December 2007
The following article was first published in the Eastern Daily Press' 'The Business' on 19 December 2007
Knowing your customers pays off
How do you feel when you approach the reception desk of a hotel, having only checked in earlier that day, to be greeted politely and enthusiastically by name…..by someone you've never seen before?
When you enter a shop and the sales assistant welcomes you by name and then engages you in conversation about your last purchase at the shop, does it make you feel special?
If tomorrow's post brings a note from your car dealer, reminding you that it's about time for your next service….. and offering a couple of dates and times that fit in well with your normal schedule….. would you think, again, that you'd made a good decision when buying the car?
All of these are examples of great customer service. As I've said many times in this column, customer service is a key to business success. It's the best way in which a business can differentiate itself from all the others. And knowing as much as you can about your customers is the secret to delivering great customer service.
Years ago, I worked with a chap who was probably the most accomplished salesman I've ever seen. His performance outshone that of his entire team and, in an industry that was extremely competitive, he regularly achieved more profitable sales than anyone else. He wasn't the best negotiator, nor did he know more about our products than the next person. He didn't have the best `patch' to sell to….. he covered the entire country. Nor did he enjoy only the best accounts…. he dealt with the good, the bad and the ugly.
What he did do exceptionally well was to manage the relationship with our customers in such a way that they wanted to come back to us again and again. He knew what the customers had bought from us before; he knew what they had been offered but hadn't bought; he knew what of our competitors' products they had bought; he knew what was happening in the overall marketplace and knew how each of our customers fitted into and affected that marketplace.
In fact, what he didn't know about his customers probably wasn't worth knowing…..their ambitions, their hobbies and pastimes, the names of their partners and children, their favourite food and drink, the little bits of gossip they passed on about their competitors and, more importantly, our competitors. All of this helped him to meet the needs of our customers in such a way that made them feel like they were being listened to and that they were important to us - in other words, that they were special.
This was all in the days before the widespread use of laptop computers equipped with sales ledger databases and powerful Customer Relationship Management software. My colleague did it all on 3X5 inch cards! But the principle of truly knowing your customer doesn't depend on technology…..it just requires the commitment, the organisation and the discipline to record details of every contact with the customer. From the first time you get a simple name and address, to making notes of that last telephone conversation - every interaction with a customer builds the knowledge that will allow you to offer that greatest of all business winners - outstanding customer service.