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Ten Principles to Keep Your Clients Happy and Loyal!product you deliver? How could you better servethem? Written questionnaires, personal interviews,evaluation forms, or simple telephone calls areuseful tools to help you determine what your clientswant, and will assist you in delivering those things.There is an old adage that says your clients areyour business. Anyone who runs a business knowshow true this is. Without clients or customers, youwouldn’t have a business. So how come somebusinesses have a hard time getting their customersto come back, while others have customers so loyalthey wouldn’t go anywhere else?3. Always Exceed Your Clients’ExpectationsThe key is proactively “wowing” your clients ona regular basis so they have no reason to goanywhere else, and every reason to be loyal toyour business. If you’re not “wowing” your clients,someone else will, and in today’s consumeroriented society people will turn with the wind toone of your competitors if you haven’t given thema reason to stick with you. So what is it that buildsloyalty in your customers? How can you keep themhappy and coming back for more? Here are tenprinciples to keep in mind.It is better to promise less and then exceed yourclients’ expectations, than to promise them theworld and under-deliver. Be careful to promiseonly what you can deliver, but make every effort toexceed their expectations every time. My friend isfiercely loyal to a certain mechanic in town. He’snot the cheapest, but every time she has her carrepaired she finds it washed, vacuumed and shinedup inside. She’s paying for a repair, but she’sgetting an added value that has inspired her loyalty.1. Make Sure You Measure4. Remember the 80/20 RuleHave systems in place to measure everythingyou do. If you don’t know how you’re doing,how will you know if you need to improve? Fromcost-effective management to product price andclient service, find ways to evaluate how you’redoing business and you’ll know quickly when andwhere changes need to be made to increase yourproductivity and client satisfaction.Remember, 80% of your business will come from20% of your customers. A successful business is80% client-focused and 20% prospect-focused.Don’t lose sight of this important fact and spendyour time, money and energy nurturing the clientsyou already have.5. Empower All of Your Staff to DealWith Clients2. Know What Your Clients WantNothing frustrates a customer more than callingwith a problem, only to be told the person on thephone can’t do anything for them. Every employeewho answers your phone should be empoweredto give the customer some level of satisfaction.Even a response like “I’ll look into it right away andsomeone will get back to you before noon” satisfiesthe customer’s desire to have something donewithout feeling like he’s being put off.Don’t know where to start your evaluation process?How about asking your clients? Nothing makes acustomer feel more valued and appreciated thanbeing asked what they want and then seeing thosethings being delivered. It’s easy to assume youknow what they want, but asking them is still thebest way to find out. You may be surprised by theresults. How do they really feel about the service orCommunity Futures East Central7

6. Have a Proactive CustomerCare Strategyat another store, I asked a clerk where I could findthe same product. She smiled and made friendlysmall talk as she took me to the right aisle. Wheredo you think I’ll shop from now on?Your marketing strategy should include acontinuous plan of customer care that hasnothing to do with you and everything to do withyour customers. Regular contact, client-focusedseminars and events, gifts, invitations to socialevents, newsletters, open houses, and discounts,are just a few ways to focus on your customers. Dothis and your clients will begin to develop the kindof loyalty that keeps them coming back.10. Establish a Strategy to MaintainRegular ContactThe more regular and frequent your contact withyour clients, the more solid your relationship willbecome. Some ideas Get your client’s address oremail and send them things you think might interestthem about one of their hobbies, a relevant website or a newspaper clipping. Distribute a monthlyor quarterly newsletter. Fix problems quickly everytime - don’t let anyone fall through the cracks.7. Use Your Imagination to StandOut in a CrowdRemember when you were starting your businessyou had to come up with a USP that set you apartfrom everyone else? Use your imagination tocome up with ways to make your business standout again. Offer your customers a spring or falldiscount, invite your best customers to a specialevent, or send a gift at Easter or Thanksgivingfor instance. Connect your marketing with yourproduct or service. Are you a realtor? Leave apackage of flower seeds with your flyers. Do yousell a product? Have a local chocolatier createa mold of your product and leave it with everyestimate or purchase. A bit of money, for thebenefit of getting your clients to remember you, isworth the cost.You’re passionate about your business, and youwant your customers to be passionate about ittoo. With a little imagination, creativity, and acommitment to caring for your customers in away that will “wow” them, you can profit fromthe results. The extra effort it takes to “wow”your customers and set you apart from yourcompetitors will result in long term, satisfyingrelationships with clients who will be loyal to yourbusiness and tell all their friends how great youare. “Wowing” your customers cements existingrelationships and perpetuates new ones.It’s never too late to start. If you haven’t had agreat track record with customer care, what’sto keep you from starting your “wow” programtoday? Customers are people who want tobe respected and appreciated. These simpleprinciples will take you a long way toward inspiringcustomer loyalty and increasing the profitability ofyour business.8. The Customer is Still Always RightAsk any consumer and they’ll tell you how hard it isto find good service. Few businesses are standingbehind this principle. Be the business that alwayssays YES. If you can do it, do it well. If you can’t doit, find someone who can do it for them.9. Old Fashioned Values Still WorkShowing politeness and respect is not a lost art.Last week I was at a department store looking fora specific cleaning product. When I located a clerkshe rolled her eyes, pointed to where I had justbeen looking and said “Aisle 10”. Across the streetCommunity Futures East Central8

Exceeding Your Clients’ ExpectationsHow to Create a “WIN” Every Timepositive stories with such enthusiasm they’realmost glowing with the good news! Sadlyhowever, there are always more bad stories thangood ones. As a small business you have anopportunity to set yourself apart from the rest.You can create a “win” situation with every client,every day. If you can differentiate yourself fromyour competitors by exceeding your clients’expectations, they’ll be talking about you all overtown. Exceeding expectations isn’t as simple asyou might think. There are some key componentsto creating this kind of experience for yourcustomers, and they require some work on yourpart before you even sell them anything.I often teach a workshop on customer service,and one of the exercises I do at the beginningof the day is ask people to tell me about theirworst customer service experience. You wouldn’tbelieve how anxious people are to share theirhorror stories about bad service. The energyaround the room gets pretty high as peoplecommiserate with each other about their similarexperiences, and always have one to top theprevious story. Then, I ask them to tell me theirmost positive customer service experiences, andthe mood changes right away. People tell theirCommunity Futures East Central9

Define Success With Your Clientcampaign with your magazine was so successful hemore than doubled the sales increase he’d hopedto achieve. You can then take it one step further.“I’m so thrilled that your ad campaign was sosuccessful Mr. Smith. I think we made the perfectinvestment decision 3 months ago. I am lookinginto the future now and thinking that based on ourprevious success, we can increase the monthlyinvestment by 25% to grow your business to thenext level.” Or, you could ask Mr. Smith, based onhis success, whether he might have any colleaguesor business associates who might also benefitfrom a similar ad campaign. Keeping an eye ontheir future, as well as yours, and building on yoursuccess with them creates a win/win situation forboth of you.How can you exceed expectations if you don’tknow what your customers expect? You canassume you know what they consider to be greatservice, but if you don’t ask, how can you knowfor sure? Before you make the sale, ask your clientto define their version of success. “Mr. Client,before I even show you the advertising rates for ourmagazine, I’d like to know what will make you feelas if purchasing this advertising is a good move,and will bring you success.” One client might quotea percentage increase in sales, another might sayit was an increase of traffic to their store. Anothermight even say that they’d feel successful if theyheard people talking about their store - that isincreased visibility in the community. If you don’tknow how each client defines success, you can’tpossibly meet or exceed their expectations. It’s allabout understanding needs.Recognize the power you have to create a winningstrategy with every client, every day. Meet andexceed expectations that you and they, together,have set, and there will be no end to the futurebusiness you can create.Define Your DeliverablesThe client begins thinking about success whenyou make your proposal. As you’re talking aboutwhat you can do for them, how your product orservice will benefit them, they’re beginning toimagine what that would look like. If you promiseto lasso the moon for them, they’ll believe you cando it, and anything less than the moon on a platterwill appear to them as a failure to deliver. The greatnews is that you’re in control of those deliverables,and you can in fact, set your clients up for a bigsurprise when you over-deliver! Always presentrealistic, moderate deliverables, and then, go to thewall and deliver more than you promised. It worksevery time, and clients are thrilled that you not onlygave them what you promised (which by their owndefinition equalled success), but that you gavethem even more! If that doesn’t get people talkingabout your business, nothing will.Define Future BusinessNothing helps you to up-sell, resell, future-selland get referrals like creating success for yourclient. Once you’ve over-delivered and your clientscouldn’t be happier with the way you’ve helpedthem grow their business, that’s the time to createfuture business. Let’s say Mr. Smith’s advertisingCommunity Futures East Central10

The Value of Customer Service Training for Your Staffdoesn’t have to be onerous. It’s really just aboutsharing your values and expectations with yourstaff. Here are some things to think about whentraining your staff on how to deliver the kind ofservice you expect for your customers.There was a time when customer service wasexactly what it said it was. It seemed to beuniversally understood what was involved inmaking customers happy, and what it lookedlike to take good care of them. It’s not that wayanymore. You can’t assume that people you hire oreven those who already work for you, know whatcustomer service means to you. Your customerservice philosophy is something you should beimparting to your staff on an ongoing basis. Thisis the only way to ensure that your customers aregetting the service you want them to have. TrainingCommunity Futures East Central1. Provide Goals and ExpectationsWhat exactly do you want your staff to do to deliveryour kind of service? How do you want them tobehave – on the phone, behind the counter, on thefloor? Your answer will be unique to your business,11

4. Provide Opportunities forShared Learningthe product or service you provide and the typeof customers you serve. Regardless of the kind ofbusiness you have, you need to have a clear idea ofthe end results you’re looking for. Employees needto have clear expectations; they need to know whatsuccess “looks like” and how you will be judgingtheir customer service efforts. Be specific – don’tassume your employees will know what you expectHave everyone on the team involved in the trainingprocess. Ask them for their worst customer serviceexperiences – allow them to tell the stories of howor why they didn’t do very well because thosesituations are perfect for teaching. Ask your team,“What could John have done differently?” You needa good balance of both failure and success storiesto build a strong service culture. Similarly, take timeto celebrate your successes and to share thesesuccess examples with all employees. Sometimesthe best “customer service training” for staff canbe a good debriefing of either a positive or negativecustomer situation.2. Provide the Tools to Deliver onYour ExpectationsEmployees need tools, and they need to know howto use those tools to serve customers effectively.Have they been given the appropriate amountof training for adequate product knowledge? Dothey have the right software or equipment to dowhat is expected? Do they have the authorityto make decisions for the customer? Do theyknow what your policies and practices are withregard to satisfying customers and respondingto complaints? The more flexibility you’re able tooffer and the more clearly you communicate theseguidelines, the better able employees will be tomeet customer needs. Customers benefit, too,when employees are able to resolve situations “onthe spot” instead of having to “talk to my manager.”5. Lead by ExampleYour staff watches not only how you interactwith customers, but what you say about yourcustomers. If you speak badly about customersor put them down with your words, this sendsa very strong message to employees. It showsdisrespect for your customers, and no matterwhat you say you want them to do, they are notlikely to respect your customers any more thanyou do. Make sure you’re being a strong rolemodel - both in word and deed.3. Provide Practical, RelatableTrainingGone are the days when you can hire someone ina customer service role and just assume they knowwhat that looks like. If you really want your staff todeliver excellent service, you must take the time toshow them what it means. Your customers will seethe difference, and so will your business.Your customer service training should be basedon real life experiences – yours and those ofothers in your company or your industry. Useexamples of things that have actually happenedto help to highlight bad/good/better/bestexamples of working with clients and customers.Use your most successful people to assist youwith training and coaching other employees. Userole-play to provide examples of how to dealwith common challenging situations. Provideemployees with an opportunity to “practice” theirresponses. When a real situation occurs they willhave a higher comfort level with their ability torespond effectively.Community Futures East Central12

7 Ways to Make Your Customers Feel ImportantPut Them FirstHow many times have you spent your well-earneddollars on a product or service, only to feel likea number, or a commodity to the company oncethey’ve received payment? On the other hand, howwell do you remember the companies that madeyou feel like they really valued you as a customer?It seems that the second scenario is becomingrarer, and those companies that do go the extramile to make their customers feel important andvalued, stand head and shoulders above the rest.Winning customer loyalty takes a lot of time andenergy, which is why so many companies can’t bebothered, but achieving it will give you a neverending source of repeat business and referrals.How is your business doing in making yourcustomers feel important? Here are some ways youcan “wow” your customers.Remember that most customers are thinking WIIFM(what’s in it for me?). In all your interactions withcustomers, think about whether you’re giving themthe answer to that question. Do they know you careabout what’s important to them? What’s in it forthem has to come before what’s in it for you, or thecustomer service equation doesn’t work. I recentlyheard someone say, “people don’t care how muchyou know, until they know how much you care.”Put Yourself in Their ShoesSo, that customer standing in front of you is angryabout what they perceive is sub-standard service.It sounds outrageous to you, but to them it’s veryreal. When faced with complaints or confrontationwith your customers, put yourself in their shoes.Try to remember the last time you were unsatisfiedwith something you paid for. How did it feel? Wereyou acknowledged or dismissed by the company?How would you have liked to be treated? Steppingback from the situation and realizing everyconsumer is just like you, might help you to showa little more compassion and understanding indifficult situations.Pay AttentionWhen dealing with your customers, take note ofall the little things that may not seem importantto the transaction at hand. Did Mr. Jones walkin with a limp and a cane today? Was Susan nother usual chatty self when she came in to pick upthat part she ordered? When John came in, didyou notice he had a new puppy in tow? Payingattention to the little details of everyday life, andletting your customers know you noticed, willmake them feel valued.Be Honest and Genuinely Open toFeedbackCriticism or complaints from your customersare actually your greatest customer serviceopportunities. When you know what you’ve donewrong, you can take steps to make it right. Behonest when you have made a mistake, andgenuinely seek to rectify it. Throw defensiveness outthe window, and take your customers’ feedback toheart. It may sting, but it will take you to a greaterlevel of customer service. Implement the things youhear from your customers, and thank them for theopportunity to be better at what you do.Really ListenUse what Stephen Covey calls Level 4 Listening –listening empathically. Not just for the content, orfor how you will respond, but listening between thewords you hear. Do you hear fear, reluctance, orexcitement? When you really listen you can learnwhat your customers truly need, and meeting theirneeds is another way you can make them feelimportant.Community Futures East Central13

Deal with Problems Quicklyyour appreciation will pay off huge dividends.The possibilities are only as limited as yourimagination. Here are just a few ideas:Nothing is more irritating than having a problemwith a business and getting the runaround,or worse, getting no attention at all. When aproblem comes to your attention, deal with itimmediately. This assures your customers thatthey are important to you. When you make thetime to deal with their issues right away, youshow that you value them. When you put it off,allowing weeks to go by without a word, youlet them know that you don’t care if they gosomewhere else! Hold a customer appreciation event with free hot dogs and ice cream Send flowers to a long-time customer who’s experienced a loss or is going through adifficult time Charge up 10 on a few Starbucks cards and have a draw for two customers a month – justbecause you appreciate themBe Creative in Showing AppreciationCreativity takes effort, but taking those fewmoments each week to do something nice foryour customers goes a long, long way to inspiringloyalty and making them feel special. You mayneed to add some money to your marketingbudget, but the little you spend on showing Send a bottle of wine to a customer who made a large purchase Purchase two event tickets (sports or concert) and send them to a customer who gave areferral Have a weekly or monthly draw for a gift basket – customers can enter every time theymake a purchase Send thank you cards for no other reason than to thank your customers for their loyaltyWhat’s holding you back from making yourcustomers feel important? These few simple stepscan help you create a loyal customer base – andthat’s something solid to bui

a voucher for a free full breakfast in the restaurant the next morning. Finally, when I entered the bathroom, I felt a cozy warmth under my toes in contrast to the cold tile floor I usually experienced. The hotel had heated bathroom floors, and the heat had been turned on in preparation for