Like I said…the holy grail.

But some of us take those relationships for granted… at our peril.

Take an example a friend shared with me last night – she met an insurance broker a few years ago whom she liked and their company now looks after all of her business.  She has never in that time shopped around for insurance, or used comparison sites.  A few months ago, she was due for renewal and at the same time, she realised it was the broker’s daughter’s birthday.  So she sent a personal email wishing her Happy Birthday and mentioning her renewal needs, but she didn’t receive a reply.  Her renewal papers came from someone she didn’t know.  And now she’s considering shopping around.

There could be a really great reason the email wasn’t answered – the broker could have been away / ill / might have left the company / it may have been answered by another member of staff who didn’t realise the depth of the relationship.  But whatever the reason, the relationship has been damaged.  And it’s been proven that 67% of customers leave because of ‘perceived indifference’ – they think we don’t care.

According to a report ‘Loyalty: A prescription for cutting costs’ by Fred Reichheld of Bain & Company, in the financial services sector a 5% increase in customer retention produces more than a 25% increase in profit.

It’s time we realised that people think they’re important – and they are.  We need to treat all of our customers,  introducers and suppliers as individuals and respond to them and their family in a way that shows we care and that we’re grateful for their business.  It’s hard work – of course – but it’s easier than continually finding new customers!

• Are you missing any telephone calls?  Perhaps when you’re in meetings, or on another line, or away from your desk?
• If so – do you have an answering machine?
• Do you divert your calls to a mobile?
• Do you have two (or more) lines, if you receive a lot of calls?

If people can’t get hold of you, that usually stops them buying – even if you’re an online business.

You have to make it easy for people to buy – otherwise, they’ll go somewhere else.  To help your customers, do you:

1. Make it clear exactly what you do?
2. Have your phone number visible on all your marketing materials (including your website)?
3. Answer the phone in a timely and professional manner (ideally with a pre-written script)?
4. Have an efficient message-taking service (i.e. not your 3-year old)
5. Have a sales system that makes it easy to sign up – and pay?
6. Use contracts, to protect you and your customers?
7. Offer a guarantee, to shift the risk from your customer back to your business?
8. Follow-up customers and prospects in a timely manner?
9. Call customers to ask if they’d like to go ahead / renew / buy from you again?
10. Give great customer service and keep in touch?

Let me give you an example I experienced yesterday that sums all of these things up:

About two weeks ago, we received a letter about the renewal of our motorcycle insurance policy.  I knew I had to deal with it, but hadn’t got around to it.  Yesterday, we received a call from Yamaha Insurance Services asking us about the renewal and following up the letter.  They ran through the quotation with me and managed to save me a little more money on the premium.  (This meant I decided not to shop around and instead decided to renew with them.)  When I didn’t have my debit card handy, they waived the credit card fee, to ensure I’d renew that day.  Very smart marketing – and they made it so easy, it was brilliant.  They saved me time, effort and the documents arrived by email the very same day.  Very simple and very brilliant. Excellent customer service – well done Yamaha.

Could you replicate that model in your business?  Most of us could – but we don’t.  We think we’re too busy doing other things – but sales are the lifeblood of your business.  This is where you absolutely should be spending your time.  It’s the very first thing we look at when working with a marketing consultancy client – there is no point chasing new customers and new leads if you aren’t looking after those you already have!

For example:

• Do you keep people waiting? If people call you, email you, recommend you… how quickly do you get back to them?  Are you very responsive, or are you slow to return calls and quotations?  (These are income-generating activities and people may be ready to buy now – nothing other than existing customers is more important)
• Could you communicate with your customers more effectively? There is nothing customers like more than to know what’s going on – particularly if you can’t deliver what you promised.  Just look at British Airways’ recent example in the volcanic ash eruption, where they turned bad press regarding the strikes into good press about their service levels and the way they looked after their customers in a crisis.
• Do you make it easy to contact you? Is your telephone number on every page of your website?  Is your email address on your business cards?  If people want to call you, can they do so?
• Talk to People. When customers do call, do they speak to a machine or a human being?  Is there an option on the machine to speak to an operator?  If we have an issue, we usually want to chat it through with someone – is that something you make simple (or would you rather they didn’t call)?
• Do you ask for complaints? These are far and away your best chance to create a loyal customer – people want to know how you’ll react when something goes wrong.  A complaints handling system and staff empowered to deal with such issues can be worth their weight in gold.  No-one expects you to be perfect all the time – but they do expect you to admit when you’re wrong.
• If customers are happy, do you ask them to write you a testimonial or recommend you to friends and family? If you ask, they just might.
• Do you say ‘Thank You’? If people do recommend you, how often do you call them up and say ‘ thanks’ or send them a gift?  If you thank them, they might just do it again!

I could write tips on customer service for weeks – and still not cover everything, but hopefully these will give you a starting point.  If you have any to add, please post a comment and share your experiences.

We’ve been networking for over six years and run our own networking event.  Our top tips for making sure you get the most from your networking activities are:

1. Attend plenty of groups to start with and see which ones you like and which ones contain people you may be able to work with
2. Look beyond the members – you are trying to find out who they work with, not just what they do.  Could they open doors for you?
3. Decide on maybe two or three groups to join – maybe one social group and one focused business network such as BNI (Business Network International)
4. Attend regular meetings – if you aren’t there, you can’t get to know people – and they can’t get to know you
5. Offer to help people.  The more help you can be to others, the more likely they will want to help you in return
6. Learn an elevator pitch, so you can present your business well
7. Be specific about the kind of companies you’re looking for, to help people help you
8. Set yourself some goals, so you can measure your return on investment
9. Be realistic about what you can expect from the group – people aren’t likely to pass you business until they know you.  (Networking isn’t a get-rich quick scheme.)
10. Under no circumstances sell to the people in the room – that will destroy any credibility you may have and only serves to upset seasoned networkers

Networking is one of the most cost-effective forms of marketing there is, but it takes time.  Over the years, we’ve seen many companies try networking and bemoan the fact it doesn’t work.  But, like everything else, it’s something you have to stick at and it’s a skill you have to learn.  Just because you run a business, or work in sales / marketing, doesn’t mean you’re any good at networking, so get yourself on a course and put your learning into practice.

But, do you know who’s recommending you?  If you aren’t measuring where your customers are coming from, you can’t be sure – and you can’t thank the person doing the recommending.

Do you think that if someone recommending your company received a ‘thank you’ from you, they might recommend you again?

Could you also perhaps incentivise people to recommend your company, providing they are happy to do so?

This is how business has been done from the very beginning – if you are looking for a plumber, you’re likely to ask your friends who they know, rather than call someone cold (and risk them letting you down).  If they know they’ve been recommended, they’re likely to do an even better job, as they don’t want to let two people down.

If you could increase you referrals by just 10% in 2010, what difference would that make to your business – and profit margin?

Did you know… most people say no seven times before they are ready to buy, but most sales people give up after 5 times.

Do you have a follow-up procedure in place that captures prospects and ensures you are in front of them when they’re in a position to buy?  If not, that could be a great use of your time today.

This isn’t about selling people something they don’t want – but for many prospects, ‘no’ doesn’t mean ‘never’.  Chances are, they were interested in your product or service when they called / asked you to visit, but the timing may not have been right, or they may not have had the budget necessary.  But things may have changed.

Keep in touch with your prospects – they are warm leads who could boost your business relatively easily.  Could you maybe call just two each day this week and reconnect with them?

This week is a series of the most cost-effective techniques we use with our consultancy customers – I hope you find them useful for you in achieving your goals in 2010.

They include:

• Customer Retention Tips
• Re-connecting with Prospects
• Maximising your Word of Mouth Marketing

You can achieve most of these without spending very much money – and your returns will be higher than many other forms of marketing.