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Customer is King

by clare 20. March 2009 05:05
Have you recently stopped and asked yourself if you are you doing everything you can to retain your customers?  In the mad panic to find new business at the moment we can so easily lose sight of our customers.  But ignore them at your peril.  Quite simply without your customers you have no business.

So what can you do to help keep those most precious of assets?

For starters you can put yourself in their shoes.  Picture them in their working environment going about their daily business routine.  Who are they? What role do they have? What difficulties are they facing and most importantly what can you do to help them out of those difficulties?

As a business you should be adapting to the ever-changing needs of your customer.  It should never be a case of what you want to sell or how you want to operate.  Instead it’s about developing your products or services to meet and indeed exceed the needs of your customers.  You must be flexible and you must communicate with them.  Find out what they would like from you.

For example, as a marketing company, I know that my clients need my help now more than ever and they are aware of how vital it is to remain proactive with their marketing activity.  The trouble is they are struggling with cash flow at so they can’t justify increasing their marketing budgets.   I have listened to them and in response to their feedback I have now launched a new ‘kick start marketing’ package that enables them to spread payments over a period of six months.  The result is that my clients get the marketing they need right now but don’t have to pay for it all in one go.  This enables them to keep expenditure down but increase marketing activity.

Every business owner should be looking at their product/service portfolio now and evaluating what they can do to help their own customers.  Consider conducting some research. Ask them what they are struggling with and how you can adapt your services to meet the challenges that they are currently facing.

Find ways of adding value to your offering.  Can you give your customers exclusive previews, access to customer only web pages, send them newsletters giving help and advice or even reducing prices? Encourage your customers to generate referrals for you.  If they are pleased with the service then let them tell others on your behalf.  In return why not show them your appreciation?  Even just sending them a good bottle of wine or some flowers will make such a difference.  It’s the simple touches that help your customers feel valued and cared for.   

Whatever you do make sure you do it with your customer in mind.  Remember they are the lifeblood of your business or your job and you don’t want to become another casualty of the recession simply because you overlooked your customer. To find out more about retaining your customers contact me on 0121 232 4656, email me at clare@initiatemarketing.co.uk or visit my website www.initiatemarketing.co.uk. 

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Sterling Marketing Management trading as Sterling Financial Accountancy Services Limited. Registered in England & Wales, registration no. 4347084. Registered office: 27 Lincoln Croft, Shenstone, Staffordshire, WS14 0ND