Business owners should be loyal to customers instead of describing customers as fickle or disloyal.
Loyalty requires a commitment. Business commitments require policies, plans & procedures. In my articles, I emphasize various practices to include in policies, plans & procedures.
You can use my suggestions to express your commitment to superior customer service.
Make your commitment the foundation of your brand. Your brand is an impression you make in people’s lives. If you don’t make an impression, you’ll be forgotten. Each impression is a positive difference you make in people’s lives.
You can make superior offers by learning about the maximum & minimum experiences people want.
Determine which experiences you can consistently produce to match people’s expectations, so you can choose products, services & information. Describe how your commitment assures valuable experiences & long-term results.
Superior offers can overcome competitors who want quick profits & don’t commit to long-term results.
Though people look for low prices, satisfaction from cheap products doesn’t last long. You can explain how your offers provide long-term value.
Each offer should include your commitment to guide customers in choosing & using products for ideal experiences.
Customer Intimate retailers show their commitments to customers with high service levels. Many retailers have shallow commitments of just selling products without any concerns about customers' results.
Quality of customers’ experiences is affected by products & information you recommend.
People often invest in high quality when they give gifts. Urge customers to care that much when they buy for themselves. Example: ‘When you give gifts, you care enough to give the best. You deserve to give yourself the best. We’re committed to ask you questions & use our knowledge, so you experience the best quality.’
With that commitment, you can make superior offers & attract people who recognize the value of full-service retail.
Explain How To Get Full Benefits
Though it’s obvious about people buying benefits, people don’t always know what’s required to get full benefits from products.
Even when desires are strong, people might resist if they’re unsure about expenses or if they don’t have enough information.
Your information packets can answer questions. Examples: Describe incompatible factors (house plants & pets); how much time & money is required; which skills & tools are necessary for tasks.
Without advice, people might not know if they can afford to start projects.
Explain what people need to start projects & maintain results. After people buy products, it’s too late to determine they aren’t ready for a commitment.
You can offer expertise to help people prepare. Example: ‘Big retailers are committed to selling products. We’re committed to you & your results, so we offer information with products.’
Information can include frequently asked questions & ways to avoid common mistakes. Assure people even if they start to make uncommon mistakes, they should ask for help. You can explain how to discern differences between changes in conditions & mistakes, so people make the right adjustments.
Explain what’s necessary or optional. When things change, you can explain if optional tasks have become necessary.
Differentiate Yourself by Caring
Customer Intimacy implies concern about customers’ priorities. You need to know what's important since priorities affect how people perceive problems & choose solutions & stores.
You can differentiate yourself from indifferent retailers that only care about profits.
Differentiate yourself by caring enough to guide customers to choose & use products for superior results. Example: ‘We know about life in (city), so we stock products to help you protect your home. We’ll help you choose products or even plan projects to prepare your home for summer storms.’
Your advertising should show you understand consumers’ conditions & how products & services fulfill needs. Example: ‘As humidity increases, you’ll notice symptoms like __. (Product) reduces humidity instead of just fighting symptoms. Since (product) stops the problem & ends symptoms, you’ll be more comfortable & healthy.’
Product effectiveness is judged based on satisfying expectations. Some people need help to make products fully effective, so you should know how to make products effective in local conditions.
People might prioritize low prices because they think any product in a category is good enough. Cheap products might partially fulfill expectations.
You can differentiate your store by consulting with customers to find fully effective products & methods. Compare how product quality & other details affect results.
Since people don’t have specialized product knowledge, connect product benefits with people's needs. Example: ‘As soon as you notice __, apply (product) then relax because (product) will dissolve __. (Product) does the scrubbing for you.’
Though your ads should emphasize product facts & superior results more than prices, include prices so people will be prepared to pay when they visit your store.
People will invest to get long-term satisfaction from superior product quality & customer service. Your offers should describe the quality they need & justify the value of your prices.
Here’s a good policy: It’s better to explain the value of high quality instead of apologizing for frustrating people with bad results.
Trust Is A Major Criterion.
It’s hard for people to trust when some businesses try to sell anything for quick profits.
Build trust by caring enough to guide people about product advantages & disadvantages. Show concern by recommending products based on people’s conditions. People want specific benefits, so explain how products produce benefits & if anything would interfere with those benefits.
Big retailers have been faulted for stocking inadequate or hazardous products. Example: Even if chemicals solve short-term problems, people are concerned about long-term negative effects.
In some cases, you should explain why you reject products.
Being Comfortable With Products Is Another Benefit.
If people are overwhelmed by options, summarize positive & negative details, then ask about people's comfort levels. After eliminating what’s uncomfortable, explore what makes some options comfortable. You can offer: ‘We’ll help you find products & methods to fit your conditions & concerns.’
Advise people based on their reasons for comfort & discomfort. People might buy if they think they don't have other options. If people buy despite discomfort, they might use too little to get any benefits & still get negative effects.
You can get a basic understanding of people’s concerns from advice blogs, product reviews & consumers' ratings on the internet. With a basic understanding, you can ask customers deeper questions about concerns & situational problems, so you can recommend products & methods. Example: If they need to reduce mold, help them identify the mold & use the best product.
Specialize In Customers’ Priorities & Expectations
People need details about causes & effects to prevent & solve problems.
Though big retailers have processes for selling many product categories, customers also need methods for using products. You can develop processes for selling product & information combinations for implementing tasks & projects.
You can build your expertise by focusing your inventory on specific needs & demonstrating how products fulfill needs.
One way big retailers attract customers is offering products for many aspects of people’s lives. Small retailers can focus on specific priorities.
It’s important to realize people's priorities & desires are connected & can be conflicting. Example: People value animals & gardens. Some products can protect vegetable plants without harming wild life & pets.
People’s personal logic can make experiences negative because their desires are conflicting. Your offers could make negative experiences easier to tolerate, so people can maximize what they enjoy.
Example: People have bird feeders to attract birds. Squirrels also like seeds & sometimes break feeders. Products can keep squirrels away without harming them.
Encourage Consumers to Expect Better
Ask manufacturers for competitive comparisons.
Discount stores can offer limited results from cheap products, but some consumers have higher expectations. Encourage consumers to check ratings web sites. People should be warned about cheap products breaking or wearing out quickly.
People might expect too much from good products, so you need product knowledge to help people achieve goals. Offer advice to guide customers’ expectations. Example: ‘Since I want customers to get what they need without expecting too much, I ask about plans. Let’s compare results you need with product capabilities, so you’ll be safe & won’t be disappointed.’
To compete with discount stores, fulfill higher expectations by recommending other products &/or methods people need.
You can help some people overcome disabilities by boosting their abilities. As people age, they want to do the same activities. Help people adapt to changing external conditions & personal needs by working around limitations even if people do similar things more slowly &/or less often.
Thank you for using my blog. Please let me know if I should clarify anything.
Copyright 2019 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
When you compete against big businesses with big budgets you need powerful marketing strategies & tactics. You'll find them here- https://thriving-small-businesses.blogspot.com/
