In “Creating customer value ” I discussed the need to meet expectations. This continues to be the key portion to any customer relationship. The problem is that value is considered to be something on its own. Almost seen as something completely separate, and this is of course asinine at best.

Instead of fixing the product or service to match the promises we make the customer, we add other things to the sale hoping that this will be the value they are looking for. It isn’t and that simply doesn’t work. Unless you are adding something of direct value to the purchase itself, however, that is hardly ever the case.

Although I appreciated the travel coffee-mugs that came with my car; the “value” added to the purchase is negligible. I know that the $0.99 per cup this dealer paid for them is not going to hurt him in the least. Not mentioning that they have the dealership details on them. So now I am supposed to feel that I got value out of becoming their advertiser?

If they had simply put the box in the car, not mentioned it, and left it at that. I would probably had thought more of the gift than them acting like they gave me something really special. It starts to look more like a bad joke when they present a couple of plastic cups with the ceremony of it being the Nobel Prize.

The simple fact is that adding value is not that easy, or even possible. Value is still going to be measured, by the meeting and exceeding of the customers’ expectations. Few customers will equate the value in their purchase with the free gifts that come with it. If you are going to add something to a sale, it has to be of relevance and carry a direct connection to the use and enjoyment of the product or service.

This concept of “adding” value is a disconnect that prevails in sales today. If you own a business, you probably get these 900 page catalogs with everything from branded post-it’s to pens and bottle openers. By all means, use them. Just don’t think that they will be what bring your customers back. These items bring value to you in terms of advertising. Don’t confuse that with them making a difference in your customers’ experiences.

We can pack on coffee mugs, key rings, and other marketing giveaways, and sales / marketing gurus all over are claiming this to be of great value. I think it has a place, but that place is not to cover up our failure to live up to our promises.

Next time someone tries to sell you these items as “marketing” materials, ask them to show you example of conversions, new business brought, customer satisfaction surveys that improved dramatically or any other metric that would prove their often very lofty statements.
These items are only a small addition to what should be your real business.

Meeting and exceeding customer expectations.

When you read an interesting article, see if it applies to any one of your clients or prospects. Not only is this a great way to make sure that you are applying what you are reading at all times, but it also opens up a great way to communicate.

Once you find something that you think, "XX should really read this," you have a great opportunity to make a positive impact in a client’s life. Make a copy of it, and send it with a handwritten note to telling him that you thought of him and why.

"I saw this article and thought about how you mentioned having trouble finding a good outsourcing partner in China." Now you’ve told him that you were paying attention and that you are interested in helping him.

Include your business card and send it off.

The cost in time and energy to do this is negligible, but to Bob this shows that you have his best interests in mind. It also shows him that you are the type of person that provides solutions, and Bob will remember that next time he or someone he knows need something.

I came across a post today from John Jantsch over at Ducttape Marketing called "Staying Top of Mind" that raised some interesting pointers.

He mentions that he got a note from a new employee at a supplier introducing herself. She wasn’t his account rep, and she didn’t try to sell anything. Above all else, the note was handwritten.

John notes how positive his reaction and how the handwritten note is something that has gone the way of the Dodo for most companies. He is right; a handwritten note is the most personal thing you can do that doesn’t involve actual conversation. Not standing out of the crowd by doing something that simple is a missed opportunity.

I often recommend including a short handwritten note when you bill a customer. You can make the whole process of invoicing a part of your marketing strategy. You take the not-so-popular invoice and move it to a communication tool more than a simple "pay me please" transaction.

This also has an additional benefit, if the company is medium sized or larger, chances are that someone other than your contact is dealing with the invoices. Getting a personal note in that envelope means that they are going to be aware of it and it actually lessens the risk of your invoice being lost in the shuffle.

You also gain the benefit of communicating with the customer on a regular basis, you should never go more than three - four weeks (four is the outside) to communicate with your customer, or they will start to lose sight of you. Out of sight, out of mind. Eventually, you’ll be out of a deal too.

In the end, it all comes down to relationships, when you send someone a handwritten note, you are making an effort to be personal, and that effort is hardly ever lost on the recipient. We are getting so used to not being personal and personable that a simple handwritten note now is a way to stand out.

If you can you think of a more low-cost way to maintain and improve the customer relationship, I’d love to hear it.

By the time you have finished reading this sentence, you’ll already be wondering what these mistakes I’m talking about are.

Moreover, there is a high probability you are contemplating whereas there really is a need for writing in a sesquipedalian comportment.

In those two sentences I just illustrated the title.

1. Tell me what you’re selling
Your customers are not stupid, they know you are selling something, and they want to know what it is. Get to the point, do it quick and then go into the explanations and sales copy.

If you hover around, talking about how great you think they are and how fantastic you think their company is for more than a sentence or two. You are already starting to lose readers (translating into losing sales).

You should give them the courtesy of explaining yourself right away, especially when you are writing to a customer that you haven’t done previous business with. If they aren’t interested in what you are selling, they will not read much past the introduction. But if you make the deal the only thing they read, then that is what they will remember, giving you the opportunity of scoring a reference instead when someone asks them about where to buy your particular widget.

Make a statement, explain the offer and invite to read more. This should be the quintessence of a sales letters opening.

2. Speak my language
If you want to sell me something, do me the courtesy of speaking to me in my language. I’ve been to college; I can decipher even Shakespeare when I want to. This is normally not when I’m opening the mail, and especially not when I’m getting lots of it and the weekly sales meeting is going to start in 9 minutes.

When you write the sales letter, Use your voice, it’s more a question of speaking than writing. Check your language by asking yourself if this is how you would speak if you had a customer sitting in the chair across from you.
If it’s not, tune it to become a conversational tone. Most people have busy schedules, and sales letters file so nicely in the circular archive.

If your product or service is so complex that you need a very long letter to explain it, maybe you should consider breaking it down into a shorter letter with a call to action to contact you for more information.

When something is so complex, a personal presentation will almost always be superior to the letter.

Start writing conversational to the point letters. You will see the difference.

How to get your customers to do the selling for you

Sometimes, what everyone else is doing isn’t necessarily the right thing. Many businesses have fallen into following the leader when it comes to high pressure sales tactics. Trying to keep up by copying their methods. A person that broke this mold is Australian media commentator and motivational speaker, Craig Harper - who also owns a personal training center.

Craig says in this article that he has no marketing budget (note that he doesn’t say he doesn’t do any marketing.. there is a huge difference), he does no hard selling and he has no memberships for his gym. No upfront commitments or high pressure tactics like most of the competition does. He also states that this is against all his marketing connections advice.

But what traditional marketing, and especially the “gym mold” is missing is exactly what Craig has been doing. What so many businesses today have been trying to create is exactly the situation that allows him to be successful. When every big player in the area is doing the same thing, (and in this case that thing is to force the customer to to sign a long term membership that Houdini couldn’t get out of),the simple answer is to do something different…

What’s the key to creating this success?

He DOESN’T SELL! … no hard sales ever. He also does something completely moronic if you were to look at the approach of his competition. He LISTENS !

This part from his article is very telling as to why he is successful.

“I spoke to an older gentleman recently who was interested in being trained by one of my team. I spent twenty minutes with him, had a few laughs and he booked in for three sessions per week.” … “Why did he choose Harper’s? Because he had visited eleven centers (we were number twelve) and I was the first person who listened, didn’t ’sell’ and spent more than two minutes with him. I would have happily spent the time with him no matter what the outcome was. If the first eleven businesses had half a clue, we would never have met.”

Craig has grasped the basics of relationship marketing and turned it into an art. He knows that in his case, just doing what the opposition isn’t doing will go very far in earning him a client. He also knows that in his particular case, a happy and satisfied customer will be the best advertising he can get. In the business of personal training, getting satisfied customers creates more business because it creates a walking, talking advertisement for you.

As Craig puts it

“Get a fat bloke in shape and ten things will happen:”

1. He’ll be a slimmer, healthier, satisfied customer.
2. People will want some of what he’s got.
3. He will sell you and your business (verbally and visually).
4. He will create ‘brand awareness’ for you.
5. You will have more people walk through the door.
6. He will boost your credibility.
7. He’ll bring five of his fat buddies, who in turn will bring fifty of their buddies.. and so on.
8. Your business will grow.
9. You’ll make more money.
10. You’ll buy a boat.

There is an old saying that sales is 90% listening and 10% talking. This is what the Hard Sell promoters out there have been missing. They aim for quantity, not quality. They strive to hit as many customers as possible in order to cover the ones that are ready to buy or prone to be pressured into buying a standard sales pitch. Then move on and find another one. They don’t spend enough time to make sure that the customer is getting what they are looking for. Which is why they lock them down into contracts and payment tricks. Since they don’t care about customer satisfaction, they have to ensure repeat business in other ways. For these businesses, return business is the same as repeat billing.

Do you think their customer satisfaction rating is high or low?

Next time, try to sit down, and actually listen to a customer. Maybe you are not that far away from becoming a Craig Harper, who gets business without spending a fortune in advertising because people want to deal with him, not because they got pressured into a contract they can’t get out of…

Or think about what kind of business you would like to run in terms of taglines.

“Your business” - #1 Because once we get you to sign, we own you!
or
“Your Business” - #1 Because our customers come back for more

If you are currently employing the Hard Sell, trying to lock down your customers into long term contracts, you should ask yourself this.

If I met the customers’ needs and expectations, would I need to enforce ironclad contracts? Possibly ruining dissatisfied customers credit and creating bad will for myself in the process?

I would venture to guess that the answer to that question is No!
I would also dare to guess that in the long term, your business will be growing way past what skinning dissatisfied customers out of can ever accomplish.

Not to mention that you will spend a lot less money on call centers trained in how to tell the customer that they can’t stop doing business with you.

Money that you could actually spend on bringing more first time customers through your doors so that you can listen to them too.

Or you could buy a Boat.

Spring is in the air, summer is almost here and this is the time to start thinking about creating an event that a whole community will see and rally behind. There are hundreds of worthy ideas and causes that you can create a charity event for. And make no mistake about the impact that doing such a thing can have.

This is a tip that takes a little more time and energy than others, but can be a great branding tool for you and your company. It is best suited for small companies with a few employees. But you can also get together with other companies and co-host the event, which is also a great networking opportunity. If you are unable to create your own event, don’t miss an opportunity to sponsor one with either your special skills, or your products.

You will:

- Send a very powerful message of Civic engagement
- Get connected with new people that can function as a future network
- Build new business and strengthen your customer relationships
A few years back I helped a small company organize a soap box derby. The goal was to raise money for a children’s hospital. They had other companies donate necessary items like the safety barriers. They also sold the advertising space on these barriers to advertisers.

Community organizations stepped in and helped with manpower.

The positive community image that resulted was incredible. The company was featured on the front page of the local newspaper three times. State media picked the story up and broadcasted the name of the business and interviewed the owner.

The trick is to ensure that you really are focusing your efforts on the charity or cause that you are supporting. You can and should of course make sure that you use available space to place your logo, but by actually doing something for someone else, media will be much quicker in giving it coverage than they ever will if they assume that you are doing it for the publicity.

Make sure that you craft a strong press release and media package, having this ready for the initial announcement is crucial to make the most out of your coverage.

Event Ideas could include: Soap Box Derby, Outdoor concert, Flea Market, Chili Cook-off, BBQ competition, Movie night in a park, Rubber Duck Race, Raft Race, Golf or Tennis tournament, Bingo Night, Silent Auction. The list is endless.

Marketing, and specifically advertising has for a long time worked with the concept of AIDAS.

Attention – Being aware of the product or service
Interest – Seeing how it solves a particular problem or need
Desire – Wanting to solve that problem or need
Action – Obtaining it
Satisfaction – Perceiving that the purchase had value

Customer value is directly linked to perceived satisfaction. It is important to realize that not every purchase is made thinking that the product is the best one in the marketplace. Satisfaction is obtained when the customer feels that the purchase met or exceeded their expectations.

This is all connected to trust. The customer makes a purchase based on a cost/benefit calculation, and when they evaluate the benefits, they rely on the communication of the company producing or selling the product. This trust is placed in that the advertising, sales pitches, and product descriptions are true and honest.

Once we realize that trust is imperative to the perception of value, the need for an ethical approach becomes obvious. You cannot sell value without trust, and you cannot gain real trust without being ethical in the presentation of your product or service.

Perception is Reality

In order for the customer to perceive value, it is important to know that their expectations are not exceeding the capabilities of the product or service. This can actually mean informing a customer that their expectations are too high. Although this might sound like a death blow to an automatic sale, this is nothing compared to the long term effects of having displeased customers. It is better to educate the customer who is in the process of making a decision and possibly lose a sale than to have them experience a lack of satisfaction and the resulting bad relationship because the purchase did not measure up to the expectations.

The White Knight Intervention

The reason for not making a sale that is unable to deliver satisfaction to the customer is called the white knight syndrome. Once a customer feels that they were saved from making a mistake by the sales staff they have gained a level of trust that is hard to achieve in any other way. Losing the initial sale by informing the customer about the true performance of the product or service will build a level of trust that has a much greater potential of bringing future return business and referrals.

To build the trust, there are five stages of communication that takes place:

1. Initial communication - Attention and Interest phase

This stage of communication is seller initiated. It includes advertising, sales copy, product descriptions, blurbs and all the other things that address the first two letters of AIDAS.This communication is normally one way. Printed, recorded or otherwise distributed to a customer that at this point isn’t communicating back. It can also be a cold call, or an unplanned sales visit.

2. Customer initiated contact – The desire phase

This is when the customer somehow approaches the seller. At this point, they are either looking for more information, or are preparing to make a purchase. Achieving consensus now is imperative; this is when the customer asks questions as to quality, performance and price. This is the time when the seller can make sure that the customer is in fact purchasing a product that is equal to their expectations, and the time for a white knight intervention steering the customer away from a purchase that will result in a bad experience. This communication can be either one or two way. If the customer does his or her research outside the control of the seller, it is again imperative that the information available matches the true performance of the product or service. If the customer has contacted the seller, the information should be just as honest, but the benefit here is that the seller can ask questions back, ensuring that consensus exists.

During this phase, ensure that disclosure exists for the customer to get a fair perception of the real purchase.

3. Action – The Sale

During the actual transaction, the real last chance of ensuring customer value exists. This is not the time to disclose additional fees, extras that are needed etc. If that occurs when the customer has decided to make a purchase - the trust is lost immediately. This signals that the seller understands that the deal itself isn’t so good. So they chose not to disclose the true cost of the item. Many companies employ this approach in order to make a sale, but do so knowing that return business is not likely.

4. Satisfaction – Customer Feedback

A seller interested in long term relationships with its customers should pay specific attention to the follow up. Give the customer a chance to communicate their feelings after the purchase. And should their perceived value not be up to standards, be prepared to make corrections. Listening to a customer that has already spent their money in order to ensure that they experienced the value and satisfaction is the one of the best ways to build trust. When a customer has a legitimate problem, be swift and reply with force to correct this problem and your trust will be raised even higher.

5. Follow up

To nurture a customer relationship, maintaining contact with the customer is imperative. The ways to build return business through value added offers differs from industry to industry. If you are selling cars, oil changes, tire wear and other maintenance can be predicted. Contacting the customers at the right time with deals that are of additional great value to them will continue to build trust. If you are a roofer, keeping in touch before seasonal changes with maintenance offers will make sense.

In short, satisfaction relies on the perception of value obtained and customer value is the one main reason that customers return. Return business should always be on the forefront of every deal since it is much less expensive in time and effort to obtain.

Alienating a customer through lack of value can for many businesses be the death blow. Their customer base remains essentially the same, but the available customers keep declining because the unsatisfied customer will create negative publicity for the seller. The word of mouth damage that can be caused by bad relationships is not to be underestimated.

The importance of value will only increase as time goes on because of the internet and the increased customer capacity to write reviews and warnings to other potential customers.

Marketing in today’s world, where the rules change by the minute thanks to the web and new methods of social marketing creates confusion to many. Most people know about the phrases relationship marketing, social marketing, viral marketing, Web 2.0 and all the other terms floating around. But when you ask them, they all fall into the old trap of defining marketing as selling and advertising.

Defining marketing as sales and advertising is like defining Ford Motors as bumpers and speedometers. Ford makes complete vehicles, marketing makes (or breaks) complete Businesses.

Marketing has been defined in many ways, one popular definition is David Jobber’s “The achievement of corporate goals through meeting and exceeding customer needs better than the competition.”

The problem with all these definitions is that they attempt to define something but only succeed in limiting it. Marketing is indeed about meeting and exceeding customer needs, it is also about understanding, predicting and creating customer needs.

The only way I know how to explain and thereby define marketing without killing its real potential is by leaving the definition broad.
Marketing Is: Everything and Everyone that comes into contact with the customer.

If you leave it this broad, it will help you understand how for instance branding works, Branding isn’t about needs, branding is about perception, it is about value and quality. You can ruin the customer’s views of your company based on what paper you use to print your invoices. That is not a need, it has little to do with the competition. It’s just a matter of perception. And perception IS reality to a customer. An invoice printed crooked because your printer is bad, on cheap paper won’t give the customer the view of professionalism. It may create questions as to your legitimacy and intent.

Most commonly when I ask people about their perception on a company that uses cheap looking stationery, business cards etc.  Their answer is that they don’t believe this company will be around long. It has little or nothing to do with whether the company has what they want at the price they want. It simply diminishes their perception.

A customers perception will determine their expectations, and that in itself will determine both if they want to do business with you, and also if you can meet those expectations. Meeting and exceeding expectations is the true definition of value, not needs.

Needs only create an intention to look for something. Expectations determine what they will perceive as good value.

This is why small Businesses Fail to the tune of over 80% in four years, they lack the long term view of keeping customers, and keeping them happy. A happy customer will return, and will bring other customers along for the ride.

Referrals are the true path to sustained and constantly growing revenue. This long term perspective of marketing will bring you far greater returns than the best written sales copy ever will if it is only intended to sell an item, not focus on the customer experience.