Posted by michael on February 27th, 2008
Have you ever sat and asked yourself “What the ‘lifetime value’ of each customer is worth to my business”?
If you don’t know what ‘lifetime value’ means then you really do need to read this post very carefully as you are about to see a very valuable nugget on information unfold in front of your eyes that WILL impact on your bottom line.
Your business, just like any other business, NEEDS customers – without them you, me and every other business owner will watch their business die – this is something we all must avoid at all costs.
So what can you do right now to help steer your business away from this path? Well, actually, the answer is very simple and you should be doing this right now.
Good (no, actually) OUTSTANDING Customer Care and Support!!!
There, the secrets out.
Now if you’re thinking, “Customer support, big deal, why will that save my business”?, then listen to this real life experience that I recently had which proves beyond any shadow of doubt how a first class customer care attitude WILL save or improve your business right now.
Now, let me make it clear, the business that I dealt with did not know of me before and they did not know I was an internet marketer. I was just a plain, bog standard customer making a one time purchase from their eBay store. Yes, I did say their eBay Store because this is how I discovered their company.
Anyway, I was looking for a personalised Valentines Day gift for my girlfriend. I wanted something a little bit special so I searched on eBay for “personalised valentines gift’. After a quick scan I found an item listed which caught my attention and also led me to the sellers’ store.
After finding exactly what I was looking for I made the purchase and paid via PayPal.
I dropped the seller a quick note as I wanted the item sending to a different address but this unfortunately caused a little confusion (which was very much my own fault), causing the item to be sent to the wrong address and in turn it was sent back to the seller.
Now this is where I was expecting the seller to ask me to pay for the shipping again but to my surprise the seller told me that they would happily pay for the postage again and apologised for the mix up even though it was my own fault.
Now this is where I was very impressed by their customer service.
Did you notice something very important in that last sentence? The seller said they would “Happily” pay for the postage again AND they apologised to me for my own mistake.
After all, as far as they we’re concerned, I was just another customer but what they had actually just done is turned my from a one time customer into a life long customer and a fan who will happily tell other people about my experience.
And this has worked because since that transaction on eBay I have purchased more items directly from their own website, thus saving them from having to pay the high eBay fees.
In fact, that one kind act of customer care has;
- Gained them a lifetime customer
- Someone who will tell others about their products and business
- From now on I will buy from their website instead of their eBay store
- This means they successfully used eBay to grow their business by gaining a new customer
Can you see the massive benefits this has to their business? Do you see how YOU could have these same benefits to YOUR business? Outstanding customer service is something you can implement right away. Remember, every customer should be treated like they are a millionaire.
As I said, simply due to this companies customer care I have become a life long customer. I plan to make a dozen or further transaction a year with this company. Of these purchases I have already made, the first one was worth £27/$54 and the next was worth £33/$66 (both of which were in February) so you can appreciate the value of my custom over the next 12 months.
But the real benefit is that I am really happy to tell other people about the service I received and the quality of the products – I became a raving fan – which is the best customer YOUR business could ask for.
So ask yourself this question, “What am I doing to make sure I convert a one time customer into a life long customer”?
Remember, treat every customer as if they are a millionaire - treat them in a way that would make them happy to do business with you again – treat them in a way that would make them happily tell other people about their experience as your customer.
When you achieve this then you WILL impact on your bottom line, your business will grow and your profits will rise too. All you need to do is treat every single customer with kindness, respect and gratitude. If you feel uncomfortable doing this or feel you will be wasting your time then maybe you shouldn’t be running your own business? Outstanding customer care is golden, get it right and you’ll benefit, get it wrong and you will know it.
I am in no way associated with or affiliated to this company but I am so impressed by their customer care that I am happy to tell you to visit http://www.nameitgifts.co.uk/ for some really brilliant and unique gifts which are ideal for valentines day, mothers day, fathers days, birthdays - you get the idea.
And if you have any questions then simply email Gillian and you’ll soon discover their brilliant customer care - see, I told you I am a raving fan 
Michael Sherriff
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