Love your customer

By Nigel Temple

Well, perhaps not literally, but I'm sure you get my drift...

Typically, it costs FIVE times as much to acquire a new customer, as it does to sell your product or service to an existing customer. That's a huge difference, isn't it?

Wherever I go, I'm always amazed by 'customer service', or usually - the lack of it.  I'm sure that you've had that feeling too. For example, think about your recent shopping experiences. Many will have been straightforward and hassle free - whilst others can be a vertical climb, in order to get what you want.

One of the best ways to build any business, is to focus on your customers. Ask yourself whether you:

• Know as much as you can about them
• Know what irritates them about your business / industry (and what they like about you)
• Cherish your best customers with special offers and extra special service
• Have experienced what it's like to buy from your company recently
• Train and motivate your people to treat customers properly (and reward them for doing so)

Why do large companies spend so much on Customer Care programmes? Well, perhaps it's partly because they have worked out the Lifetime Value of a customer. Try doing the maths in your case: i.e. the average sale price multiplied by the number of times they buy in say a year, multiplied by the number of years they stay with you. The final number can be HUGE.

It gets even better if you factor-in how may times the average happy customer will recommend you. Most research I've seen states that the number here is in the 12 - 15 range (i.e. the happy customer tells about a dozen people). However, unhappy customers typically tell about twice that number of people about their bad experience.

Another key factor is that great service is a true differentiator for any enterprise. Goodwill is something that the competition can't steal from you (unless you let them).

At the end of the day - whatever your customers feel about you, will decide whether you win or lose.

Copyright © Nigel Temple, marketing consultant, trainer, speaker and author.