Making Your First Million.pdf - Association of Net Entrepreneurs and ...

Making Your First Million
Chapter 18 - How Do I Look After My
Customers?
Your existing customers are your untapped gold-mine. To tap it, you will need to
understand them better than you do now. Which gets me back to my original question:
"Why do your customers buy from you?" Let's think outside the square. Why do I choose
one supplier over another?
Four years ago my niece was getting married in Western Sydney and I thought it would
be a nice treat for my wife to spend the night at a 5 star hotel. I rang a new hotel to make
a booking. After 3 abortive attempts during which I was put on hold each time because
the reservations clerk was busy and the person I spoke to had no authority to help me, the
customer, to buy what they were selling, I said: "Each time I've called you've been
friendly, pleasant and efficient. You've done an excellent job. You've followed your
company's customer service guidelines to the letter. But I'm still trying to buy what you're
selling. When you are ready to sell me what I'm trying to buy will you please phone me
back . . . "
And of course, I'm still waiting. The receptionist was doing her job as well as she knew
how. She was role oriented, but she was not goal oriented. She couldn't take my
reservation because the company she worked for was not customer focused. But there
was a nice little touch of irony 2 years later. I received this phone call:
"Good morning Mr Parry. This is Leslie from the Hotel 5 star."
"At last! You've finally returned my call."
"Pardon."
I told her the story of the attempted purchase 2 years previously.
"I'm not calling about that Mr Parry. I'm phoning on behalf of the manager to invite you
to join our Platinum Privilege Club." Customers want service. The reality must match the
promise.
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