Personalization - Individualized Customer Service
Todays small businesses are finding new ways to interact with their customers. These interactions can be as simple as providing an interesting bit of how-to knowledge or as complex as developing a way of rapidly identifying a returning customer. The first challenge is to personalize the interaction with each customer. Personalization is the ability to customize the way each staff member does business in accordance with a customers wishes or needs. This can be as simple as recognizing a returning visitor or presenting unique information based on a quick evaluation of what may be of interest to the visitor. The goal with personalization is to make the customer feel special: in essence, they are made to feel like they are a customer of one. When the visitor feels that a business cares about them at the individual level, they have a tendency to do three things. One, they remember that experience and return. Two, they purchase your products more often and generally at a quantity higher then they normally would have purchased. And three, they will tell their friends about the great service they received at your business.
There are four things your staff must do to personalize their customer service. One is to recognize visitors to your business. Recognition is the ability to identify a visitor and qualify their wants and needs. This is a real skill and requires practice, but the act of greeting customers and asking simple questions is all it takes in most cases. Most visitors come to your business already knowing what they want and your staff just needs to learn that desire.
The next step is the ability to remember a customer. This is a real challenge in some businesses, but in others there are devices that can be used to recall your customers. For example, in a restaurant when customers call for reservations, having an on-line customer list can provide a lot of information such as their last visit, the name of their server or any special requests they may have had, such as a special table or wine. Taking such information and printing it out so that the hostess can greet them in some personal way or their server can be armed with the knowledge of their last visit can be exactly the personalized service needed.
The following step fits nicely with remembering a customer. It is to restructure the services by building on what is already known about a customer. Restructuring is the ability to focus an array of products and services in unique ways that will relate directly to the customer in a personal way. For instance, if your staff knew that this customer purchased a bottle of wine during their last dinner, then a visit by the manager or sommelier (wine expert) is in order. They should be prepared to offer a new wine listing or even offer a small tasting of a recommend wine. This personalized service goes a long way towards up-selling your products and obtaining additional information on your customers wants and needs.
The last step is to sustain the customers information. Sustainment is the ability to maintain customer data that is quick and easy. Entering customer data is generally best performed at the time of order or purchase. Once a customer is on the list, only new related information is required. For example, knowing a customers anniversary date or birthday could generate a short note next year inviting they to return and offering them a complementary glass of wine to help celebrate their special event. A great idea used at a small caf in the wine county is to have the server place a small note of thanks on the table. Below is a space for the customer to comment on the service, food and cleanliness. It also asks the customer to provide an email address. Few customers have any problem providing such information. This is followed up by a quick email the next day thanking them for taking the time to provide feedback; to congratulate the customer on any special event they may have been celebrating; and an opportunity to invite them back in the near future.
The objective to personalizing your customer service is to find ways to personally connect with each customer in some appropriate and special way. Your business goal is to turn every visitor into a customer and every returning customer into a long term loyal customer.
For more information on personalizing your customer service or other related subjects visit http://www.cawinesavvy.com/
Dennis Banowetz, Ph.D. is an organizational development consultant with CA Wine Savvy Associates. Dr. Banowetz is also an adjunct faculty member at California State University, Sacramento, the University of La Verne and the University of Pheonix. His passion is to work with small businesses to help them become even more successful though Oragnizational Development. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dennis_Banowetz,_Ph.D. | |
