Building Customer Loyalty by Caring

I was recently asked a question about customer reviews from a personal services business. I enjoyed answering the question because it was an interesting application of b2b consulting retention strategies for building customer loyalty. This is probably a much longer answer than he expected but I appreciate his question as a great opportunity to apply some business to business account retention solutions to a personal service business.

The specific question was: as a fitness training expert, when is a good time to survey my clients? What follows is my response.

I'm sure when you start working with a client, you had a good understanding of their needs. However, their goals can change and they may not recognize that’s important for you to know. Something may have evolved in their routine at home, work or family that impacts their goals.

There isn’t necessarily a fixed recurring time to survey your clients but annually would be a minimum. It’s a good idea to re-assess the need to survey more often.

You’re accomplishing one important activity already - asking whether this is the time to review your customer satisfaction, loyalty and needs. There continues to be enough change and uncertainty that you might even want to make a decision monthly. You can also consider a plan that would have you reviewing individual customers formally perhaps, one month after they start your first session, and three months later.

It seems to me that this is the time of year when your clients review personal New Year’s resolutions much like companies review their retention plans. So I'd say this is one of the best times for you to get a reading on your customer loyalty and retention.

For this loyalty survey or interview to work, the client has to believe you care when you ask the questions. Note everything you already know about the client. At the same time you learn from your client, you will find opportunities to demonstrate interest in them and build integrity by enabling their goals. So asking clients what they need and delivering it is not only good research, it also builds loyalty.

There are different ways to get this feedback from customers. It could be an online survey. It could be a questionnaire or a meeting. Ask five or six questions that get to the heart of the matter and give you actionable information. It's also good to include open-ended questions to discover what your client wants you to know. Have an informal conversation with them and include the prepared questions. Follow up with other questions if you want additional details and insights.

A key to B2B account management is to understand your customer’s customer - because THAT is what drives THEIR values.

Even though your client is not a business, your client has ‘customers’ too.
- the spouse who wants your client to get their shape back
-the doctor who told them they need to lose weight
-the boss who wants to see more energy
-the children who want a more active parent
These insights just demonstrate the value of interviewing customers to make sure they're more than just satisfied and if not – what it will take to get them there.

I describe this kind of survey interview as a ‘discovery discussion’. You’ll be surprised by what you learn and the loyalty it can generate.

Brian Shepherd
415-516-8433
San Francisco
brian@accountcaffeine.com
https://www.accountcaffeine.com/
http://www.linkedin.com/in/briansshepherd

BUILDING B2B CUSTOMER LOYALTY:Make sure the squeaky-wheel accounts don’t get all the oil

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal generated discussion about low value B2B accounts harming the retention of loyal, high-value accounts. Account value is as you define it for your business -- as long as update the definition of your ideal account and apply retention strategies accordingly. When you revise the ‘ideal’ criteria, moving this information throughout the organization among all the functions that touch these accounts, is very important.


Less Than Ideal Accounts
One emerging characteristic that can be a key differentiator is slower payment speed – as the B2B account ties to improve its own cash and assets. If these same accounts are also demanding more product exceptions, service enhancements and order changes, they may no longer be your “ideal” customer.

Unintended Consequences
Many companies are running very lean; handling these exceptions and disputes can disrupt customer service and cause dissatisfaction for the ideal, loyal customers. Deteriorating service to ideal accounts can take the form of delayed response, inattention to detail, poor follow-up and outright errors. All of which can convert your loyal and ideal accounts into vulnerable revenue sources - the worst unintended consequence.

Remedial Homework
I’m not suggesting that troublesome accounts should be ignored, neglected or “fired”. However, it's crucial that while you are trying to transition them back into ideal accounts, the effort is not at the expense of ideal accounts.

So the definition of an ideal account must be current. Sales, service, operations, billing, product development and senior management need to apply it consistently.

And... make sure the squeaky wheels don’t get all the oil!

You can view the Wall Street Journal article here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704328104574520112839377366.html?mod=article-outset-box

Brian Shepherd


Accountcaffeine.com

Shepherd Consulting LLC

415-516-8433

http://www.linkedin.com/in/briansshepherd

brian@accountcaffeine.com

Background: Executive experience managing revenue and key accounts for divisons of large enterprises, midsize and small companies




Efficient problem definition and solution for my clients is due to my broad experience in financial, insurance, mortgage and other service businesses. My adaptation and versatility are the product of varied business cultures, economic cycles, reorganizations, mergers & acquisitions (M&A) leadership changes, startups, downsizing and accelerated growth.



Goal: Leverage my experience and knowledge to enable the success of executives, managers and companies

How do you 'Feel' about measuring Loyalty

I worked with a company that once had a major account about which all reports from the field were highly encouraging . The relationship was strong - so strong no one even monitored the volume on a weekly basis. Just before a board meeting, the general manager reviewed the top account numbers an d saw a precipitous drop in new applications from this account. There wasn't time to ask the VP to ask the Regional Manager to ask the account manager so she made the direct call to her account representative. He was shocked.

It was too late in the day for him to reach the 'loyal' account. But he did give me a run down of how friendly his contacts were during the last sales call. They raised no issues and enjoyed the tchotchkes and he rarely checked the numbers because he felt welcomed and well liked in his sales calls there.

Turns out they genuinely liked him - liked him too much to hurt his feelings by telling him their VP decided to split the account with a competitor.

Instincts, sensitivity, reading people, building relationships are important account management skills but there has to be a reality check and it should be a measurable one.

Obviously, tracking your volume is a blatantly obvious, basic reality check but so is service reliability, delivery on customer promises both external and internal , sales pipeline conversions and feedback from defecting accounts are a reality check on how you 'feel' about interactions with your business to business accounts.

Try it. Measure something in your customer interaction s you think is important and obviously true. How true is it? Or if you measured something recently, how useful was it. What did you do differently afterwards?

I'd appreciate knowing what you learned.
PS If you want to see some approaches and examples of process and results measurement, I can recommend sources.
Brian Shepherd
Principal Consultant
Shepherd Consulting LLC
brian@accountcaffeine.com
http://www.accountcaffeine.com/
www.Linkedin.com/in/briansshepherd
415-516-8433
San Francisco