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