Its funny how often business owners lament the demise of customer loyalty. However it’s not on the demise. Customers are treating us the way they have been treated for years.
Here’s what I mean. Business owners have taken customer loyalty for granted for a very long time now. There has been a culture in business not to respect their customers. How long have customers lamented “where has customer service gone these days?”
So this is really something of our own making.
“I remember the good ole days”
When the guy serving me was the guy who ran the store, he knew that unless he bent over backwards I could go down to the competition. But he really understands what I am worth to their business.
They remember that, they pine to be treated like that again. How many purchasing experiences do they get in their life where they feel they are the most important person in your life. Not that many.
They are dealing with teenagers with funny coloured hair and no dress sense. Do you hear that popping noise? Oh!?! it’s the customer service representative popping their gum, because I happened to be in the store preventing their much needed gossip with their BFF? Doesn’t matter that without me and my kind (customers) they’ve got no job.
Most employees will never grasp the importance of that last sentence. They treat customers as a problem preventing them from working.
Seriously, if you treat me like that, fine. I will treat you as an inconvenience too. For example, yesterday I was in a Mitre 10 talking to the franchisees about doing a newsletter – they know they can’t compete with Bunnings and Masters on price they need to rely on service, relationship, solving problems etc in order to compete.
It got me thinking about how I shop for hardware. If I need a list of things cheap and I can ‘hunt’ them, I go to Bunnings in the next town. There is a Masters coming soon next door to the Bunnings – PRICE WARS.
Should be good when I need to hunt cheap stuff.
When I need it quickly or I need customer service I go to the Mitre 10 around the corner from me. And I will buy from them in reward for their help.
Customers are worth far more and deserve far better than what they get.
Most businesses never calculate the future value of a customer. They just expect that future value to materialise ‘one day.’ They never factor in the value of referrals. They never earn any of it and are disappointed when they are denied the value they believe they deserve…
Just like any sale future value from a customer must be earned. It doesn’t happen automatically. Be prepared to go and earn that next sale while you are making the current one.