Forget differentiating on price or product – quality customer care is the best and only way to beat your competition.
Sir Richard Branson bought into high margin industries where the service was terrible and provided amazing service at reasonable prices.
Business is a battle! It’s your battle to win customers. It’s a battle to stand out from the crowd in your market. More than anything it’s a battle for customers loyalty. No customers equals zero income.
You need to differentiate yourself from the pack. But it’s not that simple. There are three ways to differentiate, and in most businesses only one way works. You can differentiate on price, on quality or on service.
Here’s the good, the bad, and the ugly truth behind these strategies:
Differentiating on price is a losing battle (especially for small business): The idea is that you have a lower price than your competitors and therefore the customers flock to you. Wrong! What happens is you end up in a price war, trying to reduce margins, cut costs and remove overheads. The winner in this game is the business with the deepest pockets.
Just take the large supermarket vs small supermarket wars. The same in hardware. Airlines, hotels or fitness centers. Price is not the place to differentiate your business.
Differentiating on quality can work but rarely does. The strategy is that you make a product that is so superior to everyone else that customers only come to you for it. It used to work, but in the modern world where designs are copied and duplicated in days and delivered at a quarter of the cost it’s extremely difficult to own that type of positioning. Unless you are Rolls Royce or Prada or Rolex its best to stay away from that battlefront.
Which leaves us with customer care. This is the best and only real way to differentiate your business. Richard Branson discovered this strategy decades ago. Branson went into high margin industries (music, soft drinks, airlines, trains, phones, credit cards) where the service was terrible and provided amazing customer care at reasonable prices.
Why do businesses fail at customer care? It seems simple right – be nice. But not many businesses can do that. Here’s where it goes wrong.
- You cannot go from woeful to wonderful customer care in one hit. It takes time to build consistency.
- Being fancy before you get the fundamentals right won’t work. For example, some hotels take the time to leave chocolates on your pillow when they turn down the covers, or give you a warm cookie when you arrive at reception. But these fancy touches just don’t matter if the bathroom is filthy or the restaurant staff are rude.
Here’s how to do it:
- Find out what the three critical service factors for your customers are (just ask them). Is it speed of service, cleanliness, staff attitudes, caring for customers greatest needs or something else?
- Once you know, deliver on these 100% of the time, without fail, without exception, ever.
- Once you have consistency covered, find ways to surprise and delight. But don’t do it randomly. Have a reason. People want to feel special and they want to know why you think they are special.
Your greatest news of all is you don’t need to go through this alone, we are hear for you. WIN Customers Solution is here to walk with you. We join your staff step by step at your pace to create your own unique customer care difference.
This is how we help you to determine your profit by creating a unique experience that customers enjoy sharing with their friends and their online community. Let’s have a talk to see if we are the best fit for your needs, to make an appointment email Matt@WINCustomersSolution.com
Can you afford to wait any longer?
