Quality Customers Resource

Ask most company managers and they’ll tell you the key to satisfying customers is to “do what the customer wants.” Although this is a reasonable answer, I believe in adding to this by embracing the philosophy of “do what the customer needs.” Although it takes extra time to educate a customer and merge their wants with newly learned needs, it leads to a more satisfied customer and it’s the right thing to do.

Establish up front what your customer expects from you by asking, “What results do you expect to see from our work?” When you understand the customer’s expectations, you can address any misconceptions before the work begins.

Figure out how to foster a strong sense of pride in each team member’s quality work, displays of strong work ethic, customer satisfaction focus and professional development. Start by recognizing, thanking, and rewarding each team member on specific accomplishments and moments of success. Expand from there. Once you realize that your job is to foster GOOD EGO, you’ll come up with ideas to do so.

Does your staff ever unconsciously exhibit moral superiority because they believe they’re right about an issue? Hey, they might be right, but enhancing communication requires them to be open to views and thought processes that they believe to be flawed.

Expertise is what members of your team know about the various types of work they produce and the industry they belong to. They’ve gained this knowledge through direct experience and study. You’ve trained them on Best Practices, which produce better outcomes, and they use their expertise to communicate with customers and decide how to do the work.

Personalization is how your team communicates to individuals uniquely, based on their key attributes and behaviors. Companies often use a one-size-fits-all communication framework that’s “workable” for most of their customers. Workable communications will help you satisfy your customers, while personalized communications deepen relationships and help you create super-satisfied customers.

Recently, I sat down with Greg Louie, founder and CEO of American Ratings Corporation, creators of Diamond Certified Resource, to get his perspective on Quality Customers and why it’s so important for businesses to focus on attracting and keeping them. Here’s what he had to say.

Responsiveness is the perceived time it takes for your team to act on promised and implied commitments. By definition these implied commitments are unspoken and often assumed by custom, like returning a phone call within two days. Since there’s no official rule of response times per channel between company and customer, unless you specifically set a response commitment, each customer judges your responsiveness subjectively based on their individual sense of what the standard should be for the channel of communication and the nature of the commitment.

Think about these two words: Helpful Expertise. You’re most Helpful when you have a great Attitude, you’re very Responsive and you Personalize your communications to the individual customer. Your Expertise shines when you truly understand the specifics of the job and are able to provide expert Insights based on this understanding.

Think about your past, present and future customer group. Each member belongs to their own family, friend and work groups. Improving their sense of belonging in your group influences members (your potential customers) in their other groups. Here’s how you can do it.