Customer Is King

Let's go straight to the point here... because the customer is king,
why not take an active interest in your customers' lives?

"Knowing something about your customer is just as important
as knowing everything about your product." - Harvey MacKay

How?

Listen. Well, not just listen but listen to understand. Try to draw
out the customer from his shell. Let him feel positively free to
speak up. When communicating, do not be defensive nor criticize
or comment prematurely; because if you do, you will just put a
barrier in openness. So, try to establish trust by not passing the
buck and always thanking the customer.

See, nowadays, buyers are suspicious and doubtful of your
proposition. They think that you are just after a quick sale or
meeting a monthly sales target.

Yet it is imperative that you must deal with customers for they
also impart you with ideas for product development. And,
customers act like safety gadgets that warns you about your
product's value and relevance as they know your competitors, too.

"If a man is lazy, the rafters sag;
if his hands are idle, the house leaks." - Ecclesiastes 10:18

So, looking a little closer, it's the people more than the features
that will always be the decisive factor in determining who gets
the sale.

To treat your customers as kings...

Develop a restlessness to anticipate your customer's problems and
objectives. Fix things before they break. Anticipate their needs
and get yourself working to find a solution. And when you do see
yourself confronted with a customer problem, convince yourself
that you will have to do it before actually doing setting yourself to
do it. Such an attitude counts big with the customers.

Do not face a customer like how you face other customers.
Instead, recognize a customer as a unique individual with different
tastes, needs and preferences. Do what you can to maximize the
value of personalization; in doing so, you establish friendships and
even build on customer loyalty.

However always remember, it will not make a difference to our
customer if we are nice and warm to them, but we do not do the
job right or take care of their problems.

"Fortunate is the person who has learned that the most certain
way to 'get' is to first 'give' through some sort of useful service."
- The Law Of Success

Indeed, customer is king and no business can survive without
him; so, never treat him as a disturbance to your routine or to
whatever you're doing... but, get out of your way and build that
golden bridge.

Take note...
"Customer Trust is gained by your ability to fulfill the basic promise."

Understanding Consumer Behaviour

In our most recent article, we touched on why would people
want your product or service. And certainly, the most common
answer would be to satisfy their needs. Yet the underlying
reason why people would want to buy your product is simply
because you know your customers.

Let's know why people buy.

SATISFY NEEDS. Ok. People, whether as individuals, groups, or
organizations select, buy, use, and dispose of goods, services,
ideas or experiences to fill their needs and wants.

Too simple. Just think of everything a human needs to survive,
enjoy and grow; then you can come up with something unique or
something you can build on to start or take your business to the
next level.

IMPULSE. Some people buy for no apparent reason. They do not
have any particular product in mind nor an intention of buying in
the first place -- they just acted on impulse.

Like the lottery, your product could have been chosen by chance.
So, if only you could continuously improve your product not just
features but design and packaging as well; then try to make it
omnipresent if possible -- your product could hit the jackpot.

Imagine a flock getting hold of your product. Would you want to
end the story there? Definitely not. We want better business,
growth. All you need to do now is take steps in moving them up
the customer ladder.

INFLUENTIAL FACTORS. These would include referrals, ad
endorsements, set of values, perceptions, preferences, and
behaviours brought about by family and other key institutions.
(101 Best Marketing Practices, F.M. Lao)

See, people buy goods and services over a lifetime, shaped by
family life cycle, age and gender of people in the household, or
psychological life-cycle stages such as: marriage, childbirth,
illness, relocation, career change, or retirement, giving rise to
completely new needs.

Likewise, occupation influences consumption patterns or even
personality characteristics or lifestyles which affect buying
behaviour.

How do you get your business rolling with these data?

• Create the image of an ageless society where people define themselves more by the activities they are engaged in rather than by their age.

• Device campaigns that appeal to many demographic segments (multicultural marketing strategies).

• Reach-out and direct messages at opinion leaders, i.e. reference groups, family, social roles, and status.

• Search for relationships between your product and lifestyle groups, e.g. achievement-oriented buyers for computers.

• Target consumers on the basis of their core values, which are belief systems that underlie consumer attitudes and behaviours.

• Understand how various products fit into the plans, goals and lives of consumers.

Take note...
"To know your customer is to know your future." - Jeffry J. Fox

Why would people Want...

... your product or service?

To satisfy their needs?? Ho ho
Too predictable an answer. Of course, people has needs to satisfy
but -- why you, why not others?

What, you have a better product? Better features? Better
packaging, et cetera, et cetera? Ok, makes sense. But don't you
think this is just some kind of infatuation? It's like, they're just
trying it for a while then poof -- gone.

So, why you not them?

Allow me to answer for you. This is because you know your
customer. When the target market has been clearly identified and
well-defined; you have gone a long way to winning the battle.

We understand about knowing your customer, about going that
extra mile because we know that customers are the lifeblood of
any organization; yet why do only few people really work hard in
that area?

Simple. It's just tough to deal with customers.

They can be very demanding, insisting on getting what they pay
for, even for minor or significant purchases. So, a smile or a
courteous treatment at the point-of-sale can make that difference.

See, we should understand and accept that customers are
impatient. They want more convenience yet they do not prefer to
wait to be served. So remember, speed is a competitive
advantage. Like, for example, in the processing of sales orders,
on-time delivery and positive handling of complaints and minor
inquiries give you more star points.

Realize that even if you have been in the business for the last 100
years, this matters little to customers. What really matters to
them are value-added services. Consider how 24-hour service,
free home or office deliveries, or phone-in or e-mail orders can
enhance your business.

Notice? Global competition has somehow caused the loss of
customer loyalty; this is because customers are presented with
alternatives.

Today's customers are even looking for opportunities to get even
with companies that provide poor product quality and poor
customer service. While they do not tell these things to retailers,
manufacturers, or service providers -- this doesn't mean that they
don't have complaints. They tell their bad experience to their
friends and colleagues. Soon, these customers will be going over
to the competitor's camp. Do not let things come to this point.
Employ damage control immediately.

A single customer can really matter, so do work your way through
the following key points (101 Best Marketing Practices, F.M. Lao):

• For ever complaining customer, an average of 26 dissatisfied customers remain silent.

• The average unhappy customer passes the bad news to eight to 16 people. Ten (10) percent tells more than 20 people of their bad experience.

• Ninety-one (91) percent of unhappy customers will never buy from your business again.

• Eighty-two percent to ninety-five (82-95) percent of unhappy customers will stick with you, if you are able to address their problems.

• It costs five (5) times as much to attract a new customer than to keep an old one.

Hence, we should not sell things just because there is a market.
Instead, we should seek to create a new market because we
understand the potential needs and wants of our customers and
society.

Take note... "The future president understands
how the customer is also the 'king maker'." - Jeffry J. Fox