Be the customer's mirror to build long-lasting loyalty

Rightly so! Customers are always placed at the center of all the fun frenzy irrespective of the business type. Each unit on the provider side works tirelessly with a unified vision of catering the best experience to the customers. Although all of this is much required but still it’s conservative by nature, on the pro-active front it’s crucial to be the candid mirror to customer with the noble intention of keeping/making things right. Though it may be perceived as bold/blatant at times but a provider’s intention to point out and assist customer with course correction is always a welcome move. It establishes strong grounds for a caring and long lasting relationship between both the parties.

When this is explored in further deeper sense then it becomes evident that it’s a combination of actions/events which would build a strong relationship with the customer. Let’s look at some of the prime ones:

Move from formal to in-formal zone quickly:

Every business relation would start in a formal format, but it’s crucial for the provider to leap faster towards the consumer’s in-formal zone and build the rapport. This should be inculcated in the organization cultures very strongly, so that every employee is putting in equal emphasis on this. The essence of this movement is achieved when the customer starts feeling so comfortable that they become candid about sharing smallest of their problems and look forward to the provider for solving the same.

Build a reputation of reliability:

Each organization has areas of core strengths and it advocates the same extensively to the customers. The testimony of this however should come from the customer’s feedback, as they are the end beneficiaries of the product/service provided. Thus, the provider has to keep a strong focus on building the reputation of reliability, which will in-turn assure customer loyalty.

Study the customers domain and propose best practices:

Immaterial of the fact that whether a customer is having good knowledge on their domain (which they should have), the provider should be abreast about the customers domain. This would make the customer look at the provider as a partner instead of a vendor. Also, dedicated effort should be taken to keep studying the industry level best practices trends for the respective domain and back-filling the customer with the same.

Keep pushing the boundaries:

Challenging the status quo is a sign of growth hunger, which is appreciated by customers. Everyone wants to be associated with a provider who is innovating constantly and looking for more effective/efficient ways of doing things.

Each customer is different:

One size doesn’t fit all !

Similarly same ideas/methods/models don’t fit all the customers. Every customer has a different story, pain areas and problem statements which in-turn demands different treatment for all. How much ever involving or tiresome the journey be of understanding each customer, its always worth travelling that extra mile because this is the differentiation which will chisel the way for an everlasting relationship.