1. QUALITIFY YOUR PRODUCTS/ SERVICES:
The sad truth is; your customers won't come back if your products/ services are not up to standard (or expired). Irrespective of the products or services you trade, quality should be your watchword! The unnoticed but most dreadful mistake we are sometimes guilty of in the quest for success is that we put profit first when in the world of success, quality service is the benchmark.
I have carefully observed that about 68.3% of the overall customer-base prefers to pay some extra coin for quality rather than paying low for low quality products or services. This is their assumption: "If I buy a low quality product cheaply, how many of that product will I buy in two months or one year? If I buy good quality for good price, I will save time, energy and money against repeated purchase."
2. EXCELLENT COMMUNICATION SKILL:
I have been to offices/ stores and vowed never to return there. I'm sure you have had such terrible experience somewhere. The major drive towards such decisions is the missing of adequate "communication" between the organization's representative and the customer. Communication can never be expelled from the subject of business if you desire for groundbreaking business success. You must ideally communicate your ideas or points and be vividly certain they are understood.
Truth is; every individual customer puts food on your table. In fact, they are the reason you are in business. Swinging loosely from right to left on your office chair, draping one leg atop the other and feeling like the "boss" while your customer walks through the exit door frowning and unsatisfied, is the beginning of business failure.
You must ensure frankly that each customer - whether they patronize you or not - walks out of your business premise with only one intention - I will be back! And they will sure do. A little sense of humor can just be the spark to lit up a business transaction.
Factually, people experience countless emotional clumsiness that probes them to be easily angered. Your sense of humor becomes the key-strategy to calming your customer's nerves, making them smile. Sometimes you feel... "Let them go, another customer will come"... A lot of us are guilty of this fact at some points. But the question is; how many customers are you willing to let go? Like my dad would always say; a bird in hand is better than ninety-nine birds in the forest.
3. PRICE CONTROL STRATEGY:
Have you noticed that people naturally like to pay low for quality products and services? Everyday, new innovations spring as business experts found more strategic means to provide customer satisfaction while they improve on sales or patronage. Competitions in business are on the rise, and customers are finding where to invest their patronage loyalty.
Check your price, compare with the current market rates. Make findings on how to purchase directly from the manufacturer to effectively control your price. If you offer services, work on improving your service delivery on affordable service-charge.
I once advised a lady who wanted to start up a hairdressing saloon... "Make snacks and soft drinks available to your customers for free". Her eyeballs surged through her skull in a precipitous manner. "Do you wanna make me a 'mother' Christmas?" she retorted. "Absolutely NO!" I responded.
Here's how it works I explained; "Make your shop (interior and exterior) as neat and attractive as possible. If you cannot afford to tile the floor, use paint or rubber carpet. Make good wavons available for sale so that customers can afford and prefer to buy from you.
Once you have succeeded in doing that, divide the cost of each snack and drink by 2, add them to the cost of wavon and service charge. What you have, forms your overall price list". A blend of customer relationship skill and your expertise will help you win the patronage of each customer.
Here's the psychological effect this will have on your customer... They will feel relaxed, well taken care of and appreciated. Not just that they will definitely come back, they will refer people to you not because they cannot afford soft drinks and snack, but simply because of the hospitality they won't get elsewhere".
My point is this; strive to be different in your business approach. Someone else may not see meaning in it but with time, your approach will be adopted and by then, you must have found a better approach which keeps you progressively ahead of your business counterparts.
MY ADVICE:
Aim for class! Stay ahead and do not unde-rate any customer. Stick to your business principles if they are realistic enough for the time. And finally, make those principles flexible.
Kind Regards
Paul Okuk
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