Exceptional Service - The Cornerstone of a Successful Business

Marketing is so much more than just advertising.  I’m going to say this until every small business owner gets that through their heads!

Marketing ≠ Advertising

Marketing is a complete set of activities working together to create a positive, memorable brand image of your company.  And one of the most important parts of that is the level of customer service that the customer perceives your company provides.  It’s not just about what level of service you actually provide; it’s about what the customer perceives to be great service.

Having worked in retail management for so long, I am probably now the pickiest customer out there.  I worked hard to create amazing teams of staff members who delivered exceptional service and went above and beyond for each and every customer.  So now, when I go into a store I automatically take note of everything going on in the store.  I pay attention to the cleanliness of the store, the visual layout, the friendliness and professionalism of the staff, and how knowledgeable and customer-oriented the staff are.

These are just a few of the things managers and business owners need to be keenly aware of.  Yes, I’m the picky customer so I notice stuff that maybe other customers wouldn’t be looking for.  But why not strive to impress even the pickiest of customers.  Even the customers who might not have paid attention to the small details will be very happy with what they perceive as “exceptional” service.  After all, who doesn’t want to feel special?

We’ve all had some bad customer service experiences in our lives and they remain stuck in our memory forever.  But fabulous, amazing customer service experiences also stand out in our mind.  One experience stands out in my mind so clearly… and it happened over 9 years ago!  My husband and I had taken our 2 boys to Ottawa to visit my brother and some friends of ours.  We decided to take the boys (who were 2 and 7 at the time) to Moxie's Restaurant for dinner.  The waitress we had that night was absolutely phenomenal.  She did everything possible to make sure our kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves, which of course made the meal that much more enjoyable for my husband and I.  Now, every time I see a Moxie’s Restaurant, I associate the place with happy thoughts and fully recommend the place to all of my friends and family.

That’s what you want your customers to do.

Take an honest look at your own business.  When you take out the bias you have towards your own way of doing things and really look at things from a customer’s perspective, you may not like what you see.  So, don’t scrimp on your training budget when it comes to fully training your staff on exceptional customer service.  Remember that that memorable  image will remain in your customers’ minds for a very long time.

4 Tips on Creating a Personal Brand

Note:  This blog post is an excerpt of a speech I presented on March 7, 2013 at a Women in Business Event hosted by the Timmins Chamber of Commerce.

 

When you’re at a networking event, you are marketing yourself and your company, whether you own the company or you work for it.  Essentially what you’re doing is creating a brand for yourself and you are an extension of your company brand.  Today I want to give you a quick overview of what it takes to create a memorable brand.
 

People ask me all the time, “How do I get my name out there without coming across like a pushy know-it-all?”  Developing a memorable brand takes time, but first impressions go a long way in establishing your business as credible in the eyes of consumers and in the eyes of other businesses.  Not only do you want to gain the attention of your customers, but you want to establish a good rapport with other business owners, managers and community leaders.  Here are a few tips that will help you create your own personal brand.

1.        First, be unique.   The whole idea behind branding is that you distinguish yourself in a crowded marketplace. If you try and be everything to everyone, you will be nothing to no one. Your brand has to be unique to your business, and different than other things out there. And it must also be something at which you are great.  Stepping outside the box is essential.  What do you offer that your competitors don’t?  Why do customers want to come to you?  If your only differentiating factor is price, you need to take a closer look at your offerings.  What customers really want to know is how you can solve their problem.  Providing them with a unique experience is what will set you apart.  Remember we’re trying to create a positive memorable impression.

2.        Focus on benefits.  When you go shopping for something you aren’t really buying that tangible item.  What you’re buying is the benefits you’ll get from using that product or service.  Let’s relate that to your personal brand.  When you first introduce yourself to someone, what do you say about your company?  What do you say about yourself?   Think about this for a minute.  Could you clearly and completely tell someone about you and your company in less than 25 words?  We’ve all had this same conversation with someone.  You’ve just met someone new and they ask, “So, what do you do?”    Well, since people love to talk about themselves, you might find yourself answering by saying, “I am the owner of manufacturing company called ABC Manufacturing.  We make and sell widgets to the mining industry, the forestry industry and many other industrial companies.  We have clients all over the country who just love our widgets.”  By the time, you got to “we make and sell widgets...” the other guy has tuned you out.  All he wanted to know was what you have to offer. So think about developing what’s called an elevator pitch.  Focus on the benefits to other person in 25 words or less.

3.       Consistency is the one thing I stress the most when it comes to marketing.  In the consumer’s mind, advertising messages from different media and different promotional approaches all become part of a single message about the company.  Building a brand requires a lot of work and consistency in every single way you communicate to the public.  I want to reinforce this one more time.  The brand that you develop for your company is the unique vision that the public has of you. The way you communicate with your customers is absolutely vital in developing that positive impression.  Take a second to think about all of the levels of communication you distribute throughout the day.  You post on your business Facebook wall, you send out emails to current clients and to prospects, you send out email newsletters.  Have you ever given much thought as to how your communication sounds and looks?  Make sure that your emails reflect a positive, professional image of your company and are not filled with spelling and grammatical errors.  Anyone in your company who is going to interact with customers—from the receptionist through to the collections department—has to understand the importance of creating a positive interaction with the customer.  All I’m saying here is that you need to keep in mind the image that you are trying to project.  Potential customers may get the impression that either you don’t know how to spell or that you’re too lazy to take the time to correct it.  What kind of impression do you want to make?

4.       A quality brand must also deliver on its promise.   Your brand must be based in reality. What I mean is that it must be linked to the culture, style, product and service of your business and that extends to you as well. Your brand has to be, well, organic. There must be integrity in your brand and what you promise must be a close approximation of what you deliver. 

Finally, remember that your brand is an integrated effort.   A quality brand is reinforced by everything you do; where your business is located, your prices, your customer service, as well as your advertising and promotional activities.  So remember that you are an extension of your company brand.  Remember to be unique, focus on your benefits, stay consistent and deliver on what you promise.  When you use these tips you’ll be sure that you are on the right track to creating that positive memorable brand experience. 

Creating a Positive Company Image During the Holidays

The holiday season is upon us in full force.  Santa is at the shopping malls and in parades all across the country and people are lining up outside stores to get the best deals on gifts.  But lately over the past several years, I’ve noticed a difference in how people approach the holiday season.  Have people gotten more lazy, less thoughtful, less considerate,  andless respectful over the years?  Or am I just getting old and expect some good old-fashioned manners?

Maybe when I was younger I just didn’t notice, but it seems that people are now a lot less thoughtful.  I realize we’re all busy, trying to do too much to make Christmas a wonderful experience for everyone we love.  But imagine that every time you step out your front door that you are a representative of your company.  No matter what position you hold in that company, whether you are the CEO or the stock boy, you represent that company every time you talk to someone.  You may not be talking business, but the image you project will be remembered by the people you spoke to.

 

Marketing is about creating a positive image in the minds of your customers.  And there are lots of marketing communications tools to do that with.  But have you ever given much thought as to how your personal image reflects on your business?

Remember that no matter who you’re talking to, that person could someday be a potential client or may refer you to a friend who could give you your next big break.  I know we’re all busy, but this season when you’re out running around, take the time to say please and thank you to the sales associates helping you, be considerate of the other shoppers, help someone just because.  These are not only good business practices but they are things that should be in everyone’s daily repertoire anyway.  

So, like I was saying it’s a busy time of year.  People are rushed and tired and sometimes in a grumpy mood and we’ve all seen people at the grocery store in their pyjama bottoms.  Think about this before you leave the house… you never know who you’re going to meet throughout the day.  I doubt you’d want your first meeting with a potential client to happen in your jammies!  I'm not saying you need to go shopping in a business suit, but getting dressed is a good first step.  And, remember that Santa’s watching… so you might want to make sure you’re on the “nice” list and not on the “naughty” list!

How to Leverage Customer Service to Avoid Negative Business Reviews

Later this week I will be attending a luncheon hosted by our local Chamber of Commerce.  The guest speaker is my personal friend and social media celebrity Dave Carroll.  Dave’s a musician who has used his talents to raise awareness of customer service in this country.  For anyone who hasn’t heard of him, you can visit his website at www.davecarrollmusic.com for the full story.

So since we’re only 3 weeks away from Christmas I thought this would be a fitting time to talk about the most important thing to a business… customers!  One of the most important parts of the marketing plan is your personal selling activities.  The customer experience is what people talk about when they talk about your business.  Do you want people giving rave reviews about your business or do you want people telling their friends to never shop in your store?

This is the time of year where you need to put aside your ego and pride, just buckle down and do whatever needs to be done.  Whatever the customer wants, you make it happen.  I would hope that you’re doing that all year long, but at this time of the year, when you have 10 times more people in your store than usual, it really is a challenge to stay on top of every customer.  But I can guarantee you that if you can just focus on providing exceptional service to each and every customer they will remember and appreciate it.

For many years I was a retail sales manager, first for a telecommunications company, then for a clothing retailer.  Each store that I managed achieved sales results that surpassed the competition and the other store locations within the company.  And I truly believe it was primarily because our customers felt appreciated in our store and kept coming back… and bringing their friends with them.

Here are some tips to help you provide the best possible customer experience.

·         Treat your customers like they are guests in your home.

·         Brace yourself for the craziness.  You know it’s going to be crazy busy so just go with the flow.  No point in stressing out over it.  Customers are already stressed out as it is trying to complete their shopping.  They don’t need you to be all frazzled too.

·         Anticipate your customers’ needs and order enough product to have on hand.  Not having enough product leaves you with unhappy customers and lost sales.

·         Train your staff well.  Staff need to be trained in customer service and they need to know how to multi-task.

·         Drop everything when a customer enters your store.  Stop chatting with your co-workers, put down the new shipment of product you just received, tell the Purolator guy he’ll have to wait a second, and make your customer your number one focus.

·         Conversations that are private in nature need to held in a staff room where customers can’t hear you.  I once walked into a store where a manager was reprimanding an employee for being late, completely oblivious that a customer had just walked into the store.  That just makes the whole shopping experience very uncomfortable.

So, unless you want to end up like United Air Lines as the subject of a viral YouTube video bringing their terrible customer service to light, give your customers everything they want and you just might be the subject of a viral YouTube video praising your amazing company instead.

Happy selling!!

Make Your Brand Story Resonate With Your Customers

Everyone has a story.  Every company, every product, every community, every industry has a story.  Think about your own story for a moment.  If you were to write your biography, how would it go?  What would it say about you?  Everyone, no matter how young or old, has gone through experiences both good and bad.  These experiences may have been experiences that others have also lived through.  But everyone views these experiences differently.  What might have seemed to be traumatic and life-altering to one person can seem like just a bump in the road of life to someone else.  Now, in writing your personal story, remember that not everyone really cares to hear it.  But some people, the key people in your life, will want to know every juicy detail.

What's your story?

Now relate that to your business.  Your business also has a story to tell.  Whether your business has only been in operation for 3 months or for 25 years it still has a history.  And, just like your personal story, not everyone cares to hear about your business.  Only a few key people really want to know who you are.  Your story is the basis of your brand.  You can’t develop a brand until you know the whole story.  So, think about what you want people to know about you.  Being authentic is the key to developing trust with people.  Be upfront about your shortcomings.  Let people in.  We’ve all made mistakes.  We’ve all done things we wish we could go back and change.  But life moves on and going back to change something that’s already happened isn’t possible.  The bigger your company gets, the more you are under the microscope.  I hate to say it, but there are people out there who want to see you fail.  Most people genuinely want to see you succeed, but some don’t.  But those aren’t the people you need to be concerned with.  When you remain authentic and conduct your business with professionalism and respect, and handle mistakes swiftly and with dignity, you will make a name for yourself that people remember in a positive way.  Those naysayers who want to bring you down won’t be able to. 

Who are the people you most want to attract?  You may very well have more than one target market, but don’t try to be everything to everybody.  Like I said, some people are not people you need to be targeting to.  So, think about how your target market wants to communicate with you.  What do they want and why do they want it.  People want to feel a sense of belonging, a connection, a feeling of being understood.  Last year, Shania Twain published her autobiography.  I went through an experience very similar to one she had gone through and as I was reading her feelings about it, I felt like, “she gets it”, she’s someone I could totally sit down with and talk about this and we could totally relate to each other.  She is one person who automatically comes to mind when I say “personal brand”.  Like Madonna or Cher, Shania only needs one word for people to know who she is and what she’s about.

Company brands are no different from personal brands in that they create an image in the minds of their customers.  That brand is developed through trust, by being true to who they are and marketing to like-minded consumers.  People develop a loyalty to a brand because of the feeling of understanding and connection.

So, whether you are developing a brand for your company or a personal brand for yourself, keep these tips in mind.

·         Stay true to who you are

·         Don’t apologize for who you are

·         Own up to past mistakes but don’t dwell on them.

·         Market your message to the right market

You’ll know when your brand story has resonated with the right market.  Your ideal customers will become repeat customers and become the biggest ambassadors for your brand.  So, what is your story? 

Mind Your Ps and Qs When Sending Out Business Communications

Building a brand requires a lot of work and consistency in every single way you communicate to the public.  I’ve said this over and over in previous blog posts, but I want to reinforce this one more time.  The brand that you develop for your company is the unique vision that the public has of you.

The way you communicate with your customers is absolutely vital in developing that positive impression.  Think about all the levels of communication you distribute throughout the day.  You post on your business Facebook wall, you send out emails to current clients and to prospects, you send out email newsletters.  Have you ever given much thought as to how your communication sounds and looks?  In this blog I want to give you some tips on how to improve your electronic communication.

Let’s start with emails. 

How many emails do you send in a day?  Probably more than you'd like to, right?  Here are some of things you need to consider before sending your next email:

1.       Grammar and Spelling – One of my biggest pet peeves is poor grammar and spelling.  Spell check is there as a guide to help you correct mistakes on the fly.  However, you can’t fully rely on it.  If you don’t know the difference between there, their, and they’re or to, too, and two, please find a dictionary to get it right!  Spelling is also vitally important when it comes to spelling someone’s name.  Please double and triple check the spelling before sending out the email.  It's just respectful.

2.       Tone – Sometimes in written forms of communication, the tone you intend to project doesn’t quite get across the way you wanted it to.  When composing emails, especially emails that you might be all fired up about, write it but don’t send it right away.  Go back to it a short while later (after you've cooled off!) to re-read it and adjust it accordingly.  The last thing you want to do is to inadvertently make somebody angry.

3.       Spam – I get emails sent to my main business email address all the time from companies all over the world claiming to be an expert who can help me with my business.  If I need an SEO expert or a graphic design artist, I’m not going to contact some guy in Cambodia!!  So, make sure the emails you send are going to people who actually want them, to people who have specifically opted in to receive your content.

4.       Timing – Don’t bombard people with tons of emails on a daily basis.  Just because they have opted-in to receive emails from you doesn’t mean you can fill their inboxes with info.  Sometimes you might have an urgent situation that needs to be dealt with.  Picking up the phone and calling that person is going to be a lot more effective than sending them an email every 20 minutes until they respond!!  That goes back to the spam point made earlier.  Too much of a good thing is not good.

Social Media:

Social media is extremely important to your company image.  But of course it’s different from emails and newsletters.  Posting on Facebook is a great way to interact with customers.  But just remember that whatever you put on Facebook is there forever.  It’s great to get into a discussion, even a debate, but before you post anything, please take a moment to think before you type.  Then after you’ve typed it and before you hit “Comment”, please read it a few times to make sure it makes sense, your tone is appropriate and things are spelled correctly.

Be sure to create a business Facebook page and post content on there that is valuable to your audience.  Also, remember that you are an extension of your business, so even though you may be posting business appropriate stuff on your business page your personal page needs to reflect a positive image too.  Like I said earlier, once it's out there, it's out there forever.

Now, Twitter is a whole other ballgame.  Like text messaging, you only have 140 characters to get your point across.  Twitter is also a great way to interact with customers.  However, when you're adding @ and # to your messages, the message can sometimes sound a little odd.  Please proofread it before you hit ‘Tweet’ to make sure it makes sense.  And although you can (and should) post to Twitter more often than other social media sites, don't post stuff just for the sake of posting it.  Make sure it's something actually valuable to your audience.  If it isn't, after awhile they won't read your posts any more or they'll just 'unfollow' you altogether.

Linkedin is a social media site that allows you to connect with other professionals, showcase your expertise, and search for job opportunities.  This is not where you need to tell the world about your weekend plans or what you made for dinner.  Your objectives here are very different than on other social media sites, so take that into consideration when you're posting on there.  Consider the audience and what they want to see.

All I’m saying here is that you need to keep in mind what kind of image you are trying to project.  So, the key takeaways I want you to get from this post are: 

• Be consistent, but not spammy. 
• Consider your audience and your objectives.
• Proofread.  Then proofread again.  And again.
• Keep your professional image in mind with everything you write and post.

The last thing you want is for your potential customers to get the impression that either you don’t know how to spell or that you’re too lazy to take the time to correct it.  Not quite the impression you want to leave in a prospects mind!