Hello, Mr. Denny. How is Your Personalized Customer Service?
Hello, Mr. Denny. How is Your Personalized Customer Service?
Have you ever bought something from a salesperson that not only remembered your name, but where you went to college, and that you are an avid hockey fan? This type of personalized customer service feels great and, if handled properly, will drive the repeat business you crave.
Existing Customers Getting More Attention
Personalized customer service occurs in all size companies across all industries. Many companies are now placing more emphasis on establishing a solid relationship with existing customers, rather than trying to get new ones.
Technology and Your Personalized Relationship with Customers
The internet has revolutionized the business/customer relationship. Businesses that are online are capable of providing excellent personalized customer service and building positive customer relationships through regular online communication and immediate responses to customer inquiries. Salespeople can give regular updates on products that might be of interest to the customer based on their preferences. In addition to generating new business, company websites can also be used to update and inform customers on a regular basis and individual online accounts with passwords allow for personalized content.
Businesses can use technology to store customer preference information in electronic files for future reference and they can find new information through careful online research. Accessing detailed customer information is easy and valuable to companies wanting to build personalized customer relationships. Next to the old fashioned style of sales, which is every bit as important as it has always been, technology is the best means to “know your customers” in detail.
Who is a “Good” Customer?
Philip Harper has written an article called “How to Delight Your Customers: Get Personal”. In his explanation of how to delight your customers, he stresses the importance of identifying the “good” customers.
What makes a customer a “good” customer? Someone who loyally purchases from your company, and understands the benefits associated with your product or service. You do not want to pour expensive resources into disloyal customers that only buy your product when it is on sale, usually buy from your competitors, and when they do buy, consistently complain.
After you know who your good customers are, nurture their loyalty by giving them personalized customer service and paying attention to their requests. Customers appreciate one-on-one service that is not too in-your-face and makes them feel more like they have a friend within the company or “know a guy.”
Optimize Personalized Customer Service
What should a salesperson do to optimize his personalized service efforts?
1. Maintain a file of customer activity including detailed transaction history, a record of customer contact points, and customer responses to marketing initiatives.
2. Decide which customers to target based on the analysis of customer activity files.
3. Use customer targeting tools and zero in on personalized direct marketing by finding ways to start conversations with customers.
4. Build a personal relationship with customers and develop and maintained them through personal service and initiatives such as loyalty programs, rewards programs, and reactive or proactive customer service programs.
5. Pay attention to privacy (always important online and off line).
6. Measure outcomes to test effectiveness. Use profit margins and market share and other such as conversion rates, retention/churn rates, same customer share rates, and customer acquisition costs.
Personalized Purchases
Caring enough about your customers to remember the little details about them will begin to build a relationship. People often have a sense of obligation in a relationship and this business/customer relationship is no different. Be genuine and truly look out for your customers and they will return the favor by personalizing their purchases.
