Great products that offer us far more benefits than products just a few years ago. New more convenient ways to buy, most with delivery to your doorstep in just hours. Increased online competition that drives down prices. How are you going to succeed…to even survive? Consider Customer Service as a marketing plan. It’s not the “quick sale.” It’s your plan for long term success.
And since you’re not a Fortune 500 that has to report increased profits every quarter, isn’t that the plan that will help your business?
Customer Service as a Marketing plan
Leveraging customer service has been a well-known “secret” in the success of some of the best known companies that we all trust every day: Amazon, Zappos, Apple, Nordstrom, and Ritz-Carlton. They’re the consumer drive companies that we all want to buy from, even though their prices average 5-120% higher than their competition. Isn’t that the kind of company you want to keep?
Superior customer service is a proactive strategy that not only maintains (or increases) your profit margins, but helps you attract and retain customers no matter what the competition tries. Did you notice that none of these companies have competition that directly threatens their market dominance?
Being Customer-centric
The marketing plan based on service starts with understanding your customers’ need and desires. For big companies that means indepth market research. But for most of us, it simply means asking the customer: “What do you need? How can we help you? What are you biggest challenges? And how can we improve our service?”
Being where the customer is
Customers have more ways to communicate with you than ever: your website reply forms, email, live chat. But for many of us, nothing will replace face-to-face. It gives you an advantage on picking up nonverbal cues and body language.
And don’t forget the telephone. In fact, more than 50% of customers across all age groups typically use the phone to reach out to companies, making it the most-used channel for customer service, according to Zendesk.
Focusing on targeted interactions
The more you understand your customers’ motives and desires, the more you can tailor your communication to their needs. They like that. The more you can show your customer that you’re focused on their needs, the better the job you can do producing your products and services, and keep them happy. That reinforces the bond between your customer and your brand.
What’s in your marketing plan?
If it’s just increasing sales, maximizing revenues, and “winning the game” you might still be wondering why you’ve had a disappointing year. By understanding your customers’ needs, looking at the fine points of how you communicate with your customers, and targeting your communications, you can only improve your marketing plan’s results.
