What Are You Willing to Do For A Customer?

I’ve been lucky enough to work for businesses with tremendous brand loyalty. And lately, I've been thinking about this a lot: why we were successful, and how easy it is to miss the mark.

In the last week alone, I had three very different customer experiences:

• While switching credit card plans, the phone agent failed to remind me to transfer my reward points from the old account to the new one. Turns out, the points I accumulated over the years would have disappeared in 30 days. How would I have felt if I lost all of those points!  Result: Unhappy Customer.
• Before a service call to winterize my sprinkler system, the company I've been with for over 20 years called me (twice!) to remind me to pay the bill before they came. PS -- I’ve always paid timely. And, in all that time, they’ve never called me to see if things were working well.  Result: Annoyed Customer
• While ordering new business cards, the online printing company’s service was great. Delivery occurred later than promised, but getting a shipping refund was easy. On both calls, the helpful and hassle-free experience exceeded my expectations.  Result: Happy Customer.

How many times are you 'wow-ed' in your interactions as a consumer? How often are you frustrated? Which experiences do you tell your friends about?

This may be a surprising topic for an old sourcing guy -- but my point today is that no matter what role we have in a company, creating loyal customers should be at the heart of what we do.  

How to Create 'Customers For Life' (Even When You’re in Sourcing)

It may not be in your job description, but every function -- from finance to sourcing -- can have an impact.

Here are some ideas we can all put into action:

The Website: Every executive should take the company website for a test drive. Is product easy to find, and in stock? Does the online shopping process make sense? Last time I did this, I found some real issues with our site's search engine. You may be surprised to discover what may be frustrating your customers.

Product Reviews: Are you aware of what's being said about your product online? Have a multi-functional lunch to review recent reviews and customer letters, with QA, product management, sourcing, design, etc. My favorite: reaching out to dissatisfied customers to learn about issues, and then nipping problems in the bud way down the supply chain.

Customer Service: Do customer service policies make sense, and do remedies exceed expectations ... or will customers walk away unhappy? Look at things through your customer's eyes. Next time you look at the cost of your service policies, remember: keeping customers happy is ultimately cheaper (and more effective!) than advertising.

The Supply Chain: On your next factory visit, pay attention to the details. What you see and fix on the spot can do more for brand reputation than any third-party audit or written quality standard. And when it comes to delivery -- product fulfillment is an expectation, a backorder leaves a consumer disappointed. When you're on the front line, you can make a big difference.

Random 'Experiences': In today’s social media culture, both positive and negative experiences are amplified. Just google “remarkable customer service stories’, and read about employees who go the extra mile to support the customer. Next time you have the chance, hand your business card to a customer who could use it. You never know ...

What Separates Great Brands From Wannabes?

Your customer always shows you the road to success.

That may sound surprising from a guy whose main job was to make and deliver product, and keep margins healthy. But in my experience, we can only drive growth if we keep customers happy, and avoid the costs of a poor brand experience.

To me, this is just common sense. So, why do so many companies miss the mark?