What is your definition of a customer? Most of us spend our days interacting with customers, so the answer, theoretically, should be an easy one. But it’s worth reexamining our current definition.

The Customer Is your Employer

By: Fran Carville, CRM

(Originally printed in the July/August 2023 issue of Insights.)

Businesses need to reconsider how they view and interact with customers.

What is your definition of a customer? Most of us spend our days interacting with customers, so the answer, theoretically, should be an easy one. But it’s worth reexamining our current definition.

Technically speaking, according to Merriam-Webster, a customer is defined as “a regular or frequent buyer.” And many of us simply view a customer as anyone making a purchase from our business. There is also a less flattering definition that a fellow retailer once gave me: “Customers are the most irritating group of people on the planet.” Chances are, that definition has seemed accurate to most of us at least once in our retailing careers—but it certainly is not a definition for success.

Whatever your current definition, consider this quote from the late Sam Walton: “There is only one boss. The customer.” As we move forward, our definition should perhaps change to something like this: “Each and every customer or potential customer is my boss.” Customers pay for our mortgages, equipment, inventory, salaries and employees. As Robert Kiyosaki said, “Our paychecks come from our customers.”

In today’s crowded marketplace, keeping your business healthy and growing may mean embracing the concept of the customer as your employer. As such, we must look for ways to be a great employee in our customers’ eyes. After all, the customer has the option to fire us and go elsewhere.
To create this dynamic, start by giving customers great service and great products, including making lasting relationships that may require reaching out to customers when they are not in your store or on your website.

KEEP IN TOUCH

Keeping your work in the customer’s mind will go a long way to creating repeat business. It’s a subtle reminder that, in this hectic world, you are not only the best choice, but you are the choice that will make their lives easier.

MAKE A CALL

Make a sales call to a current customer. Set up a time to drop off a new catalog, give information about a new product line or bring a small gift of appreciation for past orders. If you make just one call per week, at the end of the year you will have shown 52 customers that you cared enough to visit them.

VIPS ALL

Consider starting a VIP customer program. Everyone loves to feel important, and you can set the exact benefits for the program. The National Association of Small Retailers says that retail businesses with some type of VIP or loyalty program had an average sales growth of 19% in last year’s bad economy. Reward your customers, and they will reward you with their business for years to come.

LOST AND FOUND

If you lose a customer, don’t give in to the temptation to simply shrug it off. Instead, try to get a once-valued customer back on board. A simple phone call to say that you miss their business can do wonders.

KEEP IT FRESH

One of the easiest ways to lose a long-time customer is to have outdated merchandise in your showroom and on your website. Customers like new, different and interesting products, even if they end up buying the same thing as before.

NOTHING FOR GRANTED

Whatever your business philosophy is, never let it include taking a current customer for granted. An attitude of “they always buy from me” is a recipe for lost opportunities. Many customers today reflect the old adage, “What have you done for me lately?”

CONTINUED SUCCESS

In Scott McKain’s “Collapse of Distinction,” he writes, “Most companies have a plan to recruit new customers. Very few have a plan that outlines specific ways to keep current customers.” He goes on to suggest that companies without a plan to keep current customers will have a disloyal customer base that will stop doing business with them whenever anything new or different comes along.

Your current customers are the backbone of your business. Now is the time to:

• Commit to reconnecting and keeping in touch
• Develop a plan to keep current customers coming back
• Treat your customers like royalty
• Market to them on a regular basis

In short, now is the time to plan to be your customers’ employee of the year.

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