All businesses are H2H. Forget B2B and B2C…. Business is about people selling to people that will be used by people. Sadly, most businesses are designed to keep ‘personal’ out of ‘business’. It doesn’t have to be like this.
Your customers’ lifetime value (CLV) can be 10x of an initial purchase.
There’s no better way to increase your profits, according to the author, than to retain your customers for life. The cost of customer acquisition can be in most circumstances much higher than that of customer retention.
“Customer service is reactive while the customer experience is proactive.”
First 100 days are crucial for customer experience. By getting the first 100 days of customer relationship right, you can dramatically increase your chances of keeping that customer for life.
Don’t just share. Show.
Share your customer experience philosophy. Detail the work you do to make sure you deliver a consistent and remarkable experience throughout the customer journey. Above all, show the prospect what looks like working with you as if they’re already your customer.
Incentivize retention, not acquisition.
More often than not, business leaders incentivize wrong behaviors by rewarding new accounts rater than retained accounts. Fix your incentive structure first before fixing the sales person.
Don’t hesitate to point them to the right direction.
If you identify the prospect isn’t qualified for your offering, point him to the right offering (even if it’s meaning losing them to your competitor). By doing so, you may lose him for now, but chances are he will come back to you the next time he seeks for a solution.
It’s not just about dollars. It’s about ‘thoughtfulness’.
Your attention to the details of your customers certainly matters when it comes to delighting your customers. Thoughtful consideration and personalization can go a long way in customer retention.
8 Phases of Customer Experience
Phase #1 Assess
In the ‘assess phase, customer decides if he wants to do business with you.
Your action plan:
- Set realistic expectations (in most cases, it’s better to under-promise and then over-deliver)
- If you find a better fit for your prospect, point them there.
- Record personal details (behaviors, likings, demographics) using your CRM.
- Share ‘Meet the rest of the team’ video.
Phase #2 Admit
In the ‘admit’ phase, customer admits that they believe you can solve their problems.
Your action plan:
- Co-create the experience if possible to memorialize the moment.
- Don’t just high-five internally, invite your customer to celebrate this milestone.
- Share ‘Welcome to our Family’ video.
Phase #3 Affirm
In the ‘affirm’ phase, the emotional highs of your customer can likely turn into buyer’s remorse at any moment. Put it another way, your customers may start feeling fear, doubt and uncertainty about the decision they just made.
Your action plan:
- Design a smooth handover (between sales and service) to showcase extra care
- Share ‘Keep the Faith’ video (e.g. hand-off and introduction of the service team)
Phase #4 Activate
In the ‘activate’ phase, you start to deliver the your promises.
Your action plan:
- Make the first impression a shocking experience.
- Welcome with transparency.
- Give step-by-step actionable insights.
- Don’t forget basics, its not just products and services (e.g. People like food, treat them and they’ll like you).
- Share ‘Behind the table team member’ video.
Phase #5 Acclimate
In the ‘acclimate’ phase, your customers figure out how to use your offering to solve their problems.
Your action plan:
- Don’t assume everyone knows, hold my customer hands in every step of the way. Make sure no ‘dead spot’, let them know where they are (e.g. puzzle piece progress cards).
- Breakdown big complex processes into bite-size pieces (don’t give all once, give 1 at a time).
- Turn technical complicated stuff into simple visual graphic’s.
- Walk your customers through your world (don’t forget people crave community)
- Address customer doubts and fears before they even have a chance to ask from you.
Phase #6 Accomplish
In the ‘accomplish’ phase, your customer successfully achieves the results he wanted.
Your action plan:
- Invest at least 5% of profits back to CX.
- Defy customer’s preconceived expectations.
- Deliver value on multiple channels (if you teach online classes, send hard-copy supplemental references, cheat-sheets, thank-you cards…)
- Let the customer knows he achieved what he’s looking for – communicate in personalized or automated manner to celebrate achievement (time it properly for up-sell to be effective).
- Use internal and external surveys to gather how customer and employee felt about working together.
- Share ‘Congratulations’ video from the team.
Don’t aim for the tape – GO THROUGH THE TAPE – so you don’t slow down when the target is near. – Joey Coleman
Phase #7 Adopt
In the ‘adopt’ phase, your customer proudly adopts your brand as part of his life.
Your action plan:
- Elevate good customers into great customers buy creating ‘exclusive’ ‘limited-edition’ experiences.
- Make it easy for your good customers to express their ‘loyalty’ (e.g. Apple white earpieces).
- Give your customers a chance to be part of a larger community (tribe member!).
- Focus on 1 Percenters that sing your praises.
- Build a Fan Community.
- Give your Fans a Name (e.g. Red Devils).
- Consider sending complimentary gifts that go along with your product they love.
Phase #8 Advocate
In the ‘advocate’ phase, your customer becomes a walking marketing department for you and joins your army of unpaid brand advocates.
- Make your referral system easy and simple.
- Don’t ask a customer recommendation or refer your product or service right after they purchase.
- Reward your customer for positive behavior.
- Be honest when asking for referrals and testimonies. Say something like (Look, I recognize you’re busy and have a lot on your plate right now. So with your permission, I’d like to draft a testimonial for you. You can then feel free to edit as you see fit)
4 Steps to Delight your Customers
Step #1 Investigate
Don’t forget to record everything l investigated in CRM. Use names (a person’s name is to that person’s sweetest and most important sound)
- Use ‘I tell, you tell’ (my favorite team is Man United. What’s yours?)
- Use the Focused Listen on the phone(Rover – Be Quiet! ‘What kind of dog is Rover?’)
Step #2 Observe
- Walk in your customers’ shoes. See the world through your customers’ lens.
- Listen and look for the Golden Nuggets that drop from the Sky (that you can only catch if you’re paying extremely close attention)
Step #3 Personalize
Surprise needs to be a surprise for everyone behind the table (not just the primary contact).
- Gift the family of your customers.
- Gift the assistant, team members of my customer.
Step #4 Surprise
Avoid surprises when they’re most anticipating (such as holidays and birthdays)
- Spend as much as you can on high-quality, no-brand-logo memorable tangible items.
- Don’t forget the handwritten note.
- Don’t forget to memorialize experiences (e.g. framed photo of the band from a visit to concert, a cookbook from a visit to restaurant, a golf apparel from golf course).
Getting Your Team Onboard
- Let your team involved from the very beginning.
- Let your team co-create CX.
- Give your team autonomy to create their own CX.
- Set a CX budget (per head if possible).
- Track and Celebrate small wins.
- Form a CX Team.
Getting Your Managers Onboard
- Let them read this summary.
- Convince with facts.
- Expose them to Reality (let them see the pain and struggle of customers).
- Do it anyway without asking (sometimes it’s better to beg for forgiveness than to ask for permission, even if you fail, you’ll learn a lot about your customers and their world).