If you don’t take care of your Customer, someone else will.
Nothing wrong with trying to sell more yet focusing only on your interests without caring for your customers, their needs and satisfaction, can turn into a really bad business practice with dramatic results on the long run.
On the other hand, there are several reasons for which caring for your customer and put his interests on your top priority list can produce way more benefits than simply trying to sell at all costs.
Most of us have surely encountered salesmen that would say anything, even huge lies, just to make the sale. From the classic “this is the best quality” or simply nodding the head in a positive response when asked a question about the product or the service that we are about to buy just for the sake of selling.
It’s extremely rare that someone would go back to the same person to purchase something or recommended him to our friends or family. Why would we, right?
Whether you want to call it Customer Service, Care, Satisfaction or Experience, your Customer is the key for your success so why would you not care about him or her?
Keeping existing Customers costs less than finding new ones
Let’s start with this question: how much does it cost you to find new customers? Whether you print and send flyers around or place a tv ad or invest in paid advertisement on Facebook, you have to invest a significant amount of money.
Now how much would it cost you to send an email or a whatsapp message to an existing customer? Just a minute of your time.
You could send a message a few days after the sales to ask how are they doing, if they are satisfied or to offer any further assistance and that doesn’t cost you anything. When the time is right you can also contact them to offer a new product or to up/cross-sell.
You have already invested to acquire your existing customers and it’s definitely much cheaper to keep in touch with them and build further a pleasant customer relationship and build customer loyalty.
A Customer who becomes an “evangelist” is your best salesman
The last step of the Buyer’s Journey is becoming an “Evangelist”. It may sound biblical but it has nothing to do with religion.
Evangelists are Customers who are completely satisfied with your business at the point to endorse you even without any kind of incentive. They would leave positive reviews online, share your content or talk about your products/services to their friends & family.
Marketing is about building relationships
Sooner or later, even the most skeptical will understand that Marketing in the present and the future is about building relationships. Before and after Sales.
It’s no surprise in fact that big companies identify Customer Satisfaction as KPI (Key Performance Indicator) to make important business decisions. They understand that Customers are driving the markets, not businesses.
Going door-to-door to meet someone that doesn’t know you might still work for someone but it won’t last long. There are way too many better and attractive options for people to fall at first sight and they can be easily found online.
Make building an authentic relationship with your Target Audience a Marketing goal, there are several ways to do it. Not all of them may be ideal for you of course but that’s not an excuse.