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Customer Loyalty, Attracting, Satisfying & Winning Customers

OBJECTIVES
This topic will help participants:
• To understand the concept of customer-care.
• To understand the peculiarities of different types of customers.
• To understand some tips for building customer relationship towards winning their Loyalty.
• To be able to effectively handle and satisfy difficult or angry customers.
• To ensure steady business growth and profitability.

INTRODUCTION
• In business, it is necessary to exert energy on attracting new customers in order to
improve revenue and ensure business growth. Yet, the need to treat existing customers as
KINGS, no matter how small their patronage is, is crucial for sustaining the business.
• Loyalty of the Customer is a critical success factor in every business.

WHO IS A CUSTOMER?
• The focus and the most important factor in the business.
• Not dependent on us, we depend on him/her.
• Not an interruption to business activities, but the purpose of it.
• Part of the business – (not an outsider).
TYPES OF CUSTOMERS
• WANDERING CUSTOMERS: They have no specific needs or desire in mind when
they come into the shop/ site.
• NEED-BASED CUSTOMERS: They have specific intentions to buy some particular
items.
• IMPULSE CUSTOMERS: They do not have any particular items to buy in mind. They
only purchase what seems good at the time.
• DISCOUNT CUSTOMERS: They shop frequently but make decisions based on the
size of mark-down.
• LOYAL CUSTOMERS: They represent about 20% of customer- base and make up to
50% of total sales. Regular communication with them often-times influence stocking
decision.
WHY CUSTOMERS QUIT
3% - Simply move away for no apparent reasons
5% - Develop other friendships
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10% - Quit for competitive reasons

14% - Quit for dissatisfaction with products or services.
68% - Quit as a result of an attitude towards the customers by the business owner or
employer.

TEST OF CUSTOMER LOYALTY

A simple statement like ‘Good bye, Head Teacher’ could mean more than the loss of one
customer.
¡ N30,000 School fee per child/term = N90,000 p/yr.
¡ N90,000 p/yr x 3yrs of nursery schooling = N270,000.
If the speaker quits with her two children = LOSS OF N540,000.
If 10 other parents follow suit = LOSS OF N5.4m (in 3 YEARS).

RIPPLE EFFECTS OF LOSING A CUSTOMER.

Most people do not know the real cost of losing a customer!
FOUR LEVELS OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
I. Meeting customer’s expectations
II. Exceeding customer’s expectations
III. Delighting and amazing the customer with exceptionally satisfactory services.
IV. Amazing the customer with exceptionally satisfactory services

ATTAINING THE FOUR LEVELS OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

Always ask the FOUR Big Questions:
I. What can we do better?
II. How can we get things done faster?
III. What/ how can we do things differently?
IV. How can we maintain and improve customers’ perception about our business?

CLASS ACTIVITY
• Using the four big questions: create a customer service policy for your business.

WAYS OF ENSURING CUSTOMER’S SATISFACTION

1. KNOW YOUR BUSINESS:
• Understand its technical details
• Build and show confidence
• Do the fundamentals, NOT the fancy
• Be result-oriented, NOT activities-oriented
2. SHARE THEIR URGENCY:
• Prompt service delivery
• Be flexible
3. LISTEN
• L = Look and Listen
• I = Imply interest
• S = Sensitive (you must be)
• T = Terms & Terminology
• E = Empathize
• N = Normalcy (be yourself)
• S = Smile (it endears)
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• Strive to exceed expectations

4. EMPLOYEE EMPOWERMENT
An investment in your employees’ ability to provide superior service to customers can
be seen as a virtuous circle. Effort spent in selecting and training employees and
creating a corporate culture in which they are empowered can lead to increased
employee satisfaction and employee competence.
 This will likely result in superior service delivery and customer satisfaction.
 This in turn will create customer loyalty, improved sales levels, higher profit margins
5. WATCH YOUR COMMUNICATION
• A study of ‘face to face communication’ conducted by Prof. Albert Mehrabian at the
University of California Los Angeles, USA found that the percentage of the meaning
conveyed through each channel of communication is as follows:
• Verbal/ vocal - 45%
• Non-verbal – 55%

VERBAL COMMUNICATION
A word is a condensed thought, therefore:
 Use the right words.
 Avoid jargons (it could be misunderstood).
 Words have effects on your image therefore, be courteous always.
 A person’s voice quality is important:
 Volume
 Rate
 Pitch
 Accent
 Intonation
 Most importantly, develop a pleasant voice!
A person’s voice quality is important:
• Volume
• Rate
• Pitch
• Accent
• Intonation
Most importantly, develop a pleasant voice
NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION
If there is conflict between words being spoken and the message communicated by the body,
the body is more likely to be believed. Therefore, work on the following:
• Appearance
Body language: facial expression, gesture, posture, etc.

TELEPHONE SKILLS IN CUSTOMER SERVICE

Sometimes, your only contact with the customers could be via the phone. Make a best use of
it.
• Call your name
• Smile through the phone
• Keep your caller informed
• Let your voice be neutral and friendly
• Use ‘holds’ carefully
• End calls on a ‘friendly’ note
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7 KEYS TO BUILDING CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP

I. Never criticize, complain or condemn anyone or anything when you are with a
customer.
II. Acceptance: Accept people the way they are without bias.
III. Approval and praise makes people feel good.
IV. Appreciation is expressed by the magic words: “Thank you”.
V. Admiration: Everyone likes compliment.
VI. Agreeability: Never argue with a customer.
VII. Patience: always control your temper

CUSTOMER RECEPTION
• As soon as you see a customer, politely acknowledge his presence.
• Be equally prompt and polite when answering telephone calls.
• If a scheduled appointment is made with customer, it is your business to be on time.
• Prepare for customers’ questions by having answers before they ask.
• Whenever necessary, give polite and tactful answers.
• Ask the right questions. Open-ended questions: why, how, where?
• Make them feel good for being your customers.

WHEN A CUSTOMER IS ANGRY/ COMPLAINS

• Listen without interrupting.
• Do not post ‘superior arguments’.
• Respond with respect and empathy.
• Talk about what you can do to solve the problem, not what you cannot do.
• Take action to solve problem.
• Get help from superiors if need be.
• Bring the incident to a polite close.
• Don’t expect to win all the time

WHEN A CUSTOMER HAS A SPECIAL REQUEST

• Understand that NO two persons are the same.
• Customize: Give each customer exactly what he/she requests.
Use the Pareto Rule (20: 80 rule)
• Make him feel as if he is the most important person on your register.
Talk about something you have in common (share similar experiences).

SUMMARY
A Customer’s loyalty is hard to win but easy to lose.
But by going above and beyond normal SERVICE DELIVERY, your customer-base would
climb above and beyond that of your COMPETITORS.

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