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5 Ways to Build a Strong Foundation for Happy, Satisfied Customers

21 November, 2008

How you begin your relationship with a customer has a lot to do with how well the remainder of the relationship goes. In a previous post, I listed five ways to keep your customers happy and loyal. If you gain the trust and confidence of your customer from the start, you will have more stability throughout the relationship. This can really help when you stumble at some point down the road.

Here are five ways to begin your relationship on a strong foundation and create happy, satisfied customers from the start.

1. Define and follow a structured process for transitioning your customer from the sales team to the delivery team. A process that covers all the bases and demonstrates your capability and professionalism. This will reinforce your customer's confidence that they made a good decision.
2. Before you begin delivering products or services, re-confirm with your customer that what they expect to receive (and when) is consistent with what you intend to deliver (and when). Unmet expectations from either perspective are the cause of many problems.
3. Have a system for recording, sharing and maintaining customer information internally. Make sure that it includes critical background intelligence gained from the sales and intake process. Then make sure everyone involved in the project/relationship is familiar with this information.
4. Tell your customer what they can expect in terms of communication, when and how it will take place, and who in your company is responsible to make that happen. Then make sure you follow through and communicate the way you said you would.
5. Confirm that your customer clearly understands their responsibilities for the success of the relationship.

While these would seem like common sense fundamentals, it is amazing how many companies do a poor job in this area. Remember, success doesn't come from knowing, it comes from doing.

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Maximize Your Return on Investment from Mistakes

20 November, 2008

What do you do when you or your employees make a mistake? Do you...

• Get angry?
• Focus on blame?
• Jump in and fix it yourself?

Mistakes are costly in dollars, time and frustration so be sure to maximize your R.O.I. when they occur. Identify and separate the value of the mistake from the consequences of the mistake then take action to maximize that value; i.e.:

• Improve a process or procedure to prevent (or minimize) repeating that (or a similar) mistake
• Create a tracking and reporting mechanism that warns of the circumstances that often lead to the mistake
• Identify and address deficiencies in management, supervision or accountability that might have contributed to the mistake
• Improve staff (or customer) training, communication and knowledge sharing methods
• Develop a more valuable employee by mentoring and reinforcing the experience gained from the mistake including the experience of correcting it and dealing with the consequences
• Improve the evaluation and hiring process to filter out people who don't learn from their mistakes
• Improve your own management and leadership style to focus on opportunity and less on knee-jerk reactions
• Use the opportunity to build overall staff capability, trust and loyalty

Mistakes represent an opportunity to improve your business. If you endure them without capitalizing on that opportunity, the same mistake will most likely re-occur until you do.

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