How good are you at maximising your customer relationships? I don’t mean are you ‘nice’ to them or do you get on well, but do you proactively ‘Give the best to, and get the best from, the customers that you want’? Our research shows that’s what 3D Businesses do and is 3D Characteristic #4: Forget CRM, Think MCR – Maximise Your Customer Relationships!
Many businesses put lots of effort into giving the best to their customers – that’s the customer service thing, and obviously, that’s good. Unfortunately, they don’t put the same effort into getting the best from them – its’ all the effort, but no return. The challenge is to create new opportunities, repeat business, referrals and recommendations.
Here are 10 ideas to help you give the best to, and get the best from your customers:
1. Focus: Establishing what a ‘maximised’ relationship looks like for your business (and your customers) and evaluating how your current relationships ‘measure up’!
2. Knowing Me, Knowing You: Understanding your customers needs, wants and expectations, and how you measure up against those.
3. Choose ‘Em Or Lose ‘Em!: Focusing your efforts and resources on the right customers (and not being afraid to say ‘no’!)
4. Create ‘Dialogue’ Not Diatribes: Establishing conversations with your customers in the format, frequency and topics that work for them
5. Add Value: Solving problems, signposting and providing useful and relevant information and ideas that demonstrates you care.
6. Get Personal: Create personalised customer experiences that d exceed their expectations (that’s ‘customer delight’!) and create the ‘ties that bind’ so they don’t want to leave.
7. Maximise Opportunities: Spot and create opportunities to ‘sell up’ and ‘sell on’ (but don’t be ‘pushy’!) – educate your customers!
8. Think ‘Share Of Customer’: How much of their annual spend is actually spent with you? Take a proactive approach to developing your relationships to maximise their spend with you.
9. Give Your Customers A Damn Good Listening To: Establish formal feedback mechanisms, spot and deal with disappointment
10. Leverage Your Relationships: Who can they refer and recommend you to? Do they?
The key here is developing a proactive and consistent approach and it’s about making sure that all your people are capable and willing to do these things consistently.
I was asked to do a webinar for The Institute Of Sales And Marketing Management last month all about this stuff and we’ve now made it available to all our friends and that of course includes you!
It’s aimed at anyone with responsibility for dealing with customers and offers practical ideas and processes that you can use to Maximise your Customer Relationships.
All you need to do is click on the image below
and it’s there for you to watch at your leisure FREE!
