We have been spreading seeds of customer love all month long. Encouraging you to take time out to show your customers you care and you see them in living color. We hoped to persuade you to believe that your customer is everything. If this notion was already true for you, then our grandest desire was to have you stop and ponder the jewel of one of the most fervent questions asked. The great Janet Jackson said it best, "What have you done for me lately?"
The tune is catchy, yes. However, the chorus gave us something to reflect on deeply. What have you done for your customers lately?
To respond with our best, we believe we must first recognize what a customer is. If we dust off our Business 101 textbook and crack it open, we might find something that sounds like this: A customer is an individual or business that purchases another company's goods or services. They are the key to driving revenue, and without them, a business can not exist.
Now, this definition isn't wrong. It’s just telling part of the story. If we think of the audience we serve as buyers of our offerings and only such, the connection developed becomes very transactional. What stands between our organizations and our customers is very superficial. They give us money. We give them goods. Fingers crossed, they'll give us more money. In turn, we'll give them more goods.
Sounds exciting! Doesn't it?
This mindless exchange falls so very short in a competitive market. Maybe if we were a gas station, we could afford to be so short-sighted in how we perceive our customers. They drive up to the pump, pay, get gas, and drive away, complaining about the massive costs. The pump is left empty for the next random motorist in need of a full tank to do the very same thing.
Let's ask ourselves, "Is that the kind of exchange we want to model our customer interactions after?" Are we game for a drive-by customer relationship? If you want more than a one-and-done deal, reworking how you define your audience is required.
A customer is absolutely one who engages in the dance of exchange with your organization but to have a deep appreciation for them, you have to realize this engagement doesn't end here. The transaction is a tangible result of what is actually taking place beneath the surface. It's the flower that blooms only because the roots below ground are well-fed and cared for.
A customer recognizes a need in their life and begins to seek fulfillment of said need. A search commences, and the customer is off to the races of satisfaction. They look high. They examine low. They overturn mountains and rummage through valleys. One faithful day, they find you and decide that the search is finally over. The hunt has come to a gratifying end. Mission completed and need met.
You realize that in this search for fulfillment, your customer encountered choices. Options were presented to them, and they combed through each to determine which would fit their world best. There were several doors they could've walked through, and they knew what precisely they would get in choosing each. Despite the offerings of the other prospects, they saw your door and chose you.
This selection process applies to you, too, Mr. and Ms. Association. You have competition, whether you are aware of it or not. When your potential members must decide how to spend and invest their dollars and membership in your organization is included in a comparison chart stacking up against a second degree, private school tuition for the kids, or attending your annual conference only versus also becoming a member, you're competing.
For you, it's an exchange. For your customer, it is fulfillment. Your organization means more to them than a transaction. Selecting you means a gap has been closed, an issue has been solved, a question has been answered, and a hope has been found. Appreciation is automatic when you view conducting business from your customer's perspective. Out of all the organizations in all the world, they chose you to fill the void. You were enough!
So then, what are you going to do about it? How will you continue to be everything your customer could have ever dreamed of?
Contact THuS Marketing to learn more about developing an audience relationship based on value and keep them returning for more.
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