“It takes years to build up trust, and only few seconds to destroy it.” Anonymous
As an entrepreneur whole existence of our business is because of and for our customers. If we understand and believe in this one line then there is nothing that can stop us from being successful. When we plan to start a business and initiate the process, we invest money, built our team to run the business and we do marketing. All these efforts are done for the sole purpose of getting the customers. Many entrepreneurs keep themselves occupied in various activities and deviate from their core focus of customer relationship. Customers are the people who buy our products or avail our services. Since customers are humans we need to understand their psychology in detail.
Customers want only one thing - to be cared and we as entrepreneurs should give them a feeling that they trust us. Trust is a kind of mirror and once you feel a scar in it, it will never be the same again. So, trust is essential in a relationship, especially if it is with a potential customer. Distrust is like a drop of ink in a blotting paper. The majority of white color will not be visible; only the drop of ink will be visible. So, think not twice, but many times before you sow the seeds of distrust and disbelief.
Types of Customers
We can segregate customers in broadly three types price conscious, quality conscious and those who are conscious about their status. The price conscious customers have limited budget, so they seek discounts and will bargain a lot on the price. These types of customers usually do their research about the product and go through all the possible options available to them. These types of customers feel satisfied when they think they have got a good product at a very low price. These customers do not mind waiting for schemes and season discounts. They might also ask their known people to get the product from another place if they feel they can get a cheaper product there. Price conscious customers are not brand loyal, whoever is giving a big discount can get them easily. These customers gain experience the hard way. They also tend to suffer later in terms of quality of the product and after sales, since they do not think about warranty at the time of purchase. These customers should be educated in advance about the benefit, warranty and after sales service. The best way to educate them is to tell them about the value added services in terms of money. Money is what they understand and we should explain services and benefits monetarily. For this reason, some companies have hidden cost in their product, like installation, transportation and other charges.
On the other hand, quality conscious customer is ready to spend more for quality. For these customers quality of a product and service is of utmost importance. They are usually educated people and have more experience of the product and service that they seek. They are already aware of the disadvantages of inferior products. Sales people should remember not to try to sell the product based on the price. Quality conscious people spend more money because they want good product or service. They do not tolerate excuses and want the promise to be kept and delivered in time. They are brand conscious and are generally loyal towards their favorite brands. These customers think of long term benefits rather than short term gains. They are willing to try out a new brand or product if they get convinced with its quality and benefits. Once they are convinced with the product they decide fast and their terms of payment are also clear. The sales process with this type of customers is generally smooth. Always remember, to commit only what can be delivered because these people buy things for a certain purpose. Once we deliver what we have committed and they are satisfied, they become our regular consumers. But if a promise is not kept, they can get really upset. When dissatisfied they may not create any trouble but they do have the capacity to damage our image and hurt our sales badly. Quality conscious clientele is usually respected and the people around them do listen to their views about a product or company. Finally, the easiest way to gain their trust is to be honest and transparent with them. Quality conscious customers appreciate honesty and would not mind spending more to ensure that we are not at a loss for providing the extra service that they want.
Finally, status conscious customers are very few in number and are the smallest segment. The products they buy are mostly a status symbol. These customers are the elite people of the society. They buy products to maintain their lifestyle and lavishness. These customers are financially well to do and they need to be pampered. They look for matchless things and are willing to a pay a high price for it. They do not like to be generalized. Status conscious customers buy things at their whims and fancies and many times don’t even use the product. For them having a product is more important than its usage. Such customers prefer and seek customized solutions. Before contacting this type of customer ensure that we deal in product and services which cater to their requirements. The team that deals with these customers should also be of the same profile. For these customers presentation, environment and the ambience matters a lot. The businesses that deal with status conscious customers make limited products. These customers prefer dealing with established brands unless a new company proves themselves to be of equal footing. While dealing with these chosen few customers make sure that it is always the senior person and not some executive who deals with them. Sales process should be traditional with these customers and they should be provided special attention to pamper and satiate their ego.
Customer Handling
Customer dealing goes through three faces, presales, during sales and after sales. It is a common practice that the companies tend to give a lot of attention and pampering to the customer in the presales dealing. Since there is a possibility of sales, the company treats the customer as king and roll out carpets for them. They do everything to convince the customer to opt for their product.
During sales also special treatment is given to the customer and lot of pampering is done to convince the customer to buy the product. The companies are ready to do almost anything to ensure that the deal goes through and they get the order. The customer is paid attention to till the time they have not made their complete payment.
But it is always the after sales service where the customer has complaints. Once the sales goes through many companies take their customer for granted which is really dangerous. It is after the sales that the customer should be given special treatment and attention. If the customer is dissatisfied at this stage and starts talking negative about the company it can be damaging for the reputation of the company. Hundred contented customers cannot cover the damage that one dissatisfied customer can do. When a dissatisfied customer talks bad about us, other people listen to them because they have used and experienced our product or service. Customers mainly leave a company or a brand and go to the competition because they feel they were not paid attention to. A company should ensure that the existing customers are cared for more than the ones who are yet to buy their product. Once the existing customers refer, the new customers will come without much effort. Although there is no yardstick to measure customer satisfaction, it is indeed, of utmost enormity. It must be borne in mind that sky is the limit and perfection is a utopia but noticeable endeavor should be made to achieve it. It should be understood that handling an enquiry is not about giving out product details but to understand the need of the customer and suggesting the right product that will fulfill his requirement and open new vistas than the present one. While handling presales dealing with the customer try to get as much information about the customer as possible. This would help in making a database of the customers and their likes and dislikes. Customers like companies which pay attention to customer details. More information about the customer helps in understanding the psychology and need of the customer. It also helps us in building relationship.
Handling Complex Customers
While dealing with customers we come across some people who are complex to handle. Unlike the regular customers who are articulate and discuss their issues with us, the complex customers either talk too much without listening to us or don’t talk at all. Thus they create a situation where it is difficult to communicate with them. One thing common with these customers is they are unable to decide and need some push to go for the product. They can be divided in aggressive customers customers.
Aggressive customers are dominating by nature. These customers talk a lot and do not listen to others. They can easily deviate from the topic during their speech and have to be brought back. Since they like to talk a lot, listening skills and patience is needed to handle them. Aggressive customers seek attention and are out to prove their point. A good way of handling them is to pamper their ego. If a point has to be made to them, first listen to them then praise their knowledge and eventually put your point across. Never argue with them to prove your point, it will only make things worse. Even if they are wrong never confront them, but politely put your point across. With such customers always tread carefully and never step on their toes, it will hurt their ego. Aggressive customers are also ready to fight and complain a lot but they can be handled diplomatically and with patience.
Passive customers on the other hand do not talk at all. They are docile and timid which makes them difficult to handle. With these customers the major challenge is that it is very difficult to understand their state of mind and need. Since they don’t have big gestures and give very subtle expressions, it is tough to know what they are thinking. Passive customers have to be handled personally and in an informal manner. Once they feel relaxed with you, they will open up and start talking. With these customers we have to probe to know their thoughts. Patience is required while probing because they may not give out information freely. But the probing should not feel to them like an interrogation or that you are being intrusive. When handled gently these people share their likes and dislikes. This can be used to help them find the right product which will fulfill their need. Passive customers need to be educated and they need help in their decision making process.
Handling Complaints
A grievance is most poignant when almost redressed. Customers complain only when they have some grievance. A customer has a grievance when there is some problem with the product or if they do not get a good service. They nitpick when promises are not kept. First, the company should ensure that the product being delivered is in good condition. Secondly, we should see that there is proper backup for after sales support. If we take care of these two things it resolves a lot of complaints before they arise. In spite of our best effort there are chances that the customer might have problem with our product or service. Under these situations there are chances that the customer may or may not report the problem to us. Therefore, regular feedback from the customer helps us to understand the experience of the customer with our product or service. Feedback helps us make our product better and their suggestions are also valuable in enhancing the quality of our services.
This also makes the customer feel like a part of product development team. Still if the customer has a problem and wants to report to us, we should give the customer a chance to say everything that they want to tell. The moment a customer speaks out their problem it subsides their frustration and anger. Here we should listen to them with patience. When a person reports an issue as a complaint it means that the customer is not happy with the existing process and service delivery. When issues become big and the customer is not able to handle them then, the issue becomes complaint. We should understand that the customer is annoyed and frustrated and he is not getting support in resolving the issue. When we receive a complaint we should understand the state of mind of the customer. Instead of arguing with the customer and giving them justifications, better thing to do is to listen to him. When we try to argue or justify, it only complicates the matter and doesn’t help at all. We should give the customer the space to talk his heart out. When the customers complain he might come up with many related issues.
The next step is to register the complaint, this makes the customer feel that he is being taken seriously and some action will be taken about it. Whenever possible, complaints should be resolved immediately to close the matter. However, for complaints that cannot be resolved immediately, it is advisable not to try to give out immediate solutions. We should try not to commit to things that are not in our control.
As soon as a complaint is received it should be processed immediately. Most companies have complaint handling team, if the matter is beyond their scope and jurisdiction, they should report it promptly to their seniors. Based on the report, the senior management will discuss and find a solution to the issue. It is not only the resolution but also the steps and process to resolve the issue that the customer should be updated about. As soon as the solution is decided it should be reported to the customer with the course of action that would be taken to resolve the issue. When we find the resolution of a problem and there is a turnaround time for it and we have to give a time frame for the resolution to the customer. Always remember to take a buffer time before making a commitment to the customer. The buffer time is taken for the unforeseen circumstances and delays. If the actual delay happens during that time the customer will not bother us as it is still within the time that we had asked for. During this time if one solution fails we can go for an alternate solution. In case there is no delay, we would give the solution before the committed time to the customer. In both the cases the customer will get the solution within the committed time. This gives out the message that we care about our quality and our customers. It also tells the customer that we fulfill our commitments and deliver on time. The customer also acknowledges our efforts. After the resolution of the complaint do not forget to take the feedback from the customer about their experience during the service provided.
Customer Retention
There are companies which concentrate on getting new customers but forget about taking care of their existing ones. Every time they get hundred new customers they lose fifty existing customers. These companies are focused on getting new customers but don’t care about retaining the ones that they have. They forget that the customers today have many options and can go to the competition. It is advisable that every company should have a department dedicated to retain and deal with the existing customers. These departments are there in big companies but are generally missing in small ones.
Customers leave us when they find more lucrative offers with the completion that the existing company. Another reason is that we do not make our existing customer feel important and go after the new ones. When we do not pay attention to the competition we will not be able to retain our customers. If we give the same feature to our existing customer at a lower cost that the competition is giving, our customer will stay with us. When there is a benefit to the existing customers it would encourage brand loyalty. Involvement of the customer in the celebrations also ensures customer loyalty and retention.
Companies that do not diversify and innovate with time find it hard to retain their customers. Losing existing customer is more loss than the profit of getting new customers. Always find a reason to communicate with the customers associated with us. Remember, it is the old customers which give us new business.