It’s a crazy time to be a marketer. Like any field, things change quickly with the introduction of new data and technology, but that’s what makes being in marketing so exciting right now: data and technology are at the center of many of the changes taking place, and as marketers we’re always running to stay abreast of them. But in the swell of new trends, there is one thing we must remember to not leave in our dust: our customers’ success.
Love the One You’re With
Yes, a huge part of marketing is the acquisition of new customers. But this should never be at the expense of the customers you already have. A great example of this has historically been found in wireless providers’ treatment of new customers vs. old: I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard friends and family complain about how new customers get great upgrades on new smartphones while old customers have to give their left leg for a decent upgrade deal. And time and time again, those old customers go to the competitor to take advantage of new sign-up offers.
When you don’t show your existing customers love, not only do you stand to lose them to the competition, but you risk putting off new customers as well, because those new customers have their ear to the ground. For example, a study by Gainsight showed that 60% of tech B2B customers search for peer testimonials on products, and 84% of B2B decision makers start their buying process with a referral from a trusted peer. So it stands to reason that if you want those whispers to turn into conversions for your business, you need to ensure that the whispers are positive. But how?
Turn Your Customers Into Advocates
When a lead first becomes a customer, it’s because their awareness of your service or product became a preference. They don’t love you yet: they just decided to try you out. After they take that first step, you need to earn their like. I don’t just mean that they clicked Like on your company Facebook page: they need to like you, meaning that you need to make it so that when given the option to renew their service with you, they do. Again, how?
Get Customer Obsessed
The obvious way to get your customers to like you is to provide a service or product that is worthy of their like, let alone their love. This can mean many things to different businesses, but beyond that is the culture of customer service that you create. Can they reach you when they need troubleshooting or have questions? Are your hold times reasonable? Are your reps helpful, honest, and nice? All of these things matter when it comes to turning a customer’s like into love, and it involves more than simply having a phone number on your website, although that is a definite requirement for happy customers. It can involve:
- Getting knee-deep in data: do call analyses to determine your average hold times and compare them to these benchmarks.
- Implementing a keyword spotting tool and use call recordings to analyze how well your customer service calls are getting the job done.
- Using outbound IVR to survey your customers on what you can be doing better to meet their needs.
- Provide VIP call center treatment by moving preferred customers to the front of the call queue.
There’s more, but this is a start if you want to begin exploring ways you can make your daily business more customer focused. Turning customer obsession into part of your marketing strategy and being able to highlight the above behaviors as benefits for your clients packs some serious value.
Turning Like Into Love
Once you implement some ways in which you can improve your current customers’ experience, their like will eventually transition into love. This takes time, but stick with it. All of those customer-obsessed actions you take will eventually sink in, and by the time you ask your customers how they would feel about referring you to some of their pals if there’s something in it for them then they won’t think twice. You’re one step closer to turning them into an advocate. Once you reward them for their referrals hopefully multiple times all the while providing them the great customer-obsessed service they have become accustomed to, advocacy is a natural next step. Give them something to brag about. Think about it: when asked by their peer, What do you think about ABC as a provider? they’d love to be able to say, Oh, ABC? They treat me like gold. I never have to wait on hold and I’m connected to my account rep whenever I have a question, big or small. How many customers can say that about the company they do business with? Unfortunately, not many. So the more you make your clients feel like a million bucks, the more likely it is you’ll get that million bucks in your pocket.
Customer obsession isn’t just making customers feel good for the heck of it. It’s a calculated business move that any smart marketer should see the value in. Want some more tips on how certain practices can move you closer to customer obsession? We have a free white paper that can help, Beyond the Cloud: The Next Generation of Virtual Call Centers.