Romancing with your Customers A romance is a relationship between two people who are in love with each other but who are not married to each other. ... Romance refers to the actions and feelings of people who are in love, especially behaviour which is very caring or affectionate.
Who are the 2 people we are talking about here? a) Buyer b) Seller
All your customers first fall in love with you before buying your product or else they will not buy. The moment they decide to buy from you, they feel that you are their best option. Of course, they never promise to get married to you because they want to keep all their options open. Thank fully this is one love affair where society does not demand a marriage! This perfectly defines a romance which is a relationship between two people who are in love with each other but who are not married to each other.
What actions and feelings will build this Romance? If we recall, Romance refers to the actions and feelings of people who are in love, especially behaviour which is very caring or affectionate.
a) Enjoy Courtship period The Chalak Malak Leader does a mistake when they starts selling to a prospective customer during the courtship period wherein the prospective buyer has kept your brand in their consideration set. What should you do? Stop Selling. Start Marketing!
The proposal of marriage is not a desirable statement to make early on in a courtship. You sound too pushy, too needy, too much of taking the partner for granted. This is the time to impress. This is the time to establish your core values. This is the time to market your belief system. This is when you prove T.I.N.A. (There is no Alternative) to the customer.
b) Pleasantly surprise your customer with a gift once in a while
This is possible on their birthday , marriage anniversary and religious festivals. This is a no brainer , really, but most of my Chalak Malak Leader keep on thinking about it but do not do it due to one or the following problems They do not have the database of birthdays and anniversaries They have not budgeted for this and hence whenever they want to buy gifts they are not clear about the budget for the same They do not plan for it in the beginning of the month and most of the time they remember it when it is too late
c) Engage with your customers with a "No Conditions Apply" approach
It is good to have an agenda but it is not cool to make your agenda obvious to the customer. You can actually kill any romance by sharing a todo list of what you expect out of the meeting with your romantic partner. I felt romantic when my BMW dealer called me to inform that they wish to do a free check up of my car airconditioner so that I can enjoy the summer driving around the town in my BMW car! They killed this romance when they told my driver after finishing the AC check up that they car should immediately undergo an oil change which would cost Rs 10000/ Even if the car dealership made a genuine claim, it made me feel that my romance was not justified because they used the AC check up as an excuse to sell an oil change to me! The Chalak Malak Leader must understand that "No conditions apply" is the strongest slogan for breeding romance.
d) Date your customer's once in a while for no particular reason
It is normal for The Chalak Malak Leader to think about his customers only when he thinks of new business, new billing, new orders and new profits. For
romance to happen, call upon your customers as if you were on a date. Just have a cup of tea together and make the customer feel that you care. Let them know that you are not one of those who vanish after the sale is over. Impress upon your customer that you cherish the relationship and would go beyond the mandate of the transaction to keep the customer happy. Always overdeliver to your customer and you will have a fan in them.
e) Be the person where your customer can confide, confess and consult
One out of two lovers who romance each other is a leader who leads by knowledge, transparency, values and beliefs. Can we try to be this partner in our romance with the customer? What does my Chalak Malak leader have to do to be able to achieve this? 1. Always educated the customer on how best they can make use of your products or services 2. Proactively empower your customers on those aspects of your product which they are unable to make use of. 3. Consistently engage with your customers so that they do not fall in the trap of "out of sight , out of mind"!
f) Be available for your customer whenever they need you!
Partners feel cheated when the other half does not respond to calls, emails, virtual meetings. They feel further lost when they do not find you visible in their horizon of trouble shooting and problem solving. They can actually become mad if they realise that you are ignoring them. The Chalak Malak Leader does it so often to his customers and camouflage this misdeed by taking cover under the fact that they were busy or that they had other priorities etcetera. This is perfect recipe for a break up. Why do you want a break up? Even commerce does not make sense as the cost of servicing an existing customer is 90% less than cost of acquiring a new customer!
g) Love Demands. Lovers listen !
If you do not listen well to the demands ( in love, they never request!) of your lover, you may be left with an acquaintance. You just have to listen, to understand, to assimilate and then respond with the best course of action possible.
The Chalak Malak Leader must have his ear to the ground so that the processes at his end ensures that every customer feedback reaches them , be it complaint or congratulations message. Do not fall in to every demand of a customer, but for heaven's sake listen to every feedback , complaint, grievance or recommendations coming from customers if you sincerely wish to romance with them.
h) Reward Loyalty! Darling, I am very happy today. Let us go our for a quite candle light dinner! I am sure even by reading this statement above , some spark of romance kindles in your heart, isn't it? The Chalak Malak Leader is always so busy with acquiring new customers that he hardly has the focus to reward loyalty of old customers. They think that customers are loyal to them because they or their product is very good. Very soon they realise that some customers have left them because they had no valid reason to be loyal to them.
In a nutshell
Romance is a beautiful feeling which is crafted in the brain but delivered in the heart. For those who feel that it will happen on its own are bad entrepreneurs. It will happen by design. The Chalak Malak Leader must first understand the craft of creating Romance, master the science of delivering it and regale in the art of professing romance to each and every customer who matter to them in their business. It goes without saying that all customers are important but some are
surely more important. Love all your customers, romance with some, date with some but never by disloyal to anyone !