in your customer's problems? Not just interested but genuinely curious of who they are and what they need? Do you ask questions to probe into their problem? Even if you are highly experienced, let them tell you their problem and ask questions with curiosity.
4. Responsiveness: Now that you have gotten to know them, you know their problems, and you offer the right solution. You sell them on why you are the best service. They call, email, or stop by and you say you will get back to them with answers. You must respond quickly, regardless of how busy you get, device a way to respond to your customers at tornado pace. So fast that you freak them out!
5. Deliver on promise: Do what you say you are going to do, then do just a little bit more. You may have delivered exactly what they bought. But why not give them more than they expected? A phone call after the delivery to find out how they liked it. Ask, "Did we deliver on your vision?" Don't be afraid to get constructive feedback. Your business will thrive with great feedback.
6. Become a "solutionist": Your customers buy not just your service but how YOU deliver on the solution. Decided firmly that you have a solution to their problem and be able to articulate. If you ever watch an infomercial there's always the black and white scene where the problem is portrayed in such ridiculous ways then show the solution seem like the only hope for human kind. Do the same with your solution. You can even print the problem in black and white and your solution in color. Solve their problem.
7. Package the solution: Because you applied #1 Attention, you are now poised to create packaged solutions that solve problems. If you do nothing else package, package, and repackage. People love packages. Look at Progressive the insurance company. They "package" insurance. We all know it's not a physical package, yet they have managed to materialize their product into something tangible. If you know your customer well and the problem you solve, you will have plenty of material to wrap up your services into package offerings that they can buy.
Can you believe that? The minute you create policies and build a customer centric culture, you leave all your competition in the dust. Did you read the second sentence? It will cost your company next to ZERO dollars to do this.
What you are about to learn is not new. You have heard it before in some expensive customer service of flashy sales seminar. Or read it in a fancy smart sounding magazine. You know, the kind of magazine that makes you feel a bit above everyone else.
Who am I kidding; I've been a fan of Fast Company since the first printing. I was in my early 20's when the magazine first came out. The paper felt so different from anything I had ever felt. They were bold, descriptive, and sexy. I wanted to have it on my desk in my future office so people thought of me as savvy and forward thinking. Not to mention young and entrepreneurial. That's the feeling a magazine gave me and still does. But I digress.
I am describing an experience. Fast Company has created a reader experience from the moment you pick up the product. It's on purpose with a purpose and for a purpose. They are in the service of making readers feel connected and in touch with up and coming insights to business that matter to a specific market of spirited people. Whenever I see a copy even 15 plus years later, I still get the same feeling of being a savvy reader. I tell everyone I know about the magazine because it rocks.
So what will make your customers go insane for your service? What will make them tell everyone they know about your service? Below are 7 ways for your customers to literally go Gaga for you! This list is not exhaustive. There are so many more ways but this is a start.
1. Attention: Customers want you to notice them. Get to know your customer so well that they see you as a mentalist! Make them feel like you can read their mind. You must anticipate their needs even before they have them. Can you imagine how your customers would respond if you sent them an email just at the right time when they need your service. Get to know them better than they know themselves. Give them your attention and they will give theirs.
2. Access: Customers want to know that they can access you as much as they want. Lady Gaga is a perfect role model for any business who wants to grow his or her own legion of Little Monsters. That is what she calls her followers who are the most loyal fans of any rock star. She has given them unprecedented access to the pop star in a way that makes them feel connected to her AND each other. Bonded by a common experience and adoration they follow her and unite as a community. She has capitalized on people's need of belonging. Sound familiar?
3. Interest: How interested are you in your customer's problems? Not just interested but genuinely curious of who they are and what they need? Do you ask questions to probe into their problem? Even if you are highly experienced, let them tell you their problem and ask questions with curiosity.
4. Responsiveness: Now that you have gotten to know them, you know their problems, and you offer the right solution. You sell them on why you are the best service. They call, email, or stop by and you say you will get back to them with answers. You must respond quickly, regardless of how busy you get, device a way to respond to your customers at tornado pace. So fast that you freak them out!
5. Deliver on promise: Do what you say you are going to do, then do just a little bit more. You may have delivered exactly what they bought. But why not give them more than they expected? A phone call after the delivery to find out how they liked it. Ask, "Did we deliver on your vision?" Don't be afraid to get constructive feedback. Your business will thrive with great feedback.
6. Become a "solutionist": Your customers buy not just your service but how YOU deliver on the solution. Decided firmly that you have a solution to their problem and be able to articulate. If you ever watch an infomercial there's always the black and white scene where the problem is portrayed in such ridiculous ways then show the solution seem like the only hope for human kind. Do the same with your solution. You can even print the problem in black and white and your solution in color. Solve their problem.
7. Package the solution: Because you applied #1 Attention, you are now poised to create packaged solutions that solve problems. If you do nothing else package, package, and repackage. People love packages. Look at Progressive the insurance company. They "package" insurance. We all know it's not a physical package, yet they have managed to materialize their product into something tangible. If you know your customer well and the problem you solve, you will have plenty of material to wrap up your services into package offerings that they can buy.
Brooklyn Dicent speaks, writes, and trains on the topic of
customer experience and sales. For more information or invite to speak
at your event visit http://www.brooklyndicent.com
By Brooklyn_Dicent
