Many businesses spend thousands of dollars branding
everything they do to create a familiarity with their prospects and
customers and yet, sadly, miss the boat completely when it comes to
their service.
In the last week, I experienced each of the following:
- A credit card company sent a replacement card — two months after the original expired.
- I
have an advertisement in a print newsletter under a promotion. I
inquired how much it would cost per month to continue the ad. Three
emails and two weeks later, I got a response. - A printer promised a quote within 72 hours — it came 6 days later, after two follow-up calls.
What do the three companies above have in common, aside from losing my business?
Quite simply, their service is atrocious.
You’ve
most likely heard the term "relationship marketing" — before you can
interest your prospects in purchasing anything from you, it’s best to
build a relationship with them.
The goal in relationship marketing is to give your prospects a reason to know, like and trust you.
That
said, before you try building a relationship with your prospects, you
must ensure that your service is the best in your industry.
Service is one place where "good is NOT good enough".
Regardless
of your industry, there are several other businesses that do the same
"thing" you do. By providing impeccable service, you stand head and
shoulders above the crowd.
Impeccable service is about a lot more
than returning emails within 24 hours and offering a guarantee you
stand by. It’s about building your business from the ground up with
your customer in mind: you must give them things they don’t even know
they want.
Here’s a quick example from the car industry:
Heated
seats. While I never would have thought to ask for them or listed them
as a "need" when searching for a vehicle, I love them and would hate to
be without them. A renegade somewhere in the car industry said "Hey,
what if we put a heater in the seat to make our customers even more
comfortable?".
THAT is service: providing something we didn’t
even know we wanted. The same can be said for the first loaf of
pre-sliced bread.
Your Coaching Challenge
What
can you do differently, not better. . .but DIFFERENTLY, in your
business which will make you the clear choice over your competitors,
regardless of price?
As an example, one of the things I do is
send every new ezine subscriber, who provides their mailing address, a
f’ree gift via snail mail. My business is all about providing the best
possible service in the most automated and systematic way.
What statement can you make about service in your business? If I asked 5 of your customers, what would they say?
For the past 5 years, Sandra Martini has been showing
self-employed business owners how to get more clients consistently by
implementing processes and systems to put their marketing on autopilot.
Visit Sandra at www.SandraMartini.com
for details, compelling client testimonials and her free audio series “5 Simple
and Easy Steps to Put Your Marketing on Autopilot”.