How to a Win a Customer!

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How to Win a Customer!

Here is a short list you can use to build better relationships with your customers, and win them over to your side.

By Lars G. Harrison

A customer is a person, organization or entity with whom one buys and/or sells, trades or exchange various products or services for a said tangible or intangible compensation for that rendered. Informally this indicates someone whom one deals with. Customers could be internal agents in your organization where there is a deliverance of services or products. Normally customers are external individuals or groups outside your organization. Customers are also referred to as shareholders, stakeholders, clients, associates, partners, allies, etc. Any interaction and exchange between two parties always involves a relationship, and business with its nature is a social interaction. What we often fail to understand is that a customer is a person, like ourselves, to whom we relate in a mutual exchange of ideas and tangibles.
So the concept of customer relations, is merely a restatement of a relationship between two parties. As long as there is a win-win agreement, the relationship prospers. This approach of developing a winning relationship with customers and suppliers ensure vitality and long prosperous exchange. The Chinese has a concept that "a customer relationship is for life." Building winning relationships for life is not without effort. You can make this happen with trust and constant improvement of delivering quality products and services that exceeds their expectations. Outline below are a few things to keep in mind as you build your relationships with your customers.

Determine who your customers are.
What are the requirements for your customers that you need to determine for the exchange of services and products?
Don't assume that you know what they want. The customers may need less or more they you have anticipated. Constantly review with them what they want. Set up review meetings on a frequent basis. Involve them in your product and service planning sessions. The users knows best what they need and want, steer them to reach the best ideas, solutions and innovations. I am reminder of an interesting Bible verse: it says, "from the mouth of babes and sucklings have you ordained strength [founded a bulwark or brought perfect praise]." In other words you can learn from anyone. Your customers and suppliers are often your best source for new ideas. This is one reason for the emergence of end-user beta testing of products.
Collect customer and market knowledge on a regular basis. This will adjust your product and service delivery. Frequent usage of feedback and surveys to determine your how well your satisfy their expectations. Prepare satisfaction metrics for your customers.
Acknowledge their needs and ensure that they are aware of your efforts and capabilities to satisfy their needs. Be open to criticism. Appreciate their input.
Listen to their needs. Don't ever ignore them. Send representatives to analyze their current and long term needs, and develop a strategy plan to fulfill them. If an employee fail to see that the value of a customer, educate him/her, and at the worst case, get rid of that person.
Realize that you are in business to please your customers. They pay you paycheck. Adopt a mindset of looking at each customer as as a precious pearl. You have been given something special. How do you showcase this relationship?
Never forgot that a customer is a person like yourself, with emotions, needs, desires, feelings, wants, values and norms. As you build your knowledge about your customer, learn to understand the biases, cultural norms, corporate culture, industry trends and attitudes. Look at the customer's own business and industry form his/her point of view. Intercultural awareness is a must in international business. Selling yourself and your organization's culture may in some instances be more important than selling your services and products. Business is about relationship. Ask yourself, "Can my customer trust me?"
Never divorce a customer, unless you are willing to face the consequences. Make a customer yours for life.
Constantly communicate with them via phone calls, letters, thank you cards, reminders, and birthday cards [having a problem remembering names, I'll never forget my chiropractor in Atlanta, because he always sent me a birthday card with a gentle reminder that he valued my health].
A customer relationship is not unlike general relationships you have with people in general. You must work on them. There is always give and take. But realize that it is better to give than to receive. It is natural in most humans to want to give to a giver.
Make your customers your friends. Ask for their advice. They will be glad to give it to you. Many internet companies use beta test programs to get free evaluation and great tips from users.

The golden rule applies to all human relations, "Do to other as you want them to do to you," or better stated, "Give them what they want and they'll give you what you want." Also realize that the average person is more concerned with his/her immediate needs than your needs or the need of the world at large. Satisfy that need and you will win a customer. Make a customer yours for life. If you use all of the above tips, in addition to your own and other ones, you are bound to reap the greatest benefits from your win-win customer relationships. If you are interested in more tips on customer service, feel free to contact us about our customer services programs.

Lars G. Harrison can be reached at lars_harrison@yahoo.com.