The Key to Creating a Loyal Following for Your Business

“We loved it!” “Awesome Service!” “Best food in town.” “I used to be scared to go to the dentist, now I actually look forward to it, he’s amazing!”

Does that sound like your customers? Are you delighting? Are you over delivering? Have you created an environment at your workplace that is so focused on the customer that it is clearly discernible from the moment a new customer walks in the door? If you aren’t, you should be. And you should start now. Not doing so could be costing you each and every day.

As a small business owner, you probably know that the longer a customer stays with you, the better opportunity that you have to build personal relationships with them. The longer they stay with you, the more personal relationships you build with your customers, the more likely they are to not simply be loyal customers, but to be Raving Fans. The more raving fans you create, the more reviews these customers will leave, and the more new customers you will be seen by because of these reviews, and as a result, the more profitable your business will be,

Consider this: According to a study by Merchant Warehouse, the cost to gain a new customer is 6-7 times that of keeping an existing customer.

In other words: Say you have an existing customer, and in order to keep them with you, you provide them with $1000 worth of incentives or discounts. This would be the same as providing $6000-$7000 in incentives or discounts to a brand new customer!

Just imagine what that is doing to your bottom line. You can liken dissatisfied customers to filling a with water, and that bucket has a hole in the bottom. These dissatisfied customers are going to leave you, and no matter how many new customers you get, you’ll never be able to make up for what you are losing. (No matter how much you fill up the bucket, you’ll still be losing water out the bottom).

According to a 2013 study by the global technology company Accenture; 51% of U.S. consumers switched their wireless provider within the past year. The reason? You guessed it, poor customer service. That’s 1 in 2 cell phone users switching their provider with the hopes that the grass is greener on the other side. With the average cost of acquisition of a new wireless customer between $300-$500, the roll up amount that wireless providers are losing each year because of this is staggering.

Customer Service by the Numbers

Let’s look at some numbers that tell us just how important it is for you to provide an amazing customer experience.

Think it’s all about the money and that customers are simply looking for a low cost provider? Think again. Forbes Magazine recently cited a CEI study which says: 86% of people will pay MORE for a better customer experience.

In that same survey, just 1% of consumers feel that their needs are consistently being met by their service provider/vendor!

Understanding Customers by Ruby Newell-Legner states that it takes 12 positive customer interactions to make up for 1 negative customer interaction.

So how do you do it?

How do you create an environment that naturally creates raving fans? Here’s exactly what you need to do. Thanks to Liveperson.com for the list below:

A+ Customer Service

1) Getting an issue resolved quickly was by far the most critical factor (82%).

2) Having the issue resolved in a single interaction is key (56%)

3) And it seems that a smile never goes out of style, because interacting with a friendly customer service agent (45%) is the third most important requirement for great customer service.

Creating Raving Fans-In Action

Let me tell you a quick, but very telling experience I recently had.

I have a couple different banks that I bank at. At my primary bank where I have my business accounts, I recently went through the drive through to deposit a check. They took care of it for me, and asked if there is anything else I need help with. I mentioned that I need a new stamp for my business check deposits.

I expected that I would hear something along the lines of: “Sure Mr. Downs, let me take care of that for you…..Okay Mr. Downs, all done. I’ve ordered your stamp and you’ll receive it within 3-5 business days.

Here’s what I heard: “I think you can order those online….”

Not exactly the way that you create raving fans.

I recently set up a bank account at another bank as well. The experience signing up online was quite easy and allowed me to do it at my convenience, which I appreciated. Nice, but that’s expected.

When I had to go into the branch the first time for something, I was greeted with a smile. Okay, nice, but still expected.

While the teller took care of my transaction, my 16 month old got a little impatient. Hey, she does that sometimes. The teller gave me a sucker to give her; another banker came over and started talking to her and giving her the attention that she needed, helping her to smile, laugh, and allow me to finish with the teller. Very nice. Above and beyond in my opinion. Expected? No.

Are they creating raving fans? They sure are starting to.