During 2008 we were able to witness some of the most devastating news regarding the American and Global economy. This year, a lot of companies are preparing to reformulate their marketing strategies and reduce their expenses as much as possible in order to diminish the damage brought about by the economic recession.
However, those are not the only measures we have to take in order to deal with the crisis, we also must change the way in which we deal with our customers.
Approach your customers
Contrary to popular practices (by some companies), customers should never be treated as discardable wallets that only exist to help your company survive until the end of the month. Now more than ever, in a market that is increasingly becoming more internationalized and impersonal – it’s becoming a necessity to gain loyal customers that will return to you for more services.
If your company provides services, it is your duty to try to offer a personalized experience and pay keen attention to your customer’s requirements, both the new and the regular clients. Many companies will try to reduce the price of their products and services, even if it’s not profitable for them to do so. If you intend on surviving the crisis and maintain your company’s level of quality, the difference will have to come from the qualitative way you deal your with your customers and the way you execute your services.
Be flexible
The emergence of specialized super stores was very damaging to the business of many small companies due to the incredibly competitive prices, aggressive advertising and good location. If your company intends on competing with a store of that kind, the difference will have to come from a highly flexible solution.
A lot of customers walk into stores with specific desires in mind, certain details or requirements that specialized super stores simply can’t fulfill because it goes against their business methods. In order to maintain low prices in all of their products, those companies have to sacrifice a lot of things that people take for granted, like quality of service (due to low wages), technical assistance (unless they provide it as a service) and also the ability to offer flexible solutions.
Listen to your customers and try to concentrate on what the customer needs rather than what is sitting on your shelves. Show interest in what your customer is saying and help him find exactly what he needs and not necessarily what would be convenient for you to sell.
You might be thinking to yourself that it’s very important to make business with the products you do have, but think about this for a second. If a customer is walking into your small business only to be given a product that doesn’t fully fulfill his needs then why shouldn’t he go to a super store and get a similar product for a cheaper price?
The answer, and the reason why your business might be struggling is because he should go to a super store! Even though they might not have what he needs, they will have a much larger variety of products, and you simply can’t match that. The only solution is to really try to find a product that suits your customer’s needs.
Give it time
Motivating and maintaining regular customers is a much more demanding task than ever before, but if you manage to demonstrate interest in their words, be careful with how you execute your tasks and manage to maintain contact with your customers afterwards, then you can be sure that your customers will be much more loyal, and they will certainly recommend you to their relatives and friends.
In the days we live in, there is no better advertisement than someone recommending your services to others. The success of Navega Bem – Web Design is testament to that. We hardly do any advertising and the majority of our work comes from the recommendations of previous customers or from people who simply appreciate the quality of our crafts.
