How did Memorial Day affect your Gulf Coast business this year? Did you run any sales or promotions for members of the military? Join a parade to advertise your business? Holidays are an excellent opportunity to connect with the community and get visibility.
And, if you missed doing that for Memorial Day, Independence Day is only a month or so away. Start thinking about some ways you can establish your business presence in the area and rake in some sales while honoring the red, white, and blue.
Capitalism is, after all, one of the things that makes the U.S.A. the U.S.A.
Besides running sales and promotions around holidays, what are you doing to make a great experience for your customers from the minute they “walk through your door”?
Yes, customers primarily are about paying you for the products or services you sell… but know that as a business, there’s more you can do than just conduct a transaction. And if you do more and do it right, you can see a positive effect on your profit. Don’t do it, and it could be a killer to converting those prospective customers into actual customers.
What’s the more you can do for your own business? Let me show you…
A Planned Experience for Your Gulf Coast Prospective Customers
“When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this — you haven’t.” -Thomas Edison
You know the saying, “The customer is always right.” This is the baseline for a lot of businesses I advise when it comes to customer experience. And while there is value in that mantra, it lacks substance and vision for actually converting and keeping prospective customers long-term.
So how do you avoid the mistake of focusing on the immediate sale and neglecting the long-term relationship with the customer? You have to think from the customer’s perspective. What draws them in? Think about it – how much more would you be willing to spend at your favorite coffee shop if they remembered your order and greeted you by name? Customer loyalty is a goldmine.
So, other than cajoling my clients to raise their prices, when I sit down with them, I take a look at how they’ve built out their customer experience and then help them improve it.
The first impression. So, what’s the first thing prospective customers see or hear or feel on their journey with you? First impressions, for better or worse, are lasting impressions. Your customers will judge your business by their first impression. If it’s a poorly managed one, it’s going to be difficult to overcome it.
So, take a minute and think about this in your business: Where is the first impression made for your potential customers? If it’s over the telephone, are you giving careful and thorough consideration to how these calls are handled? Are you measuring how successful those calls are in keeping customers? It’s not uncommon for businesses to lose a lot of business by bungling that first phone interaction.
If not by phone, does the first impression typically happen when the prospective customers walk in the door? Then make sure you are intentionally and thoughtfully creating procedures for how that person is greeted and directed upon entry.
You especially need to focus on the store environment if your business is a public retail business. Businesses that maintain lousy environments have historically not thrived. They lose their potential customers to their competitors whose store environments are appealing and well-thought-out. And don’t cop out like other poor environment businesses and decide that yours is “just the way it is.”
Consider the neighborhood car service business. It’s not uncommon to associate these environments with grease, dirt, and unpleasantness (though that’s not always the case). The waiting area is often a dismal experience: a few cruddy, battered chairs thrown in the corner, a scratched-up vending machine on the wall, and piles of old car magazines on the table.
Fast forward to today where newer car care companies have created cleaner, more pleasant waiting rooms and a more progressive approach to the customer experience. And that means the neighborhood service station industry loses out on getting customers from oil change business.
The point is, you can improve a great deal in your bottom line by fixing problems with your customer experience… and doing it now!
What about after the sale? The customer experience here boils down to follow-up and follow-through. How would it make you feel if…
…your doctor called you the evening after a treatment just to check up on you?
…you got an email survey from a restaurant where you recently dined asking you for your comments and suggestions?
…your car dealer service manager called you a week after having some repairs done just to make sure everything was running smoothly with your car?
In response to that, I hear “That’s looking for trouble.” But, respectfully, I don’t agree. This is proactively looking for interaction, satisfaction, loyalty, and repeat business.
And, if your follow-up reveals a good amount of customer dissatisfaction, you have free insight into any problems and have the intel you need to make some changes! Whether you discover it or not, the dissatisfaction for your customers is there. If you miss out on this type of intel now, you’ll pay the price whether it’s later or now.
Take the time to follow up and find out now.
I don’t pretend to be a “guru” on customer experience, but when I see what works, I like to pass it on.
Consider this when you’re doing your mid-year check-in on business goals and make adjustments as needed.
Helping you stay customer-focused,
James Thomasson
