The Key to More Customers, More Sales and More Profits

How many times in the last 30 days have you been treated poorly by a business? The University of Michigan Business School recently released the results of the American Customer Satisfaction Index. The index, which is based on interviews with 16,000 customers of 200 companies in 33 industries, has shown declining satisfaction with service in each quarter since it began in 1994. The survey shows the overall opinion of customer service has dropped from 74.5 in 1994 to 70.7 in 1999.

Here are ten ideas to assist you in enhancing your relationship with your customers and the level of service they receive from your business.

1. Make Lasting First Impressions - How many times in the last month have you walked into or called a business, where you were greeted by an enthusiastic person that was friendly and anxious to assist you? From the moment that a customer walks into your business, your employees make an impression with that customer. The real question is what kind of impressions are they making? Train your staff to greet every customer with enthusiasm, a smile and to make eye contact as they greet the customer. Create an enthusiastic telephone greeting that awaits every customer who calls your business.  Reinforce the importance of a warm and friendly greeting with all of your employees.

2. Ask The Customer - Survey your customers by mail, phone or e-mail. Ask your customers to list three reasons why they like doing business with you and three reasons why they don't like doing business with you. Ask them for suggestions of what you can do to improve the service you provide. Ask them what other products they might need that you could provide. Can you remember the last time you purchased a product and a company asked you for your feedback?  It will send a clear message to your customers that you value their feedback and their business.

3. Mystery Shop Your Business - Hire a company to secretly shop your business. They can provide you with feedback from a customer's perspective on what it was like doing business with your company. Use  the information gathered from mystery shopping to evaluate the question, "are we creating a memorable experience for our customers?" Use mystery shopping to shop your competitors for their service and price comparison. Mystery shopping can provide invaluable information about attracting and keeping new customers.

4. Remember Special Dates - When was the last time any company that you have done business with remembered a significant date in your life? Build a customer profile on each of your customers. Ask them to provide you with birthdays and anniversaries. Send them a card or a small gift from your business; recognize their birthday and their annual anniversary as a customer. Develop a special award to honor those customers that have been with you for three or more years.

5. Give Them Added Value - The average business spends six times the amount of money attracting new customers as it does retaining existing customers.  How much have you invested in your current customers in the last 12 months?  Set up a frequent buyers club offering additional savings to regular customers, hold a customer appreciation day, or once a year send each one of your regular customers a free gift. It's that little added value that says you care about your customers.

6. Make Your Employees Owners In The Company - People work harder and care more about customers when they feel like they have ownership in the business. Create an incentive plan that lets them share in the profits. Reward and recognize their commitment to customer satisfaction often. Create a goal for an amount of increased sales for a given period of time. If your employees could increase sales by 7-10% next month would you give 2% to your employees for their efforts? Create a few goals that involve all the staff of the company. People will work harder when they have something to work towards and there is a reward for the effort.

7. Measure What's Relevant - You cannot tell people to do their best and then just how their best is good enough. You (and them) have to know how they're doing and where they can improve. Set up a procedure to measure the results of your marketing efforts, customer satisfaction and referral business.

8. Show Appreciation - A recent study done by Wayne State University found that business for an international company increased by 42% over six months when they sent out thank you cards on a regular basis. When was the last time you received a thank you note or received a heartfelt thank you for spending your hard earned money with a business? The words "Thank You" are seldom spoken with meaning anymore. Look your customer in the eyes and say, "Thank you for doing business with me." Send thank you notes and incentive gifts to your customers to tell them how much you value their business. People do business where they are appreciated.

9. Keep In Touch With Your Customers - How often do you hear from the insurance agent that handles all of your insurance needs, or the real estate agent that sold you a house, or the countless other businesses that have provided you a product or service? Do you remember their name, do your refer them to other people you know? Invest an hour a week to keep in touch with them. Send out a monthly or quarterly newsletter. Let them know about other products and services you offer along with tips and ideas that would be useful.

10. Taking Care of The Customer is Everyone's Job - Whether it's the person answering the phone or the technician in the field, empower your employees to handle a customer's complaint or request on the spot. Train your employees  how to exceed the customer's expectations every time.

We all want to feel that the companies we spend our money with really care about us. The small things, like a friendly greeting, a helpful employee or a simple "thank you for your business", said with meaning, tells your customers you care. Pick one idea from above  and put it into action at your business.