January 2006
Loyalty is Created, Not Bought
Become An Expert In Your Own Industry
Develop The Art Of Being Small
A Customer Board Will Help Your Marketing
 
Loyal customers have to be created. This can
take some time and effort but the ROI can be
immense. "Not only do loyal customers provide
incredible valuable referrals, they also
generate word of mouth that simply can't be
bought through advertising," says Roger
Hallowell, assistant professor at Harvard
Business School.
When a customer buys from you it's a signal that
you have something they want. They've responded
to the value proposition you offer and there's
immediate potential to create a relationship
with lasting value for both of you. How can you
do this with the greatest possible number
of customers?
Review your value proposition
Your value proposition must appeal to your
customers to create and retain their loyalty.
Their perceptions of value change, depending on
factors such as the economy, fashion trends and
even seasonal variations. Regularly review the
value proposition you're offering your customers
and relate every element of it to enhancing the
relationships you have. An ability and
willingness to change is essential to having a
marketable value proposition.
Study your customers
Every customer is unique; each will respond to a
different set of approaches and satisfactions.
You should study your customers closely. Talk to
them and get to know them so you can deliver
what it is they want. Learn to identify and
cater for the customers with long term prospects
and then work
When the team
members of a business feel genuine loyalty
towards their employer they’re much more
inclined to provide customers with personalized
service that gets them back. It’s a feeling of
familiarity that transmits itself from your
people to the people they serve.
Don’t depend on 'salesmanship’
Today’s customers recognize most sales techniques for what they
are and are likely to be put off by them. They
want to formulate their own opinions and not be
told what they like or don’t like. Adopt a
service approach; be ready to assist the
customer in making decisions and provide answers
to their questions. Treat them as individuals
and make it easy for them to buy from you.
Anticipate and
overcome problems
Work with your team to eliminate potential
sources of customer dissatisfaction, and if you
notice any signs that someone’s unhappy be
proactive and leap in first with a solution.
Make it really easy for them to tell you what’s
wrong, and then resolve the issue as quickly as
possible. When customers aren't happy with your
business they usually don't complain to you –
instead, they'll complain to just about everyone
else they know. Its better that they tell you
first.
To Top
Whether you sell
to businesses or consumers you can increase your
level of success by becoming an industry expert
– someone who’s well known and acknowledged as
an authority on matters concerning your
industry. It takes work to achieve this kind of
commercial stardom but once you’re at the top
it’s almost self perpetuating.
Get ready for recognition
Prepare a clear
definition of the industry you want to
represent, whether it’s a broad one such as
‘retailing’, or very specific, such as
‘manufacturing food colorings’. Now imagine that
you are being interviewed and have to answer
some probing and analytical questions about your
industry. You’re the spokesperson and your
answers will be very important to the audience:
-
What qualifies you as an expert in the
industry? (This will probably be your education
and experience.)
-
What have you accomplished within the industry?
(Perhaps you have developed new products or been
elected President of an industry association.)
-
What are you now doing that’s worthy of
recognition? (Your business could be well ahead
of industry benchmarks, or you might be on a
committee developing new industry standards.)
Make notes of your answers to these questions for future
reference in preparing publicity materials and
website content.
Build on strengths and remove weaknesses
For some people
it’s natural to be on camera and face up to a
journalist’s questions. For others it’s best to
just write articles, and still others might
enjoy public speaking in front of a crowd. Most
of us are good at one or maybe two of these but
not up to speed on all three. This doesn’t mean
giving up on what you’re not good at, but it
does mean that to get a ‘quick start’ on
becoming an industry spokesperson you have to
build on your strengths and find ways to
overcome any weaknesses.
Media training
courses are available that will give you the
skills to stand up to an interview, whether it’s
on TV, radio or even over the telephone. If you
have basic writing skills they can be polished
up with a correspondence course or by attending
a workshop at your local college. And joining
Toastmasters, or a similar organization, is a
great way to become better at public speaking.
Update your industry knowledge
As an expert
you’re expected to know about developments in
your industry. This means keeping up with what’s
going on both at home and overseas. You’ll need
to join at least one industry association, and
subscribe to all relevant industry newsletters
and magazines. The Internet will be a good
source of knowledge and should be searched
regularly for the latest news and advances in
your industry. Attending trade shows and
exhibitions are good ways of staying informed.
Make your website a source of information
Your business should already have a website, but just in case
it doesn’t you’ll need to create one. This is no
time to be shy so place your photo and biography
on the home page. Give lots of advice from the
site and make your business look as impressive,
and successful, as possible.
The challenge will be to anticipate what questions people may
have that drives them to visit your site in
hopes of finding answers. If you can become
their source of answers and make it unnecessary
for them to look any further you will have
fulfilled their need for an expert and be seen
as one. You might also want to create an
enewsletter that will reinforce your position as
being in touch with industry events and
developments and can give people who don’t know
you an introduction to who you are and what you
do.
Market yourself to the world!
Just as if you were launching a new product, you need to
prepare a marketing plan to promote yourself and
your expertise. Identify speaking opportunities,
publications that might accept articles from
you, and industry activities like trade shows
and seminars where you can network with others
that are interested in your industry. You should
consider holding your own seminar or trade
event, acting as both host and guest speaker for
the activity. If your products or services have
appeal to a significant number of consumers you
can offer to provide a regular column or series
of articles to any number of local or ‘free’
newspapers as a way of becoming better known.
Your geographic location is irrelevant as long
as you have a website where interested persons
can obtain further information about you and
about what you do. And if you can put together
an interesting presentation that suits a wide
audience you can offer your speaking services to
colleges, libraries, not-for-profit groups, your
local chamber of commerce and any other
community associations that have regular
meetings.
The follow up is important
Always follow up an appearance, event or
interview with a media release to all
publications and websites that might be
interested. Your media list will gradually build
up so that you can use it for sending out
releases with your comments on industry issues
or details of your next appearance. It’s
important to keep your contacts, your industry
knowledge and your website up-to-date so you’re
always at the forefront of your industry. The
publicity you receive from being an expert will
be invaluable to your business.
To Top
Being small in business isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact,
small businesses have a lot of advantages over
their larger competitors. Small business
collectively is the world’s biggest business. Small businesses have perfected the arts of
traveling light, living frugally and being able
to quickly change direction. Recognizing the
specialized nature of small business can help
you appreciate and use some of the advantages
you enjoy.
The CEO is multifunctional
The decision making powers of a small business owner permit a
great degree of flexibility. You’re in charge
and don’t have to let opportunities slip by. If
you need specialist advice you don’t have to
create a new position; you can simply hire it in
on an hourly basis.
Owners win by networking
Through trade associations, chambers of commerce and other
business related organizations small business
owners can become highly effective networkers.
Think of the sources you can tap for knowledge
and assistance to help grow your business:
-
Your competitors – exchange ideas, share market
knowledge, perhaps even find reasons for a joint
venture
-
Your clients – discover better ways to serve
them, find out what your competitors are doing
to attract them away from you
-
Your suppliers – another source of knowledge
about your competitors and a way to find out
about new developments in the marketplace
-
Your team – small businesses can become the
basis for close social relationships, especially
if families are involved
You’re one of the team
Small business owners can harness the power of their entire
team to analyze situations and come up with the
best course of action to follow; their knowledge
can be tapped into quickly and effectively. This
makes small businesses more efficient. Time
isn’t wasted in communicating background
information. More importantly, it allows team
members to work together to identify and
eliminate bottlenecks and to respond to
unexpected changes in the marketplace.
You can change quickly
Small businesses can be as flexible as they like when it comes to
new product offerings and capitalizing on market
trends. This is a facility that needs to be
given lots of attention; study the market, see
what’s ‘hot’ and put it into your offering.
Admittedly there will always be a risk with
being the first to offer something new, but you
could also wind up in the position of market
leader, well ahead of any of your competitors.
And even if something doesn’t work you can
change it quickly. Get rid of it and move on.
Generate a feeling of trust
Consumers no longer blindly trust big business chain stores
with outlets on every street corner. They’re
beginning to reject them and to seek out more
individualistic offerings with a personalized
aspect and less formulaic service systems. The
brands and products of a small business can
become the ‘big finds’ of customers looking for
something new, special and different. If you’re
unforgettable and even a bit hard-to-get you can
become a cult favorite.
You can do more with less
Small businesses have learned to live with less
while targeting growth. They can quickly adapt
to both good times and bad. They can benefit
from having low cost promotions that appear
sincere because they’re done on tight budgets.
Small business marketing creates consumer appeal
even if it’s imperfect. Simple advertising - if
it’s done well - can be incredibly successful
with consumers who are sated with big company
hype. Consumers respect reality; they have to
live with it.
To Top
Success comes from meeting customers’ expectations and
satisfying their needs. Both expectations and
needs change over time and keeping abreast of
these changes is essential. The owner of a small
business usually knows their customers
personally. This is an excellent beginning for
the development of a relationship that can help
you with your marketing and in the acquisition
of new customers.
A customer advisory board
A customer advisory board is a representative group of your
own customers that have agreed to share their
experiences and evaluate new options and
opportunities. You can gain a strategic
advantage by gathering knowledge about your
competitors from your customers. You’ll find out
how they feel about your competitor’s offerings,
identify any gaps in their (or your) products
and services, uncover unmet customer needs and
discover new offerings that will keep your
customers loyal.
The goals of your customer advisory board need to be established
before anything can proceed. Do you want it to
determine better ways of providing customer
service? Do you want it to test new products? Do
you want it to evaluate your advertising before
it goes into print?
The selection process
Once the goals have been determined the next task is to select
the customers that will make up your advisory
board. B2B marketers may want a particular size
of business customer for their board. B2C
retailers may want only those customers with a
particular set of demographic or purchasing
characteristics.
Personalities also have to be considered. Board members must
be able to articulate their perceptions and
feelings. They need to be positive and willing
to make a contribution. They also have to commit
to regular meetings and to whatever follow up
work might be required. Customer advisory
boards can be sourced for input in many ways.
They can meet at the business premises or in
another location if it’s more convenient. They
can participate in a teleconference, they can be
surveyed by mail or telephone, or even meet
online.
Use a trained moderator
Each meeting of the board needs to be moderated. Concepts must
be clearly presented and questions answered
objectively to optimize the value of the board’s
contributions. Good management of the board is
essential and shouldn’t be delegated to someone
who does not possess good customer relationship
skills. Your customer advisory board will be a
bridge to your customers that keeps you in touch
with their opinions and their changing needs.
Reward them for their help
Naturally the board participants deserve to be
rewarded for their assistance. It doesn’t have
to be a financial reward, although this is often
the case. Probably the best approach is to have
a ‘basic’ reward that’s financial based on so
much per participation, plus some sort of gift
certificate or a useful consumer product at the
end of the term. The feedback from the board
will be an important element of your planning
strategy. Because of this the program needs to
be well managed so that events happen on
schedule, participants’ amenities are provided,
and meeting notes are accurately and completely
recorded.
To Top
|
