I mean do you care about your customer. I know many of you are all nodding your head vigorously. (I know I am). The question then is…do you show it? If so how?
Four months ago I started seeing a new Chiropractor. I like his work but what struck me last week was that I have not heard from my previous Dr. I was a twice a month client/patient. So now he is out four months of revenue and he has no idea why? He may not even know I am gone.
Now ask yourself, do you think he has demonstrated that he cares about me? Not a note, card of phone call to say, “we haven’t seen you, we hope you are well, come back”. If five patients leave and he does not acknowledge or doesn’t know how much does that mean out of his pocket?
I am in the process of implementing a new client. In speaking with the client last week she revealed that she has not heard from the incumbent since sending them a termination letter five weeks ago. A termination should never be a surprise. How important do you think she is to that solution provider?
There are a number of ways to demonstrate that we care:
– There is the obligatory holiday greeting card
– There is the sincere “thank you” when we speak to the client
– There is the thank you card at an unexpected time
I think the most valuable demonstration is paying attention to the business. By that I mean monitoring and observing how your customer is using your service. What trends do you observe? Are they using more or less? What does that mean for them? (We know what it means for you) How can you use this information to help them?
Believe me they know when we are paying attention. And it can cost real money when we don’t. I have a friend who recently won a $1.8 million dollar contract. She took it away from the biggest firm in the business. You see they had been increasing their usage of services by almost a third. But the response from the large firm had not changed. Their performance should have gone up commensurate with the increase in business. It did not. This demonstrated to the client that they were not really even looking at the business to know they were not meeting expectations.
It is important that your clients know that you care. Not just about the revenue or the sale; but that you also care about them and their business. We do that by paying attention.
1. Have you reviewed your clients business recently?
2. What rends have you observed that might mean an opportunity for you or your client?
3. How do your clients know you are paying attention?
