If you are not thinking about customers, you are not thinking. (Ted Levitt)
(Click on any of the choices above for more information)
For most businesses, the only source of income is your customers. Yes, you may have some investments that worked out well, but…
The government will never send you money
The banks will never give you money
And your competitors are never, ever going to send you money.
The return on marketing funds invested with existing clients is a factor of 13 to 15 times greater than the cost of acquiring new clients – Ted Levitt, Harvard Business School
70% of customers switch to the competition due to service quality issues -Forum Corporation 09/08
A 5% reduction in customers defections leads to up to 85% boost in profit - HBR 9/04
95% of unhappy customers will buy again if their problem will be handled satisfactorily and quickly - eSatisfy 01/09
Loyal customers are more profitable due to referrals and repeat business - HBR 9/07
The cost of lost customers is $339bn in 16 of the world’s industrialised countries. 69% of defectors in the past year left because of poor service - DataMonitor
The cost of advertising has almost doubled – with less “views” in all media. And there are so many more media that it’s impossible to reach your target audience with just one partner
In any event, your message will not stick out above all the clutter, and your customers and prospects don’t believe the messages anyway. (Only 18% of people believe adverts are true -AdWeek, Dec 2009)
Word of mouth trumps advertising – always. One entertaining viral video can be watched by millions on the web
But, most company executives believe that their businesses do a good job of managing customers, but only 6% of their customers agree. In fact, in Accenture’s Delivering on the Promise study, 75% of executives viewed their customer service as above-average, while 59% of their customers reported their experience with these companies’ service as somewhat to extremely dissatisfying.And about 65% of all CRM investments fail to achieve their objectives. In this world of marketing turmoil…
Your customers think differently now
Your customers care about different things now
Your customers act differently now
Your customers may actually be different people now
Customers aren't disposable anymore; more than ever, you have to create sustainable customer relationships
Your non-customers may be very open to joining your business now
Everything is different now!
Thus, in an age where brutal competition for customers is rife, and threatening the spirit and innovation of business, customer management and customer loyalty are the new weapons needed to create a great company. After 21 years of helping clients meet the challenges in a competitive world, it’s clear to us that shallow promises simply don’t cut it. Substance does.
When a customer can feel a brand’s purpose and belief, emotional connection is possible. And when the belief is there for all to see, people seek to be part of it. They want to belong. As such, a customer care strategy that captures the character and personality of a business, and that is consistent with the company’s belief creates far greater customer loyalty and passion.
Indeed, the most powerful opportunity for business is to connect a commonly understood sense of purpose and meaning to all touch points and all experiences that customers have: the people, the premises, the processes, the policies, the exchanges, the connections, and every single dealing with the brand. That’s what Delight Your Customers is all about: creating stronger, more profitable companies by aligning meaningful customer experiences with your marketing.
How can you become indispensable to your customers? By giving them irresistible experiences. And in that process making your competitors irrelevant.
You need to be able to articulate what your business stands for, ensure that people want to be part of it, have every employee demonstrate delighting behaviours, and have your brand consistently discovered and enjoyed at every touch point. That’s what an effective customer value proposition does for you.
These themes make up our trademarked methodology which defines customer-centric positioning, creates brand essence and forms the communications platform on which all executions are built.
