The key to creating loyal customers is simply listening. If you listen long enough and hard enough, the customer will tell you exactly what it’s going to take to maintain his or her loyalty. All you need to do then is act on this information and you are home free. As simple as this sounds, most of us don’t listen to our customers very well. We tend to be preoccupied with our own problems and needs rather than those of our customers. On the other hand, if you can discipline yourself to take the time to actively listen to what your customers have to say, the results are phenomenal!
For example, I was reading about a sales executive who was reflecting on his first sales job. He said, “I spent forever getting to know a small handful of customers really well and it paid off handsomely. In no time at all, I came in at 195 percent of quota, tops in my division. The vice president of sales at corporate called me and said, ‘Great job, but I noticed that you averaged only 1.2 sales calls a day. Company average is 4.6. Just think of what you could sell if you could get your average up to par!’” He went on to say, “you can guess my response after I came down off the ceiling; I told him, ‘Just think what the rest could sell if they could get their average down to 1.2.’”
The reason this salesperson was so successful was that he was taking the time to listen to his customers and then using this information to make sure his product or service was tailored to satisfy each customer’s current needs. He was able to work smarter instead of harder, which paid off handsomely for him. As Tom Peters said during a speech several years ago, “If you listen to what your customers have to say and then do something about it, the bottom line is, you’ll get filthy rich!”
- 100% Employee Engagement Guaranteed! Newly Revised [Kindle & Paperback Editions]
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Imagine a workplace where every employee is engaged with their work … where every employee shows up each day excited about giving every bit of energy, creativity and passion to performing their job. These employees don’t need to be motivated because they already are and they channel their motivation toward creating a competitive edge for their company that can’t be easily copied. They’re constantly making innovative changes to products, services and customer experiences while providing superior levels of customer service which results in loyal customers. This means higher levels of repeat and referral business which, in turn, translates into significant increases in market share. In addition, absenteeism and turnover rates for these fully engaged employees are far below industry averages because they absolutely love what they do. This book presents a new management model that guarantees an employee engagement level of 100%. If you implement this model in your organization, every one of your employees will become engaged with their work; all working at their full potential. Think of what it would mean to the success of your business or organization if you could get all of your employees engaged with their work.