One of the biggest goals within any business is to increase customer acquisition and retention. Right? Right. You just need to walk out your front door or simply open your eyes and you are bombarded with advertisements. From burgers to beauty products everyone’s product and service is a hundred times better than the next guys.
So, while the marketing experts are brainstorming strategies, trying to work miracles and business is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on marketing communication to achieve these goals, what is actually happening at ground level inside the business?
Have you considered the following?
There is a constant flow of people interacting with your business at any given time. Delivery people, people applying for jobs, external services companies, general enquires, the list goes on. On a day-to-day basis how do your employees interact with these people? What impression do these people leave with when exiting your business?
Do you and your employees see these people as potential customers? They might not fit your customer profile or demographics, but does that and should that affect how you and your employees treat them?
Is it policy to treat every person interacting with your business with respect? What does that look like? Here are a few thoughts…
- Are all calls, emails and messages returned promptly? Say, within 48 hours?
- Are visitors greeted when they enter the business? Not just by the person meeting them, but by any employee coming into contact with them?
- Are the “behind the scenes” employees who are not working directly with the customer aware of their customer service role? Or do they believe they are exempt from this responsibility?
- Are your employees aware that they represent your business in everything they do?
Can you confidently answer yes to the above questions? If not, perhaps you need to rethink your strategy.
I do not claim to be a super marketing guru nor do I want to be one. But I am a member of the public. I see the reality, sadly more often than not. How the glitzy, flash and very expensive marketing messages can be destroyed in an instant by one careless act.
These non-customers may not buy from you now, but how you treat them now will affect their purchasing decisions and recommendations into the future. People talk to people. People buy from people they like. Simple.
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