Are you marketing the hole but not selling the drill

You know what being a frustrated customer feels like. You can probably list all the things the company should have done when it was serving you. But are you sure your company isn’t guilty of the same kinds of omissions? Many executives believe their companies are client-focused because they have a customer relationship management (CRM) system in place and know a lot about what their customers buy. However, ask yourself how much effort you really put into the customer experience. Do you really get it? Do your customers feel an emotional connection with your products or services? Have they bonded with your company Do you understand why they should?

These days, competition is fierce in almost all markets. Customers are empowered and knowledgeable. They can buy anything they need from a wide variety of sources or they can switch to other products.

You may feel that having gigabytes of data is vital to understanding your customers. Data is easy to collect and analyze. However, when you use CRM systems to target your marketing efforts or gather customer information, you are changing the way your company serves consumers. You are replacing potential personal connections with spreadsheets, mailings and sterile shopping.

If you put on your customer hat and imagine that you are on the receiving end of all those targeted messages, they might appear less wonderful to you. The customer buys goods and services not as ends in themselves, but for what the goods and services enable them to do. CRM software cannot replace meeting and even anticipating your customers’ needs. Someone once said that people don’t buy a drill to have a drill; they buy a drill because they need a hole.

Creating Marketing Connections

The idea that companies can build emotional connections with their customers is new to many managers. The first level of customer involvement is the transaction. If you interact with your customers mostly when they have complaints and you receive few positive comments, you may be selling your products adequately, but that’s about all.

Keeping both your overt and implied promises to your customers is the beginning of creating true customer satisfaction. However, to earn their emotional commitment, you must go beyond keeping promises to personal interactions and exceptional friendliness. 

To build strong bonds with customers, follow these principles:

1. “Demonstrate that you appreciate their business” – Never take them for granted.

2. “Earn their trust, be consistent, dependable and reliable” – Get the basics right.

3. “Single them out for attention, personalize, customize” – Listen to your customers and demonstrate genuine interest.

4. “Partner with them, help them achieve and accomplish” – Go the extra mile to help your customers achieve their goals.

5. “Create customer involvement: build communities” – Make sure customers get involved with your product.

6. “Establish effective two-way communication” – Respond to phone calls, letters and e-mail.

7. “Share things with your customers” – Show that you’re part of the community.

8. “Remind them of things” – Revive people’s good memories.

9. “Associate with what’s central in their lives” – Show them how your product or service will enhance their family lives and other activities.

10. “Piggyback on their relationships with others” – Research your customers’ interests.

11. “Get rid of irritants and stupid rules” – Design your bureaucracy for your customers’ convenience, not your own.

12. “Surprise them every now and then” – Offer them something extra that they don’t expect.