How Strong Are Your Customer Relationships?

The first person I spoke today on the phone was my friend Mike.  He's got a business selling a certain kind of automotive part to auto shops and the like.  He does very well for himself and I often like to hear what he's up to, but today was particularly interesting because he was under attack.   And let's face it, there's nothing quite as invigorating as a good fight!

Apparently one of his main suppliers decided to try and cut Mike out of his business.  This guy figured he would tell Mike to pound pavement and find his parts somewhere else.  Mike, being smarter than the average bear, had already lined that up so it was no particular skin off his teeth if the present supplier decided to take leave of sanity and turn off a perfectly good and reliable income stream.  Plus, it would end up being more money for Mike in the end, based on what he'd already set up with the new supplier (lower cost to Mike for the same parts).

The real fur began to potentially fly, though, when this supplier who we will, for the purposes of this story, call "Larry", decided to call all (or at least a lot) of Mike's clients  and tell them "Mike has closed down...".  Nothing could have beeen further from the truth!

So you gotta ask yourself at a time like this what's going to happen to your business?  Are the customers going to say to themselves, "that no good yutz barely gave me what I asked for...good riddance!"  Or will they think  "hmmm..that doesn't seem like Mike.  Such a stable guy and always delivering a little more than I asked for...and he always thanked me for my business...."

Point is: how are you seen by your customers?   Do they even remember who you are?  When was the last time you thanked them for their order, or for even showing an interest in what you do?  And prospects...don't get me started!  They need to be thanked and reminded of who you are more than anyone.  How do you do it?

I'll come back to some ideas in a moment.  First, let's get back to Mike and this little fire he was putting out. 

Fortunately, Mike had always made a point of thanking his customers for their business.  He had a list of about 250 key customers with whom he also took extra special care to make sure they  knew that he recognized the value.  In short, he had strong personal relationships with these people. 

So when Larry, spawn of Satan, attempted to redirect their attention to him, he was not only rebuked and rebuffed, but Mike's customers called Mike to rat Larry out.  Now that's customer loyalty!

There are a lot of things you can do to keep customers in your camp.  Here are some of my personal favorites:

• Send a card with a personal note.  The key here is personalization.  It let's them know you really do care.  How do you do this without spending your free time at a local Hallmark shop?  Use a service like the one my wife has.  It's web-based, but the service prints the cards, stamps them and sends them from their fulfillment center in Utah.  And the cards are about 1/3 the cost of the pricey card shop versions and just as nice if not nicer.  You can fully customize the card and even sign it with your signature and use your own handwriting.  Scheduling of cards can ensure that you never lose track of a birthday or other major event.
• Send out a regular newsletter using something like Constant Contact.  Using a service like that is the most "Emily Post" way to go because it allows  recipients to bow out if they don't want to receive that communication from you.  No one wants to lose their audience, but that's better than being seen as the cockroach who just can't be killed.
• Contact your key customers by phone at least once a quarter.  Surprise them by not selling them a thing and instead ask how they are doing, how's business, etc.  See if they are facing any challenges.  Then look in your contact database for someone who could help them solve that problem.  Your customers will never forget you for this.  In a world with catchy phrases like "it's all about me", this kind of give-first attitude makes you stand out like the North Star.

Mainly the thing to remember is: use personal contact to treat your customers like the precious metals they are but don't make them feel like a commodity. 

Make it a great day!