Sending inconsistent signals to customers through your actions can harm your business greatly. After your customers do business with you for some time they expect to receive certain “treatment” from your business. They will probably forgive you for a slip-up once or twice, but they will not accept it beyond that. Three strikes and you will be out!!! So what do we mean by sending inconsistent messages to the customers? Let me give you an example:
We have been accustomed to shopping at a large department store that is famous for exceeding customer expectations. When you shop at this place you know that you will get the best quality accompanied by great customer service. So we were very upset by the experience we received when shopping over one weekend. We needed some help with finding the merchandise, but could not find anyone to help. After a long delay when the store associate did come to help us he just made half-hearted effort to get what we wanted and moved on to something else. We were not only pissed, but confused by the treatment we received. This was not the place we had come to expect through all our visits in the past.
Now, to give them the benefit of doubt, may be this particular associate was having a bad day or he was just too busy, but it was unlike the characteristic of this store. Fortunately, a manager was walking by and noticed what was going on. He immediately came over and spent the next 30 minutes helping us find what we wanted. Now, this is what we mean by sending a consistent message to your customers. When you shop at Wal-Mart you know that you will find the lowest prices. Buying Apple products will always delight you.
The first step in providing consistent message is to finding that message. For that you need to understand what your business stands for as explained in an earlier post. It also requires figuring out exactly what type of customers your business wants to serve. As we mentioned earlier not all customers are created equal and you cannot possible be all to all customers. You also need to ensure that the consistent message is delivered in both space and time continuum. The customers should receive the same service every time from all the departments of your business. You have to DO WHATEVER IT TAKES to give customers what they have come to expect from your business.
All the departments have to work in harmony for this to work. In short, the entire company needs to function as well-oiled machine that doesn’t behave erratically now and then. The departments you have to pay particular attention to are customer service, marketing and shipping. In addition, you have to ensure your products and quality stand behind what your business stands for.
We will give additional tips on how to provide consistent message to customers in the next post. In the meantime, let us know your thoughts and experiences on this topic in the comments below.
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