Welcome to March 2011 and all that this year holds!
Customers are increasingly turning to the digital world as their customary rather than their competitive solution to getting things done. But how should businesses respond, particularly those that are engaged in non-digital services, and what are the best ways for companies to become market leaders using digital technology?
Here are a few suggestions to forming strong customer loyalty.
Job one is to know more about your customers than you have ever known before. This knowledge should be centrally located so that it is available to all of your employees when they need it. It should not reside solely on the desktops of the sales and marketing staff but should be freely shared throughout your organization.
Customers should be able to expect you to know their needs intimately and be able to provide on-the-spot recommendations to them when needed. Nothing builds higher trust than when a customer facing a major problem turns to its partner-vendor who quickly offers a solution and delivers it on or before its expected due date.
Customers are bombarded with ever-greater amounts of information and they need a way to filter it. If your company spends the necessary time combing through the best ways to organize and manage that information you will end up with a greater level of appreciation than the company who has no idea of where to begin.
As time passes and more loyalty is built among your customers it should become second nature to look for ways to engage the customer in meaningful discussion about their problems. You should become their go-to-company. What’s interesting is you might not need to be the techno-giant that many claim as a necessary ingredient.
Although in every day practice the more you understand and can use digital tools the better, it is unlikely that will be the primary reason your customer stays with you. This should give you enough time to become an expert in digital marketing as you assess what your customers are interacting with the most to solve their business problems. The key is to be at the center of that solution. And that’s what builds customer loyalty. In other words, the more you can legitimately promise the more you will be able to deliver.
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Tom Wants To Hear Your Branding Issues:
Tom Marin, Managing Partner of MarketCues, wants to hear from you! Follow MarketCues on Twitter for branding and social media tips – as well as the latest trends. Tom also welcomes emails, new LinkedIn connections, calls to 407.330.7708 or visit www.marketcues.com. How can he help solve your branding issues?
Note: If you are a printing company or product/services company serving the print-media market, and would like to be considered for a feature in this blog, please contact Tom Marin for an interview.