How companies can stay in the minds of their customers and win customers through customer amazement
By Daniela A. Ben Said
"I have never done marketing, I have always just loved my customers," legendary Zino Davidoff once said. At the age of five, Davidoff fled with his family from Kiev to Switzerland after anti-Semitic attacks. His father opened a tobacco shop in Geneva in 1912. From him, young Zino learned early on not only how to blend tobacco but also to focus on the wishes and needs of the customers. Later, Zino Davidoff succeeded like no other in elevating cigar smoking to an art. With his unerring sense for the extraordinary, he ultimately made not only his products, including tobacco products, fragrances, leather goods, or spirits, but also himself a brand. The secret of his success? Zino Davidoff was a connoisseur himself and instinctively understood the desires of his exclusive customers. But he also had the special gift of treating each customer with special attention, teaching us to this day how important it is to inspire customers, surprise them, and establish a lasting presence in their memory.
Personal recommendations are the best advertising
Today, practically every entrepreneur knows how important customer loyalty is. That potential customers place much more trust in a personal recommendation than in traditional advertising. And that satisfied customers usually only share their positive experiences with a few people, while dissatisfied customers share their negative experiences with many. But do they act on this knowledge? And, perhaps even more importantly: Do the people they employ act on it as well?
Based on all my experiences, companies pay far too little attention to their central tasks as "customer understanders" and "customer amazers," and more importantly: they do not recognize the seriousness of their situation! As a speaker and coach, I travel the country and repeat my most important mantra: Be different or die! Customer amazement is crucial.
In fact, I am very certain: Only those who manage to truly stand out from the competition will be able to survive in the long term. It is therefore existential when I urge companies to develop their own different strategy.
How to develop your "annual amazement plan"!
At the beginning of the process, there is a maxim: Have the courage to truly be different! My motto is: "Only dumplings are round! Take a look at a diamond! So, celebrate yourself with your edges and corners! Stand by yourself, your company, your products. Dare to break out of the mainstream. Whether you run a bank, a hotel, a construction company, or a hair salon (or work there). We have all become comparable and need to stand out in the market!
You should develop your strategy in two stages:
First: Collect all the information about your customers and potential customers that you can get. Each team member should be able to contribute their personal experiences here. Then create 3 lists:
- Who is my customer/potential customer?
- Who are the customers of my customers/potential customers?
- With what idea can I solve the problems of the customers and the customers of my customers?
Second: Develop great ideas together with your team on how to inspire your customers (by finding solutions to their problems!). These can be ideas that demonstrate special appreciation. Ideas that solve a common problem for your customers. Ideas that make your customers' lives easier and more beautiful. Ideas throughout the year, tailored to each season. Even if it's just a reminder of the time change or a congratulations for the 1-year anniversary when you sold a machine to the customer a year ago (then, of course, with the note: "P.S. Regular maintenance ensures a long lifespan. Contact us!")
You then pour the collective knowledge about your customers and the ideas from your brainstorming into new service ideas that can become an integral part of your offering, as well as into an annual plan that also takes into account seasonal peculiarities: your "annual amazement plan."
Always ask yourself: What defines the specific month? Which holidays, events, or regional events are celebrated? And what can be a practical, beautiful, appreciative idea or support for my customer or my customer's customer? Customer amazement must be original.
Typical themes for January, for example, are good resolutions and new goals for the new year, but also new trends or dates or icy cold.
Surprise your customers with a few fitting ideas: For example, send a humorous annual horoscope that fits your offering. Send your customers an original lucky charm. Organize a lecture on the topic "Motivation: How to achieve your goals" or "Fit and relaxed through the new year." For this, you have Speakers Excellence as a competent partner by your side.
Send important annual dates (maintenance, preventative care, trade show or delivery dates) with a fabric handkerchief with a knot tied in it against forgetfulness. Spoil your customer with a pair of thick socks or a pocket warmer before they embark on a long journey through the cold for an appointment with you. Always put together offers and services that match the season and the current needs of the customer.
People make the difference
Customers expect not only a good product and good service, they expect special attention and enthusiasm. They remember positive people who seek good and creative solutions on their behalf. Therefore, it is important to involve all employees equally in the different strategy and the "annual amazement plan" and to encourage them repeatedly to put themselves in their customers' shoes. Because to understand and inspire customers, one must try to see the world through their eyes. Customer amazement indeed.
About the author: Daniela A. Ben Said is a keynote speaker, business consultant, and author with a focus on leadership and sales. She was awarded the German Coaching Prize in 2008 and Female Speaker of the Year in 2014. She studied psychology and founded her company "Quid agis" on January 1, 1998, in Osnabrück. She is still based there on a 200-year-old Lower Saxon farm with many animals (from horses to owls), which she also includes in her presentations. On Facebook and YouTube, the expert in customer relationships regularly posts "Info-bluffing Minutes," where she examines products and services of companies. Experience a lecture with many ideas, incredible humor, and strategies for immediate implementation. Daniela A. Ben Said is pure infotainment.
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Daniela A. Ben Said, visit:
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