March 22, 2007 Vol 1 Issue 12
Good Thursday to all!
How odd—she isn't normally that way...
...were not the words we wanted to hear when we finally decided to say something to the management of a favorite place we like to go. Over the period of about a month, we had the “pleasure” of having the same waitress several times (we’ve been served by others there so we know good service at that place exists). The best description I have for this waitress is surly. Long story short: management did nothing to win our favor—no apology, just “How odd, she isn't normally that way." So I guess that we were just lucky enough to be there on all her non-normal days!
Two simple ways to rise above your competition—quality customer service and quality handling of complaints. Remember, whether we admit it or not, we all ask the question, “What’s in it for me?” Your customers are asking that too.
Honestly, customers don’t want to know what it took to get the meal there. They don’t want to hear excuses. They don’t care if you are having a bad hair day. They ordered and expect delivery as promised. Customers do not want to endure unsatisfactory service, products or inconvenience—it's too easy to go to the competition in today's marketplace.
Are you meeting your customers needs in a responsive and timely way?
Have a great day in whatever your adventure,
To Success! To Life!
Sharon
Gone Fishin’
Target customers wisely to ensure that your product or service is a good fit and that the relationship developed can last for years. It takes far less money to keep a happy customer than it does to “court” new leads that may or may not turn into customers.
As a small business it works best to narrow your focus to a select group or niche. Don’t try to be all things to all people. There is an old business saying: Riches in the Niches. It is more cost effective and productive to market to the large fish in a small barrel then to try to catch just any fish in the ocean.
Customers can be measured in terms of their profit contribution (hyper-responsive to unprofitable). Yes, some customers can actually cost you money. Work to identify and upgrade or exit from unprofitable customers. Consider using activity-based costing (ABC) as a measure of profitability of a customer or group of customers. ABC is typically a method of allocating costs to products and services.
To apply ABC to a customer, determine the dollar amount of the customer’s purchases and subtract the amount of service, work or time (figured on an hourly rate) that the customer uses.
+ Customer purchases in $
– $ of service, work, product or time (figured on an hourly rate)
Result: Customer Cost
Perhaps you choose to focus only on a few strategic accounts that value superior service and value-added products, or, like Southwest Airlines, you choose to be the low-cost provider to a large customer base. Important! Customers vary widely in their profitability even when you are the low-cost provider to a large customer base. To determine the right “Fishin’ Barrel” (niche), being as unbiased as possible, evaluate your products’ strengths and weaknesses, and then determine the customer that will be the best fit. Ask yourself:
- Will customers expect to use my product or service all the time, some of the time, only once?
- Do they buy based on price, service, features, performance, relationship or product name (brand)?
- Once a relationship is established, will they be loyal (lifelong, moderate or not at all)?
- Do they expect outstanding one-on-one service, moderate support, or take-a- number support?
- Do they buy based on value or lifestyle?
Add your own questions based on your product and target market, be sure to ask all the pertinent questions.
Your answers determine which barrel you want to “Go Fishin’” in.
Riches in the Niches.
A printable Action Quote pdf—Riches.pdf
QUICK!! What do these bring to mind?
A little Jeopardy music please...
If you know the answers, go to the Lucky Spring Rabbit page, play the brand name contest. I've got a little “gift” I'll pull out of my hat for you to celebrate the release of my new book: Mark-it with your Brand and that SPRING is finally here! YAH!
Like a truck _________
Breakfast of Champions _________
You’re in good hands _________
Get a piece of the rock __________
M’m m’m good ____________
I’m worth it. ___________
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