Extending your customer services and levels of engagement can and should go way beyond any final sale. An absolute key part to your sales funnels and measuring it should be built around what happens after the completion and an after sales policy should be in place. For some firms they are not looking for customer retention due to the nature of their product and they don’t involve any follow up in their sales approach, this attitude is flawed as there is a wealth of information to be gained from the aftercare of customers. For many business they have many other products to sell and keeping a customer for their life time value is part of the game plan. Regardless of your product having happy customers is key to your company’s progress, whether thats repeat business, having a loyal advocate who promotes your service or for real world insights into your product. Today I want to look at some subtle ways in which to engage with your customers, how to evoke emotions and how being a genuine company can boost your profile in the year ahead.
Branding
If you have been established for some time then i’m sure you have tried to create a flat branding style across products, marketing and communications, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be reviewing and refreshing your company’s image periodically. You don’t have to change your logo or name but you can certainly change your look and approach. Many companies use re-branding as a way to fill a void when they have no current news or products to talk about. When your looking at how your company will be viewed by the general mind of the public it’s worth really thinking about the psychology of colour and what messages you can put across with this tool alone. Is it a coincidence that nearly 50% of the fortune 100 companies use blue as their primary company colours? Colour are used across many industries to instill certain emotions, for instance green is synonymous with health and is seem as peaceful and caring whilst grey is used by many firms as calm, balancing and trusting colour.
Packaging
Understanding how you can say so much with so little in regards to your postal packaging can boost your output with just a little extra thought. You don’t have to custom design and take your budget overboard in creating stunning packaging that evokes emotion and engagement before your customer has even opened their delivery. With the use of stickers and stamps you can make the design look as good as professional printing especially if utilising your new branding strategy. This chance to bond with customers, send personalised messages, tell them about other products and drive them to your social channels is all so often overlooked and this is a golden opportunity to do it.
Engagement
Talking to your customers is the only way to get an understanding for your products value. You can find out from the real users how it is being received, what needs to change and what they love. This information should be driving what points you want to really highlight when marketing and what factors need instant revision. One of the keys to the evolution of business and product design is this process and you should be viewing this interaction and market research for what you do next. Don�t wait until there is a complaint or ask random questions of customers online, you need to actively be where they are and jump in on conversations. Look at your buyer personas, work out where your clientele spend their time online and start talking to them as soon and as often as possible.
Be Real
Its 2016 and we really are seeing an age of transparency being ushered in and embracing this rather than trying to hide will add such benefit and shape how you grow. Many customers take to the internet and can leave feedback on any number of platforms telling the world and biasing people’s decisions about your company. Even if it’s a negative review this should be viewed as a positive as you now have a chance to converse with an audience. We all know everyone makes mistakes, we also know that there are some unscrupulous people out there. If you have a genuine policy to be nice to all customers, to bend over backwards for them, to throw your hands up and admit when you were wrong and you’re going to fix it, then you will find this behaviour goes a long way.. Potential customers are going to feel safe that if there is a problem it gets fixed and any customer that did feel they had a bad experience can probably be bought back into being a happy customer. Pick up the phone, go that extra mile, make your customers smile, give value and your business will get the reward. So many companies have a barrier between themselves and customer that is damaging to how the future of business is now being shaped.
The world of business changes daily and stagnation to ideas and not adapting for the future is a surefire way to slowly and sometimes quickly close down a company. Technology changes, products change, but human interaction and expectations do not and if you can incorporate this into your business plan and ethos you will be well on the way to success.
