Clients enable you to pursue your business
Your clients make it possible for you to pursue your and your company's purpose, its mission. However, few companies do market research and fewer really know their clients or customers.
- Do you make a serious effort to place yourself in their shoes?
- Do you know exactly what they value and appreciate?
The client/customer simply has to be the departure point in developing your company's Marketing Plan.
Do you have a major marketing goal?
What is your marketing goal?
- Is it profitable revenue growth?
- Is it attracting new customers or a specific niche of high-value customers?
- Is it retaining customers?
- Is it creating engaged customers who are totally devoted to you?
- If you are a non-profit organisation, is it raising donations?
Marketing should be part and parcel of your strategic thinking. In fact, thinking about marketing has changed radically with the advent of multiple-option Web-based marketing tools. Your company is now able to locally and globally reach people who might be seeking what you are offering.
Social Media has become important. Which Web-based tools are used most by your current and potential clients/customers? What messages and brief stories would appeal to them about your offering? Be ready to personally start communicating with them, if you are not busy doing so. In fact, the media channels which you select and the users of these channels should heavily influence the type of company you need to be to meet the demands of those who find you.
Everything you do is marketing
Your strategic plan and your scorecard are linked to your marketing plan. You should focus on doing the right things before you attract and gain the support of clients. Ask yourself: "Am I so busy in doing what I like doing that I forget to ask my clients (who pay me) what it is exactly what they value and appreciate?"
Client Value Proposition (CVP)
Clients are essential to the growth of your business. Consequently, you need to set aside notions of pushing your products and services. Start by firstly taking note of the elements of a Client Value Proposition which assist you in focusing on your clients.
The next two paragraphs contain a brief explantion of the CVP elements.
Emotional motif
Observe the role of emotions in developing your messages. Lewis P. Carbone rightly advises the development of an Emotional Motif.
In essence, a company has to ensure that the client feels good about herself because of her interaction with you. This is a subtle concept. The client feels good about herself - not good about you. You could and should create clues on your website and in your marketing material based on what makes a client feel good about herself aimed at eliciting or strengthening such feelings. Create positive emotional experiences.
ABPLAN has integrated experience management and the emotional motif into its approach. The motif assists in ensuring that you measure all your outcomes in respect of your clients against three concepts. What will make your client feel good about herself in dealing with you and in buying your products or services?
I offer the development of a Customer-Engagement Strategy as emotionally engaged customers, that is, loyal customers, who will mourn the demise of your company, are worth their weight in gold.
Client Effort Score
Research among clients/customers revealed that they do not expect a service that "exceeds expectations". This is a firmly imbedded myth. What clients and customers want are honest products and solid services - delivered consistently.
Also clients do not wish to experience effort in getting the attention of your company. How easy are you and your company to do business with? How easy do you make it for your clients to get your attention, to address their needs or problems and to satisfy their needs with the least amount of effort by them? Do you satisfied them on first contact? Or do you oblige them to try again and again (through repeated emails, telephone calls and personal visits) to sell them the product or service that they want?
You might be in need of assistance in rethinking your approach to clients. You ability to lessen the clients' effort is an important factor in creating client loyalty.
Ask ABPLAN to assist...contact us.
Other aspects that clients value
The other rounded squares in the diagramme represent the following:
- The quality, price and reputation of your products, the choice which you offer and their functionality.
- Your service - which could be a competitive advantage or sink your business.
- Your availability and the availability of your products and services - at times which suit your clients. Tend to your client's enquiries in a smooth, hassle-free manner. Be responsive and respond fast with a concerned customised reply. Put your client's convenience first.
- A professional relationship - which should conceivably be knowledgeable, warm, concerned and helpful.
- Your company's brand - which stands for all the aforegoing items. As what do you wish to be known? What promises is your brand making? How does your client perceive you? Are you as a rule "on brand" with your products and services or ever so often "off brand"? How to your rectify matters professionally and smoothly when someone in your company was "off-brand" and provided a poor service? Do you have a clear policy?
Buyer personas
You need more than one Client Value Proposition. Determine the personas of your main clients. Visualize your various types of clients. Do you clearly see them as distinct personas with different needs? Write a paragraph about each persona. In each client category, think of a specific person whom you know and describe that person. This personalised approach is important. It will prevent you from writing a list of fuzzy generalities.
ABPLAN really wants to know who your clients and suppliers are and what they would value about your company. To figure this out we assist you in developing a number of Client Value Propositions and also Supplier Value Propositions. We use these as a basis for developing satisfaction questionnaires.
Satisfied vs. dissatisfied clients
A satisfied client is only a step removed from a dissatisfied client. We assist you in figuring out what creates an engaged client, meaning an emotionally-engaged client. As stated, such a client would mourn the demise of your company, if this were to happen.
Next go to new marketing for details about using Web-based marketing tools of the 21st century.
Should you be interested in creating valuable engaged clients/customers, please go to ... culture of emotional engagement.
Go to worth reading for more information about Robert Middleton's excellent manual; for information about Lewis Carbone's "Clued In - How to Keep Customers Coming Back Again and Again" and for details about Philip Kotler's concise "Ten Deadly Marketing Sins - Signs and Solutions".
Last modified: 20-11-2011