In my days as a financial advisor I learned a very particular valuable lesson back between 2000 and 2002. When the stock market was screaming along on the technology run and everyone thought they were the greatest stock pickers in the world, all was fine. Then when the Dot.com bubble burst all was not. The lesson that I learned was that up till that point is that I had a book of business of all accounts. When the adversity hit and really took hold I distinguished the difference between accounts and clients. The accounts blamed me and pointed their finger and then went away, my clients stayed. From that point on I realized that if I am going to build a business I want a book of clients and not accounts.
Now the stakes of keeping your clients have gotten even higher with all the competition, pricing, on-line discounts and instant gratification. Now we can’t just have happy clients or satisfied customers anymore. We have to create more!
In business you want to be unique and you want to build your brand. So how do you know that you are that brand that everyone automatically thinks of? How do you know that you are truly unique? Imagine two couples playing golf – they are waiting to tee up on the 8th hole. During the wait they started talking business and someone asked, “Do you know a good General Contractor because my son needs some work done on his home.” If your name does not roll off the tip of the other couples tongue like lightning, well you haven’t built your brand and you are just not that unique yet. Our job in business is not to be content with having satisfied or happy customers.
Our job is not to just deliver the goods as they say. It is not to just live up to our customer expectations. It is not to be confident that our happy customers will keep coming back again and again. Our job is to deliver absolutely “outside the box” awesome customer service. Our job is to create Raving fans! Raving fans that are almost like disciples. Disciples that will go out and sing you praise to whoever they meet wherever they go.
So, how do we create raving fans? Let’s stop and ask ourselves some questions first.
Are you sending your customers a small gift or a thank you after their first purchase? Have your branded yourself in a way that your clients will always remember you? Have you created the type of relationships with your customers in that they will want to go out and gather referrals for you? Have you created a customer experience that people talk about again and again?
Take a moment and think back to a situation where you experienced the most amazing service possible. The type of experience that you just couldn’t shut up about, I mean you absolutely had to tell everyone about it. What was it that made you feel that way? What did they do different that was above and beyond? Lock this in because this is the beginning of where you create your own customer experience for them to feel the same way.
So, let’s get into Action. Go back and really take a look at your customer’s experience. Create systems that will not only keep your customers coming back again and again, but empower them to be Raving Fan Advocates that will sing you praise to whoever they meet wherever they go.
I trust you will have fun creating your own customer experience that everyone will be speaking about. If you want to know more about creating that awesome customer service and creating Raving Fans read the book Raving Fans by Ken Blanchard or contact your coach.