Customer Service Is Not a Department, Its your Company

Why Surprised !!!!. As an entrepreneur you started d company to offer some solution to the CUSTOMER. Isn't it true ???

Unfortunately as the company grows, it develops silos and other than CEO, everyone else is responsible to their limited area of operations. This is how companies are managed. But the problem with this way of working is NO one cares about the customers other than customer care and sales department. 

But difference between core competency and competitive advantage could be  - Excellent Customer Focus & offering Delightful & Memorable Xperience.

Core Competency will keep you in business , competitive advantage will give you an edge by allowing some extra profit , low marketing efforts, quicker sales cycle & more repeat/referred customers. 

One of my young followers mailed me that Kingfisher Airlines is offering wow customer experience & now they are almost on the verge of collapse & other non wowers are surviving thereby questioning entire wow experience strategy.   

I have read tweets of many of whom I follow. There are two views on govt bailout or support to private sector Company in trouble but everyone unequivocally agree that company is offering great customer experience.  All of them are brand loyal , brand referrers, opponents of financial package also cant stop but admire for what kind of experience company is creating for their customers. These loyalty and wow!! experience perhaps will be instrumental in helping the company in times of crisis. Financial Troubles are and can be due to various structural and financing issues, but WOW !!! factor they could create is the key not only for voice of customers to support the company but loyal and repeat customers will remain loyal to the company  for revenue to keep coming. 

Even in the case of Satyam Scam, one of the independent directors acknowledged that their customers' loyalty was the reason they could revive so beautifully even in times of severe survival crisis. 

Wowed Customers = Happy Customers = Loyal Customers = Brand Promoters 

Therefore keep wowing customers, they will go to any extent to support you in times of crisis. Is Wowing Customers, your competitive advantage????

New Social Media Theme :  Like it? Share It , tweet it.

Win HEART to reach MIND of the CUSTOMERs !!!!

Watching one of the finest movies of the 70s, Parichay, (Jitendra & Jaya Bhaduri Starr-er)  this weekend, was very thought provoking. Simple concept , present day marketers must learn & implement. 

Social Media champion (http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com) and well known blogger Michael Stelzner says " offer free knowledge to attract customers."  Seth Godin in his famous book Linchpin talks about art of gifting.  Gift without expectations in return is the true gift. 

Rule is : First offer and give without expectations and you are likely to get expected behaviors of returning favour. But without thinking about giving , just expecting will be difficult to yield result. Respect buyers choice and preference before you try to sell your idea.

Buyers are here to solve their problems or experience some pleasure.  Your product and services may be an answer to their need. However route to their mind (which makes decision to avail or ignore) is through their heart. Heart goes to selfless & going out of the way solution providers (ofcourse not to hardcore marketeers and sellers). 

Rule your space with entire gamut of solution. Something is free, something is out of the way, { just to show your commitment towards solution and not JUST sale } and something is paid. 

In d movie mission of Jitendra (lead character) was to educate & discipline 4 notorious students. He could have remained focused on his job by remaining and behaving like a typical teacher (like his predecessors) . But he choose to become friend , won their hearts, gone out of the way of his KRA, spent extra time with them to understand their behavior and response influence-rs. This extra time and effort resulted into achieving his end result of disciplined students having interest in their studies.

How much extra sellers/marketeers can invest in customers /buyers/ clients {without expectations} that will decide sales, customer engagement and customer loyalty.  Route to mind through heart may be longer but its a sure , authentic as well as long lasting. 

What is your investment to win hearts before you aim to reach customers' mind???