If so, find out what they really want so they’ll love you too
By Jinida L. Dorsey and Julius C. Dorsey Jr.
If asked, most in business wouldn’t hesitate to say “yes, we love our customers – at least we appreciate them immensely.”
To show their appreciation, many product or service providers may offer any manner of incentives to encourage repeat purchase such as discounts, rebates, rewards and – thanks to technology – exclusive mobile or other digital offers.
Those incentives by and large involve price reductions. While a discount or rebate is nothing to sneeze at, there comes a point when you have to ask if you’re connecting with your customer in a way they can “feel” and care about, or are you buying the customer’s “love” temporarily? If it turns out to be the latter, their loyalty to your brand is questionable. The next offer by a competitor may result your customer trying the alternative and, in some cases, switching to them!
We have often counseled our clients that it’s better not to compete for customers’ “love” on price alone. Bear in mind, ANYONE can lower price, so this is not a unique attribute you can count on delivering. Only by knowing your customers can you take appropriate steps to maintain preferred status, that also keeps prices in line with your profit goals, WHILE keeping them satisfied.
Truly engaging customers rather than “buying” their patronage is a more sustainable advantage, if for no other reason than the work to achieve it is great. Because of the heavy lifting involved in achieving loyalty, so many competitors don’t even try. But once you’re under way it’s cheaper, easier and clearly delivers greater long-term revenues from happier, better connected customers. This is what we call lifetime value.
The Harvard Business Review sums up perfectly our sentiments on customer loyalty: “Loyalty remains important, but …the future of marketing — and, in the big picture, many businesses — depends on serving a customer’s most relevant needs in the moment. In this way, companies need to become more like living businesses, building and sustaining symbiotic ties with their customers as if those relationships are with a concierge, butler, or friend.”
In other words, do what it takes to maintain a genuine relationship with customers that illustrates you’re meeting their needs. How do you attain such a relationship? A few suggestions:
- Ask them what they want. Be genuine; don’t bombard them with surveys or make them feel like a number. That approach won’t make too many feel valued.
- Study customer habits. Digital channels to customers are making this easier.
- Adapt to the customer’s needs. The COVID-19 health crisis has made clear to all what knowledgeable marketers have known all along: change is constant, can occur in a short period of time, and consumers are clearly willing to do new things. Be sure they know you’re listening to their needs and concerns, then act on them.
How do you show “love” to your customers?
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Founded in 1987, Dorsey & Company Strategic Consultants to Management is a carefully assembled group of more than 50 associates who offer a wide range of marketing expertise to thoughtfully approach every engagement according to its unique competitive and marketing challenges and requirements. The Dorsey & Company approach has consistently yielded favorable results for leading clients in automotive, energy, utility, branded and consumer goods, retail, higher education, telecommunication, government and nonprofit, financial and professional services, health and pharmaceutical, and other industries. Visit here to learn more about Dorsey & Company.
