Greetings and Blessings to you and your business this year!
The following is a business message that I thought would be beneficial to ALL CPA members and friends. It comes from the book, "Hug Your Customers: The Proven Way to Personalize Sales and Achieve Astounding Results" by Jack Mitchell.
Years ago, most sales were transaction-based. The interaction with the customer began and ended with the transaction. Say the customer bought three suits, six white shirts, and a couple of ties, one striped and one solid. You had no complaints. That was a nice sale, and you earned a nice commission. End of discussion. You had no idea what the person was going to do with those suits and shirts, and it wasn't that you didn't care, you just didn't have the mindset to ask the customer.
Today it's not enough to just make a sale. We have to ask the customer what he is using those three new suits for, and then we can decode that into what type of suit, fabric, color, and model is right for him. Often we know a lot more than he does about what he should wear in the business or social setting to look and feel great. After all, we are the experts regarding our products or services. If he travels a lot, you set him up with a harder fabric. In the old days, you might have sold him a thousand-dollar suit and he packed it in a carry-on bag and the first time he put it on it was all wrinkled. Today you have to listen in order to understand the customer's needs, and that means developing a closer personal relationship with them. Or as Jack Mitchell likes to say, "hugging your customer". Anyone can sell a dark blue suit. Anyone can sell a wheelbarrow. But that's not a relationship.
So selling has shifted from transaction to relationships. It's moved from a "May I help you?" transaction to "Is the new outfit for business or a special occasion?" You're researching a need. The critical difference in making this shift is how you think about customers. I believe in staying as close as possible to the customer. Again, this is "Hugging your customer".
There's another business change that has taken place. It used to be that businesses had what I call a "magic list," an assortment of little extra services they provided to all customers as an incentive to shop with them: free parking, free alterations, free coffee, and a liberal return policy. The magic list defined service. Any business could draw up its own list. We had this list, and we still have it. These things do matter. But magic lists are no longer enough. Through the relationships you develop, you must listen to your customers on an individual basis so that you know her or him, and give them additional services that are important to them.
I call these customer-led services. Some customers, for instance, because of schedule or a phobia about crowds, might want to shop during off-hours. So you open the store at night for them. Or you fit them in a private dressing room. Let me give you another example that may sound silly, but it works. Every Sunday in the summer outside Mitchells we give away hot dogs. After a while, we added kosher dogs for our Jewish clientele. A loyal customer whose first name is Carole had high cholesterol, so we got some turkey dogs for her. She showed up every Saturday to get one, and so we started calling it the Carole Dog. The Carole Dog is a customer-led service. It's a matter of being willing to deviate from the magic list and doing "one-plus".
In the hotel industry, a standard list of services gets you three or four or five stars. But have you ever stayed at a four-star hotel that you liked more than some five-stars? Sure, and the reason you liked it more was because you were hugged. Perhaps the waitress remembered your favorite type of tea or coffee at breakfast without your asking. The magic list doesn't matter. What matters is passionate service and hugs.
Add these business changes together and what you get is satisfied customers who are transformed into extremely satisfied customers. You move from meeting expectations to exceeding expectations. Carole might have expected to get a hot dog, but she never expected a Carole Dog. And the day I gave her that first Carole Dog, she gave me a hug back--actually, it was a big passionate kiss on the cheek. It felt great. The reality is that satisfied customers simply aren't enough anymore to make a prosperous business. They aren't really loyal and will readily defect at the slightest prompt. Only extremely satisfied customers are genuinely loyal.
WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO "HUG" YOUR CUSTOMERS?
I hope you continue to have a safe and enjoyable summer. As a reminder, there is NO CPA meeting this month. We are looking forward to our first CPA meeting following the summer break, on Thursday September 6, 2012 at 6:30pm. We are even planning on having a special guest kick off the start of the fall series of trainings!
Continue to enjoy the summer season and continue to celebrate all that God has given you! Be encouraged--you can add to your business success if you remember one simple principle:
Go Above and Beyond the Call of Satisfaction: HUG YOUR CUSTOMERS!
Give your Customers Passionate and Focused Service!
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