|
Dear Reader,
The dynamics of customer relationships have undergone a seismic shift over the years. In the past, customer loyalty was largely built on trust, product quality, and personal interactions. A handshake sealed deals, and face-to-face conversations nurtured long-term bonds. Simplicity and word-of-mouth were enough to sustain brand loyalty. Customers were less informed, relying heavily on the information provided by companies and their recommendations.
Today, the landscape is dramatically different. With the advent of digital platforms, customers are more empowered, informed, and discerning. They expect real-time communication, personalized experiences, and seamless after-sales support. The ability to compare products, access reviews, and share feedback across social media channels has transformed the way businesses engage with their audience. Transparency, responsiveness, and proactivity are now non-negotiable aspects of customer service.
In this digital age, building lasting customer relationships requires not just delivering on promises but exceeding expectations. Companies must embrace technology to anticipate customer needs, offer tailored solutions, and foster deeper, more meaningful interactions. A strong brand-customer relationship today is built on a foundation of trust, continuous engagement, and a genuine commitment to customer satisfaction-creating value beyond the product itself.
The key to thriving in this new era? Adapting to evolving customer expectations and ensuring that relationships are not just built but nurtured, every step of the way. This quarter in Customer Acumen, we look at 'Building customer relationship: Then and Now'.
Jay articulates that sales professionals who challenge common myths, such as the belief that being a natural salesperson or lowering prices guarantees success, are more likely to thrive by developing resilience, negotiation skills, personalized customer engagement, and a deep understanding of customer needs beyond superficial perceptions. In the Spotlight section, Vinod Topa, Director - Asmita Group - Umrao Hospital emphasizes that while customer expectations have remained consistent in terms of wanting value, they are now more informed, demanding transparency, proactive engagement, and enhanced after-sales service to foster long-term relationships and loyalty, with technology playing a crucial role in maintaining these connections. We review The Eight Laws of Customer-Focused Leadership by Blake Morgan who argues that prioritizing customer experience has a vital competitive advantage that demonstrates the essential link between employee engagement, customer satisfaction, and sustainable sales growth in today's business landscape.
Our in-house Cartoonist, Vikram Nandwani's take on staying 'connected' with your customers!
We value your relationship with us and look forward to your feedback and comments on how best we can serve you through our e-zine, Customer Acumen.
|
Out Now!
Succeeding in Business: Nurturing Value in Family Business
Click below to order your copy now
|
Special offer for Empowering Times readers. Get 30% discount by using coupon ETSPECIAL on the Notion Press online store.
Click here to connect with Jay.
|
|
|
|
Every field has its own myths, and those that labour under them find it a convenient cover for their failures. Salespersons are no exception and those that are willing to challenge them are more likely to find success in a field that can be harsh. Let's look at a few and understand the pitfalls.
The first and most common one: you have to be a born salesman. That old chestnut still rules, and poor interviewers fall victim by seeking the stereotypical sales persona: likeable, smiles a lot, speaks well, ready to travel. These features never fail to impress an interviewer who has little idea of what it takes to succeed in the tough game of sales. Surface elements are not likely to last long in a profession that tests your mettle, especially when things are not going your way. It takes inner resilience to handle disappointments that may come your way, especially as a salesperson has to have the stamina and resolve that is typical of the long-distance runner. Can you face the loneliness that is the only friend you may have as you pursue an account through repeated calls? Consider this: studies indicate that it takes an average of eight attempts to secure your first meeting, and thereafter, at least five follow-up meetings to land the business. Do you have that in you? A likeable smile can only get you so far after all.
Next, price is the number one aspect to clinch a sale. Perhaps, universally, the salesperson blames the price point as the key reason why he lost out on a deal. Well, the reality is otherwise. It is not my case that price is unimportant in a transaction, but if this was the only relevant element then all sales pitches would begin and end with it. The challenge for a professional is to bring to the fore all the underlying reasons why the customer wants to buy. This could range from what the tangible need is (going beyond the obvious use case) and cover concerns of long-term service, possible technology upgrades that are built in, compatibility with other existing systems, training of staff, etc. Once these aspects are unearthed, the matter of price fades in to the background. The weightage attached to financial matters is rarely 100%. Determining it creates the pathway for successful negotiation.
The third myth relates to negotiation. Corporate buyers often present a hard façade: 'No, we don't negotiate. Just send us your proposal. Don't call us, we will call you when we decide'. All this and more can make feeble minded salespersons fold their cards and walk away in despair. It takes a seasoned professional to appreciate that the world lives by Chester Karass' famous words, 'You don't get what you deserve; you get what you negotiate'. The message to you is simple: learn the tools and techniques of the game. If you chose to enter a sales career, learn the art of successful negotiation, as you will be well served when you are well fortified. Not only will you realize that there is a lot to negotiate over in any deal making, but also that if you lose the game, it is not game over forever. Just as much as a sports person goes back to the drawing board and analyses each move that both sides made, and prepares better for the next round, so also does a good salesperson who welcomes disappointments as a learning opportunity for the next sales call.
A fourth myth relates to the world of today where virtual presence is considered paramount, and some believe that customers will find you, and you need not invest energy in knocking on their door. Obviously, it is important to be seen in the virtual world, so do create your presence, be it through your website, social media, or other platforms. However, firms that do not deploy sales professionals are doing themselves a disfavour. Connecting with customers has to be an ongoing exercise, even more so in B2B businesses. The mode or channel that you use is up to you: direct meetings, participation in exhibitions, virtual calling, personalized demos, private interactions, etc. You choose your method, but do not stop connecting. This is even more relevant during today's competitive times when there is a rush to capture eyeballs and attention spans are diminishing. The challenge is to be innovative in creating connections and sustaining them to ensure that your signals are distinct from the noise in the marketplace.
A final one for consideration is the myth that the best product wins. Really? The marketplace is populated with inferior products and services that have been able to find their way into the customer's shelf, or his home, or his business. The reasons could be various: an early mover perhaps, a smarter deal offered, or maybe an old customer habit that they find difficult to shake - customer inertia is a real problem as aversion to change affects us all. Let that not dishearten you if you wish to up your sales game. The route to success in such situations is to use your skills to reveal the hidden or latent needs that are invariably present in all situations. The good news is that customers are people - and like all of us, we have paradoxical tendencies: we want the familiar but also harken to the new! Our curiosity needs to be aroused, and the salesperson has to personalize the benefits that the new product or service is offering vis-à-vis what they have been used to so far. It is an accepted tenet in selling that you are required to study your prospect closely and well, and offer a solution that they require (be it for a person or for a business). Appropriate emplacement of your proposition to meet their latent needs will certainly generate sufficient provocation to ensure that you are not ignored any longer. That is the segue that you seek to begin the journey to win their business.
Are there other myths? Yes, but suffice it to say that myth making never ends, and a professional is one with a questioning mind who is willing to unshackle herself from the shibboleths that are holding back others. Why stay with the herd and seek safety when glory awaits you by charting your own path? Isn't that why you chose a career in sales when the others chose an easier path? Go for it!
back to top ^
|
|
|
Vinod Topa is a seasoned professional with over 53 years of experience in the Indian Pharmaceutical and Healthcare sectors. A BITS Pilani graduate, his career spans across three American MNCs and four Indian organizations, with six years dedicated to business consultancy. He brings a wealth of knowledge in corporate management, excelling in process definition, systems creation, and successful execution and monitoring.
Vinod has a proven track record of business turnarounds, brand revitalization, and developing high-performing managerial teams. His expertise extends to marketing, brand management, sales, manufacturing, finance, and logistics. He is known for his leadership in contract research and manufacturing, adhering to regulatory standards, and managing business prospects both domestically and internationally.
His extensive experience also includes setting up Greenfield projects, such as manufacturing plants, R&D labs, and large super-specialty hospitals with satellite clinics. As a business consultant, he has been instrumental in business development and top-tier managerial mentoring for an American MNC. Additionally, Vinod has conducted leadership and development programs at prestigious institutions like the Tata Management & Training Centre (TMTC) in Pune and Interlinked Marketing Consultancy Pvt Ltd in Mumbai.
CA. How have customer expectations changed over the years from your perspective?
VT:
Customer expectations have changed substantially by virtue of being more exposed, knowledgeable, better informed, and having a greater range of options to choose from. They can communicate much more effectively with a greater spread. They are influenced not only by the promotion and communication by brands in the category from which they are choosing but also by the knowledge gained from the information available to them. They are also influenced by opinions expressed by others, shared on the internet, social media, groups, etc. Customers are better informed and want to use their knowledge to choose the brand that meets their needs and delights them. They want their queries answered satisfactorily before making a 'buy decision.' Brands that anticipate these queries and answer them in their brand promotion or at the point of purchase influence the 'buy decision.'
Thus, customer expectations have changed over time. Now, customers want more than just quality service and fair prices. They want individualized interaction, experience, product options to choose from, and the ability to customize products according to their needs. Customers expect proactive service, wanting companies to interact with them, listen to them, especially post-usage of the product, and respond promptly.
E-commerce customers desire a flawless experience across all digital channels, faster service, post-sale support, and a caring attitude from the company. Customers want all digital channels to provide round-the-clock service, longer opening hours, and support provided when convenient to them. Where there is interaction between the customer and the company, the customer expects a flow where they are recognized, and their needs expressed in past conversations are recalled by the company's service-providing staff. They also expect the company to offer new products proactively, recognizing their latent needs and providing service beyond their expectation to bring delight in using the product/service. They want to be kept well informed of such developments and services being provided. In today's market, customers have more choices than ever before, and they expect a far superior experience from any company/product with which they engage. Experience that brings delight has become a critical factor in retaining them as a customer. Thus, while the customer's fundamental expectation of 'what's in it for me' remains the same, it has become more demanding based on the information available to them—they want to buy the best value for their money.
For example, in the pharmaceutical field, a patient (the customer of the doctor, hence a consumer for the company) is well informed about the claims of a medicine and its side effects, as this information is available online. Therefore, patients expect the doctor to prescribe safe and therapeutically effective medicines and proactively inform them of the required precautions to be taken and symptoms to watch for so that any untoward occurrences due to the prescribed medicine are reported back to the doctor, allowing remedial measures to be taken. Consequently, the doctor (customer of the company) expects the company to keep them fully updated with all product-related information to enable them to treat the patient effectively and safely.
Another example is that the room offering of a hotel is today visible either as photographs or videos advertised online. A customer chooses one that meets their needs and expects the rooms to be as claimed.
CA. What do you believe are the key elements of building a long-lasting customer relationship today?
VT:
The elements of building long-lasting customer relationships include:
- Performance as per claims that bring delight: When a product delivers on its promises and exceeds expectations, it delights the customer, fostering repeat business. Sustained and consistent performance not only builds credibility but also strengthens customer loyalty.
- Personalization that proactively anticipates latent needs: A brand that understands and anticipates customers' needs and preferences is more likely to earn their loyalty.
- Openness and truthfulness of a company with the customer: Customers seek openness and honesty from companies. When a company demonstrates these traits through consistent performance and behavior, it builds trust and fosters long-term loyalty.
- Company's willingness to listen to customers, receive feedback, and act upon it: A company that actively seeks customer feedback demonstrates its commitment to understanding customer satisfaction and identifying latent needs. This proactive approach strengthens customer relationships and enhances product offerings.
- Sharing information with the customer to keep her updated on developments: Keeping customers informed about developments not only satisfies them but also entices them toward new or improved product lines, fostering long-term relationships and business growth.
- Honesty and openness in addressing defects: A company that promptly acknowledges and addresses product defects builds trust by ensuring customers are informed and provided with timely remedies.
- Efficient after-sales service strengthens customer relationships: High-quality after-sales service that exceeds expectations reinforces credibility and strengthens long-term relationships.
- Providing other value-adding services to keep the customer delighted: Offering additional value-added services enhances customer satisfaction and fosters loyalty, contributing to long-term business relationships.
- Recognizing and acknowledging loyal customers: Recognition and appreciation of long-standing customers create a welcoming environment, making them feel valued and encouraging repeat business.
- Reaching out to loyal customers: Engaging with long-term customers builds mutual trust and strengthens business relationships.
- Appreciation for the customer builds long-term relationships: Acknowledging and appreciating customers is vital for fostering strong relationships.
- Customer-centric culture: A company should prioritize a customer-centric culture, placing the customer at the heart of all decisions and activities, which nurtures relationships beyond transactional interactions.
- Recognizing brand loyalty and responding to it: Acknowledging and rewarding brand loyalty with better service and response increases customer commitment.
CA. How has technology influenced the way you build and maintain customer relationships?
VT:
The advancement of technology has transformed the way companies reach out to customers in a manner that was not possible earlier, and this has helped build relationships with customers.
- Technology has helped improve quality and personalisation of communication with customers: Customers can leverage modern technology to personalize communication and tailor services to meet their specific needs. This level of customization enhances the customer experience, leaving them delighted and further strengthening their relationship with the brand.
- Technology has helped in studying the customer behaviour: Companies can now reach out to both existing and potential customers, tracking their desires, needs, and behaviors. This allows for more targeted marketing communications, with campaigns specifically designed to meet individual customer needs. As a result, customers feel more valued and understood, fostering stronger, long-term relationships.
- Technology has helped collection of information about the customer:
Technology has enabled companies to gather valuable customer data, allowing them to uncover latent needs and make informed decisions in designing products that effectively address those unmet demands.
- Social media has enabled companies to personalise the reach to the customer: Social media allows companies to engage with customers on a more personal level, making them feel valued and empowered, which in turn strengthens customer relationships.
- Electronic media provides much greater exposure to the customer: Electronic media and devices empower customers to make informed decisions, while companies that provide relevant and timely information can significantly influence those choices.
- Organized retail and e-retail build relationships: Advancements in technology provide organized retail and e-commerce with the opportunity to showcase products that best align with customers' needs, offering personalized recommendations and seamless shopping experiences.
- Technological advancement have enabled availability of information at the click of a key: Product-related awareness and information have expanded significantly, now accessible with just a click. This empowers customers to make informed decisions and easily find products that meet their needs. When a company's products consistently delight the customer, it strengthens their relationship, fostering deeper loyalty and trust.
- Technology has empowered the customer: Technology enables customers to clearly articulate their needs and efficiently search for product solutions. It helps them identify offerings from brands they trust, allowing them to make informed buying decisions. When a customer finds a product that meets their requirements from a company they are loyal to, it not only satisfies their immediate need but also strengthens their long-term relationship with the brand.
- Technology enables the customer to reach out to the company to resolve issues: Technology enables companies to provide prompt resolution of customer issues, improving after-sales service. This swift and efficient support enhances customer loyalty, fostering stronger and more lasting relationships with the brand.
All these factors bring the customer closer, enabling the building and maintaining of well-informed, long-term relationships. The customer feels cared for, reassured that the organization stands behind its product. This fosters a sense of credibility and dependability in the company, leaving the customer both satisfied and confident in their choice.
Similarly, when a pharmaceutical manufacturer needs to purchase an air-handling unit (AHU), they can find extensive information about the technical specifications and performance metrics of different AHUs available on the internet. This enables the company to select an option that meets their specific needs, ensuring satisfactory after-sales support.
Even if an air-handling units (AHU) has to be purchased by a pharma manufacturer, the technical and performance details of various AHUs on offering are available on net and the company can
choose one which meets their needs and where the after sales care is satisfactory.
The same principle applies to high-tech equipment such as Cath Labs or CT scan machines, where hospitals can evaluate and choose the equipment that aligns with their requirements while also receiving assurance of reliable after-sales service.
CA. How do you address situations where customer expectations are not met, and what have you learned from them?
VT:
Usually customer expectation are not met when any of the following happens:
- Performance not being what the claims made were.
- Issues arising with the product which were not informed or declared openly.
- After sales service being unsatisfactory or,
- Customer expectation being unreasonable much beyond what the product claims were:
(a) The customers have to be heard properly to assess the reason why the expectation of the customers were not met and to identify:
- The gap between what the customer expects and what is actually happening.
- Communication with the customer must be open so as to understand the concerns of the customer.
- The company must take ownership and be open and transparent to take responsibility for the issue.
- If the customer is agitated and tensions are high, steps should be taken to reduce the tension and reassure the customer that his concerns will be addressed.
- There will be times when customer expectation are not met because the use of the product has not been done as recommended/advised. In such cases, the customer has to be advised of the correct way of using the product.
- Prepare the service team with all the facts.
- Resolve the issue to the customer's satisfaction.
- If a company can't fulfil the request, they should try and offer an alternative solution.
- The company can offer help such as flexible payment plans or extended support.
- If required, escalate the matter for resolution at a higher level in the company.
- If the customer can't be helped, they can suggest to the customer resources that can help them.
- If required, the company can help establish contacts between the customer and these resources.
A medication designed to eradicate worms, such as roundworms, caused severe side effects like vomiting, dizziness, and abdominal pain. Investigations revealed that these reactions stemmed from doctors either neglecting to advise patients to take the medicine immediately after meals or patients disregarding the instructions. While this issue impacted sales in many regions, one area saw success after doctors were clearly informed about the need for patients to take the medication with food. Local management printed instructions in the local language for doctors to distribute to patients, which helped control the incidence of side effects and stabilize sales.
In contrast, a two-wheeler named "Fantabulous" failed to meet its performance claims, resulting in poor sales, especially against competitors that delivered as promised.
(b) Even if expectations are unreasonable and much beyond what the product claims, the customer must be heard attentively and then:
- Politely inform her that her expectations are much beyond the claim made by the product.
- Politely tell her that her that expectation are not reasonable as these were never committed.
- Be assertive but not aggressive if her request is unrealistic.
- Politely refuse the consideration.
- Be firm and set boundaries if her behaviour is not appropriate to a business transection.
The learning has been that the 'Customer is always right' even if she is not correct because her perception for her own self is 'Always right', hence her cause of dissatisfaction has to be heard and then her perception changed to match with the claims of the product.
CA. How do you ensure long-term customer loyalty in an era where customers have more choices than ever before?
VT:
To retain loyal customers and to ensure long-term customer loyalty, companies can do the following:
- Make customer experience delightful and individualised: Design customer loyalty programs to address identified customer preferences and behaviours to improve/lift customer experience satisfactory to delightful.
- Build deeper connections with customers by providing services beyond expectations.
- Recognise and appreciate loyalty by offering incentives and rewards or special offers to show appreciation which will motivate the customer for repeat purchases or upgraded purchases.
- Identify the latent needs of the loyal customer and proactively offer solutions for customer delight and retention.
- There should be proactive approach to make the customer experience meaningful so that customers are retained and a loyal customer base is created.
- Companies must design and manage customer engagement for which communication programmes must be designed so that interactions are alive to help build customer rapport.
- Customer delight leads to greater customer retention, builds a loyal customer base that leads to stronger brand reputation and equity.
- The company's effort should be to develop a human connection with customers based on honesty and openness that leads to creation of brand loyal communities of customers.
- An emotional bond must be built between the brand and its loyal customer.
- The user experience of a brand must make tangible the intangibles so that perceptions like quality goodness, usefulness, appropriateness, safety, reliability, credibility, etc. influence repeat purchase of the product and retains loyal customers.
- The company and its brands have to gain credibility by giving products that meet the evolving/latent demand of the increasingly knowledgeable customers.
- A company can gain credibility, customer's confidence and retain loyal customers by offering innovative products and consistently improving quality of after sales services. A loyal customer not only demands a product to meet her needs but also demands care by being provided quality services which brings competitive advantage.
- With the number of product options available, each having claim that are more or less similar, the customers will choose a product where she can depend on the company behind the product. Hence, credibility and reliability of the company offering the product becomes the deciding factor leading to long-term customer loyalty.
With more choices available and more informed customers, products and organizations must establish credibility by meeting the evolving demands of knowledgeable customers. Staying in close touch with customers allows organizations to anticipate changes in demand and pre-empt competitors with innovative products that meet those needs.
Hyundai and Maruti Suzuki have gained market and have loyal customer base as they offer a number of options to choose from and their after sales service is extensive, good and affordable. Mondelēz International that owns Cadbury Dairy Milk holds a market share that is nearly 2/3 of the Indian chocolate market because they have been offering product choices that meet the customer's evolving needs. At the same time, their product quality is consistently of high order; the company's credibility is high due to delightful use experience.
|
|
|
In her enlightening work, The Eight Laws of Customer-Focused Leadership, Blake Morgan makes a compelling case for the critical importance of customer experience (CX) in today's business landscape. She introduces CX not merely as a strategy but as "the best marketing tool money can't buy," emphasizing its role as a vital competitive advantage. To illustrate this point, Morgan draws on the tenacious journey of Mel Fisher, a relentless treasure hunter who devoted 16 years to finding the sunken Spanish galleon Nuestra Señora de Atocha. This narrative underscores the virtues of perseverance and vision—qualities that resonate deeply with the relentless pursuits of modern business leaders, exemplified by figures like Jeff Bezos.
Morgan skilfully transitions from Fisher's quest for treasure to the contemporary leader's pursuit of customer satisfaction. In a world where relationships, innovation, and loyalty directly translate into revenue, it becomes clear that cultivating a customer-centric culture is not just beneficial but essential. She highlights how effective leadership is linked to fostering trust and respect among employees, ultimately enriching the customer experience. This powerful connection between employee engagement and customer satisfaction recurs throughout the text, reinforcing the idea that great leaders inspire and empower their teams to deliver exceptional service.
In the chapter The Rise of the Customer-Focused Leader, Morgan argues that successful companies today thrive on genuine care for their customers, contrasting this approach with the indifference often depicted in corporate narratives like the television show The Office. Modern businesses that prioritize CX not only enhance their relevance but also lay the groundwork for long-term success. As she articulates, customer experience is not an isolated function; it permeates every aspect of an organization, from innovation to corporate ethics and culture.
Morgan highlights the technological revolution that began in the mid-2000s, marked by the rise of smartphones and social media. These developments have empowered customers like never before, altering the power dynamic between businesses and their clientele. Companies like Zappos and Amazon have emerged from this shift, treating customers like royalty and fostering emotional connections that turn products into aspirational symbols.
A significant insight Morgan offers is the interdependence of customer experience and employee experience. Leaders who embody customer-centric values set a powerful precedent, fostering an environment where employees feel valued and motivated to excel. She provides practical advice for leaders, advocating for accountability, humility, and a commitment to excellence. By nurturing a culture that prioritizes employee empowerment and well-being, organizations can create a positive cycle that enhances customer satisfaction and drives financial performance.
Throughout the book, Morgan identifies eight laws of customer-focused leadership, serving as a roadmap for leaders seeking to cultivate a customer-centric mind-set. These principles guide leaders from establishing a robust CX strategy to effectively measuring success, ensuring that customer experience remains central to all organizational decisions.
Morgan enriches her narrative with compelling case studies, such as the remarkable dedication of an ADT technician who prioritized customer safety over profit margins. This story exemplifies how accountability and a customer-centric mind-set can not only save lives but also build lasting customer loyalty. Additionally, she draws from data in a Global Leadership Forecast Series survey, revealing a concerning disconnect: while 76% of leaders prioritize customer experience, only 42% engage directly with customer-facing employees. This gap emphasizes the need for leaders to invest in their teams, as a motivated workforce directly correlates with enhanced customer interactions.
The book serves as a call for leaders to embrace continuous self-improvement and empathy. By adhering to the principles outlined in the book, leaders can cultivate an environment where both employees and customers thrive, leading to sustained organizational success. Morgan's insights are not merely theoretical; they are practical, actionable, and rooted in the realities of contemporary business.
Blake Morgan is a recognized customer experience futurist, author, and speaker who has significantly influenced the field of customer-centric leadership. Her book emphasizes that nurturing long-term customer relationships not only enhances loyalty but also drives sustainable sales growth, reinforcing the idea that a commitment to exceptional customer experience is essential for lasting business success. Leaders are urged to reflect on their engagement with employees and customers, gather authentic feedback, and focus on building relationships rather than merely achieving short-term metrics. By adopting a customer experience mind-set and implementing innovative strategies such as Experience Level Agreements, organizations can promote transparency and genuine connection, setting the stage for long-term success.
back to top ^
|
|
|
|
|