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Turning customers into raving fans is a very easy process, if you are willing to place your energy against this goal. When you create raving fans,you turn business into a growth machine, one that begins to fuel itself to newer heights. you'll have thousands of fans out their preaching your message every day...inquiries and sales will come to you each day, simply because your customer loves the way that you serve their needs. There is no more effective method to build a long term and sustainable business than to focus your energies on building a business that has customers that rave about you like you are the Super Bowl Champions! If you are prepared to place the energy to create this type of business, here are the ten easy steps:
1. Have a PASSION .... be excited about serving your customers! This is the first step because it is so critical. You must have a passion for your business and your customers. If you feel this way, customers clearly connect within and want to do business with you. If they feel your apathy or"wish-washy"attitude, they will eventually bring their business elsewhere.ACTION: Check in on your passion... if it's not there for this business, get out soon and find a business that you can be passionate about.
2. Implement Stew Leonard's Rule: "The customer is ALWAYS right!" Stew Leonard (the owner of a very successful mega-supermarket in Connecticut)had a policy that read: "Rule 1: The customer is always right!, Rule 2: If the customer is ever wrong, re-read Rule 1". This is about building a trust for your customers. They must know that you will stand by whatever goes wrong with your product or service. There is no better way to build customers into fans than to trust their word every single time! ACTION: Try it today... see how much benefit you and your staff gain from always trusting. I guarantee that your increase in business will significantly outweigh the costs from the 1% that will pilfer from your new-found trust.
3. CARE, CARE and CARE some more... I once heard Harvey McKay say :"People don't care what you know about them once they know how much you care about them!" One of your most critical"sales/marketing" roles is to gain as much information as you can from your customers... who they are, what they like, where else do they..., et al.You can gain all this information and more, if you simply CARE. People will tell you incredible things about themselves when they know that you truly care.ACTION: Truly care for all your customers today... even the ones that you label a"SOB". Be genuine... if you fake this, they will know it!
4. ASK, ask and ask again... listen to your customers every day Once your customers know how much you care about them, you can ask them anything. So go ahead and do it! Ask about your products, your competitors products, their needs, what could you do better, what more do they desire,etc. You must go into this with the "ear"... listen carefully for what is said and what isnot said. You may just hear the next great service/product opportunity tomeetyour target customer's needs.ACTION: Develop a plan to reach out to your customers every day... even if only for 10 minutes (walk the floor, call them, listen to phone calls that your staff have).
5. EXCEED their expectations as a matter of practice every day! Your customers have expectations of the type of service/quality that they receive from you. If you have been listening closely to how they feel about your products/service and your competitors, then you will able to have a plan to exceed your customers expectations. For example, computer companies used to simply sell computers... nothing more than the machine. Most of us first PC buyers had to buy DOS so that they could have an operating system to run our PCs. Today,you not only receive DOS and Windows as part of any PC purchase, you can also get up to 15 software titles bundled together, already installed!. Adding value to your product or service-- at no additional cost to the customer-- is exceeding your customer's expectations daily.ACTION: Develop a list of 25 ways that your company can add value to your product/service without increasing your prices or fees (Make it a game with your staff and it will generate tremendous creativity!)
6. Be the absolute BEST in your field/industry...nothing less! This is a goal many share but only one will ever achieve. To have customers beraving about you and your company, you'll need to be the absolute best. Do whatever it takes to make your company the best... buy the latest technology, hire the best people in your field, constantly educate and re-train all your staff. ACTION: Strive to be the best that you can be... do not except any limitations to this quest, Don Quixotes.... believe that you can be the best, formulate a plan to get there and persist... It will happen!
7. Click with them... be in tune with the Future trends of society Faith Popcorn, the famous futurist hired by Fortune 500 companies,has outlined"16 Trends to Future Fit Your Life, Your Work, and Your Business" in her best selling book "Clicking". These trends represent the forces that are driving our society. They are real and they will determine the future of many businesses...those that are operating today, new ones that are starting or businesses that are only visions in someone's eyes.ACTION: Read Clicking, and then do a "Click screen" on your business and industry. Faith Popcorn says that your business will need to Click with 5to 6 of these trends to insure a prosperous business into the next decade. {If you need support doing a "Click screen, please call me!}
8. Stay 2 steps ahead by always anticipating customer's future needs To develop a high-performance company, you'll need to be out ahead of your customers. You will need to know not only how they feel today, but also what they are thinking about for tomorrow. How will changes in their lives or their company impact their need for your service/product? Apple Computers is an excellent example of a company that hasn't done this well. They were out in the market with the first and best computer, yet they didn't anticipate how changing technology would alter the PC industry. They have forced themselves into as survival mode with a small niche of one of the largest consumer product markets.ACTION: STOP! Get away from the office... get away from the day-to-day B.S. Read Faith Popcorn's "Clicking" to understand the trends that are impacting our society, your business, your customers and your life. Then get out there where you can think clearly (the beach, the boat, the countryside, etc..) and imagine what the future holds for our society and for your customers. Ask yourself,"What do my customers need next?"
9. Accentuate Female think in your company One of the most fascinating trends in Clicking is "Female think". It is "a trend that reflects a new set of societal and business values, encouraging us to shift marketing consciousness from the traditional goal-oriented, hierarchical models tote more caring and sharing, familial ones." We each have a male and female orientation within us... some from Dad, some from Mom. "Wall Street" and corporations tend to favor male-dominated, hierarchical models (like Warriors). These models have reached their limits(at a major expense to the "souls" of corporations). What is needed to make quantum leaps in performance and to build extremely loyal customers is using more"Female think" in our businesses. You may ask yourself "How would Mom manage the business?" ACTION: Invite your female staff to share how they would create a more caring,sharing and familial work environment. Ask your female customers to speak with you about your challenge. Believe me, these two groups will provide you a list that will keep you very busy!
10. Invest so that everyone on your team has a strong personal foundation A Personal Foundation is the core part of us that allows to operate as distinct individuals. Unfortunately, there are very few people that have developed strong personal foundations. It's your role as a business owner to build your personal foundation and then to support your team in building theirs. Why? Because, no matter how hard you try, your personal life... that is who we truly are... will show up with your customers, with your colleagues,everywhere you go. Personal Foundation development can take 2-3 years, but it's worth every bit of time. You and your staff deserve to be the best. It's difficult to get there if you do not begin to understand why you do things that you do. It is said,"it's no what you know about you that controls you, it's what you don't know!" don't let it have control over you anymore.ACTION: Hire a professional success coach to develop a Personal Foundation program that will assist you in becoming complete with your past, eliminating tolerations in your life, setting effective personal boundaries and being truly clear on who you are. This is the first step before you can strengthen your team's Personal Foundation.
Article by Dominica Bencivenga, Coach,
who can be reached at
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