Strategy squared

The relationship that you have with your customers can make or break a business. Ensuring that their needs are met is crucial if you expect to either attract or retain them. Interpreting customer requirements however can be tricky – nevertheless there are some key requirements that are universal whatever your market or clientele. Below we list 5 key fundamental concepts at the heart of delighting your customer.

1/ Value

Your product needs to provide something that your customers want. Customers buy to satisfy a need, that need can be something simple from needing to eat or drink or making life easier via a new gadget through to keeping up with peer pressure by having the latest fashion item – understanding the benefits that your customers are expecting from your product is crucial not only in determining your marketing straty but also in assisting future R&D activity and pricing policies.

2/ Excellent service

Customer service has a huge influence over whether a customer leaves satisfied from the deal or not – with today’s multiple sales channels there are many ways to get this badly wrong from ineffective communication (poor website, delays at your call center) to poor processes when a customer complains. In today’s ultra competitive global marketplace, poor service can turn customers towards competitors in a flash.

3/ Quality

All customers want a quality product – they need to make sure that when they take it out the box and plug it in it’ll work and more so it’ll continue to for years ahead. These days the margin between cost and quality is ever more blurred – irrespective of the cost paid consumers demand the highest quality. Getting to grips with this needn’t be difficult – establish some key business metrics – look at how many returns you get from products sold, review the issues and set about improvements. Look at each area of your product from the physical goods through to packaging and supply and delivery ensure that it’s the best it can be.

4/ Convenience

Dealing with your company, whether buying an item or obtaining information, should be quick, easy and hassle free. Bricks and mortar stores should have displays that are well organized, making products easy to find. Have an online presence? Make your website stand out with intuitive navigation – make purchase routes in a fewer clicks as possible and have need to know data available from the homepage.

5/ Information

A lack of or correct information can severely damage your customer relations – whether its part of the buying process (i.e. has an item been shipped) or even just a simple sales brochure – tailor the information to your customers requirements – make it useful, accurate and timely. Take time to ensure that staff are knowledgeable about your products – they’re selling it so they should your products inside and out establish training or awareness schemes where needed.