RELATIONSHIPS
You Say You Have Relationships With Your Customers ? Prove It !
BY : JOHN DIJULIUS , AUTHOR OF THE CUSTOMER SERVICE REVOLUTION
IN today ’ s world , the only thing that is separating companies from offering another commodity is the relationships they have with their customers . If you do not have a relationship with your customer , you better be the cheapest . Companies believe their product is superior , but there are a lot of smart professionals out there and comparable products . I have yet to have anyone disagree with the premise that relationships are what truly give us a distinct advantage . However , I believe that a high percentage of businesses do not know what a real relationship is . Just because you recognize your customer ’ s face or the sound of their voice does not mean you have a relationship .
I am not a fan of platitudes unless they are backed by measurable action items . For instance , you tell me you have a relationship with your customer — great . Prove it . If you truly have a relationship with your customer , or anyone , then you should be able to tell me two or more things regarding F . O . R . D . about your customer . F . O . R . D .
• Family
• Occupation
• Recreation
• Dreams
If you can tell me two or more things about their family , occupation , recreation , and dreams , you really do have a relationship . If not , then you are kidding yourself and you ’ d better be the least expensive because you have no emotional brand capital with your customers . I don ’ t care if you have to cheat and resource your CRM system or notes . Anytime you touch a customer via the phone , electronically or face-to-face , you should deliver one Customer Intelligence item about them . Customer Intelligence is what we know about our customers ( i . e . F . O . R . D ). One of the best ways we have found to obtain Customer Intelligence is through the Customer Intelligence notepads and desk pads .
These tools dramatically increase our awareness of all the customer intelligence thrown at us each day , which we duck from , because we are too busy trying to execute the task at hand . The C . I . Notepads are ideal for professionals on the run , at meetings and networking events , when they are not working at their desk . As soon as you walk away from the customer or prospect , you write down everything they just told you , i . e . leaving for a vacation , alumni of Northwestern University , daughters on a traveling soccer team . The C . I . Desk pads are for when you are at your desk and accomplish the same thing . Then , when you have a moment later in the day , you enter this in your CRM system and can retrieve it when you contact that customer again . No Time ?
The C . I . pads are not meant to hamper your productivity . They are to enhance your listening skills and allow you to build relationships . I have a very large consulting client who hired us to work with their call center over the past 18 months . We rolled out these Customer Intelligence Desk pads and told their representatives not to ask any of these questions . Given the amount of calls they handle per day , we didn ’ t want to make them less productive , rather more effective . The first week we gave everyone the C . I . Desk pads , one of the call center reps went into her supervisor ’ s office and said , “ I know you had Jim from ABC as a mystery shopper today . He told me more today than he has told me in the five years we have been having a weekly call .” Her boss responded with , “ I have not spoken to Jim or any of your customers .”
The fact is , the call center rep heard more that day than she has ever heard before . For instance , when she said , “ Okay Jim , I will talk to you next Wednesday .” Jim responded with , “ No , that won ’ t work . My family and I will be on vacation in Orlando all next week . It will have to be in two weeks .” Bam ! She heard it . Now she can do one of a few things : Tell him to have a great vacation , follow up with him in two weeks and ask him about his vacation , or if he is a VIP customer , ( one of their top customers ) she may want to get approval to have some surprise ( i . e . fruit tray , bottle of wine , etc .) waiting in his hotel room upon his arrival in Orlando . Show Me You Care More About Helping My Business Than Just Getting My Business
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