Tough Times:
Leverage Your Most Valuable Customers
By Charlie Fewell

You have total control over how your business is run, but unfortunately for you, economic downturn is something that you have no power over. There are basically two ways to address economic slumps — I’m a strong advocate for one method, and strongly denounce the other. The approach that I refuse to endorse: my customers aren’t interested in purchasing, so why waste resources peddling something with little chance of being bought? That’s the defeatist’s approach, and will only result in a decrease in sales and profits. My preferred line of attack is a measured and calculated response that makes the most of existing resources. I’m talking about reaching out to your most valuable customers, and honing your selling practices.

You didn’t get into business so you could fold the first time any concern about the viability of your operation came into question. If you’re in a position of leadership in your organization, there’s a very strong chance that you head it because of your resolve, business acumen, and the ability to perform under pressure. So now it’s time for you to get crafty.

For the majority of businesses, most of the profit comes from a small percentage of customers. This means that the significance of reaching out to your most valued customers must take a priority on your new, revised agenda. If your customers are going to be mostly frugal, why not have them be frugal toward other businesses? Sure their spending is going to be cut down, but in no way does that mean that their spending has to be cut down at your business.

RELATIONSHIP

What you need to do is foster your customer relationships so you are at the top of their minds when they decide to make a purchase. Make sure your customers are aware of all your offerings and know that your business is indeed flourishing despite the larger economic downturn. Are your customers aware of everything you can do for them? Are you making sure they don’t forget about you? At some point they’ll have a need for your services, and it’s your duty to make sure they come to you when that specific need surfaces.

Take a step back for a moment and look at what you’re doing to ensure you’re staying fresh in your most valuable customers’ minds. Do you contact them often? How are you reaching out to them? Targeting customers differs from industry to industry, but it’s essential that you’re staying ahead of your competitors.

It’s important to recognize that we have all sorts of different relationships within our own respective lives. Sometimes our relationship with one person affects how we view our relationship with another. When you reach out to customers —whether it’s through a newsletter, buying incentives, or other special treatment — you’re not only displaying how much you value the relationship you share with the customer, but also cheapening the customer’s relationship with your competitors.

There’s a fine line, however, between cultivating relationships and being pushy. It’s crucial that you don’t let your fear of being pushy impede your efforts to make your customers aware of your offerings.

Always remember, if your customers don’t know about certain products and services, there’s absolutely no way they’ll buy them. In tough economic times, that can be the difference between your business folding or prospering.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

Let me also stress that there’s a strong need to have superior customer service during times of economic decline. Implement proper practices and processes if you don’t already have them, or if they are lagging in the customer satisfaction department. The loyal customers that keep coming back to your business are the same loyal customers who will refer other business to you. Customer service that’s a cut above the competition will yield surprising results for your operation. The significance of high performance cannot be stressed enough.

Selling is both an art and a science. High achieving companies have a detailed, thorough selling process that allows sales team members some flexibility to drive creativity. One important part of any selling process is the interaction through which customer needs are revealed and understood by the sales professional. Many sales persons have an agenda and are charged to “sell the special” rather than slow the process down and understand customer needs. When I say this, I’m talking about both present and potential future needs that could be met by your products and services. In my selling model, I emphasize asking appropriate questions with sincerity, in a genuine attempt to understand how to meet relevant customer needs. This resonates a lot more with a frugal customer than an effort to “sell the special.”

DON’T SELL, EDUCATE

When times are tough, we sometimes assume that all our customers are becoming especially thrifty. This way of thinking does not allow for the possibility that the customer may indeed want to buy. It essentially paralyzes the salesperson. If you are convinced that customers aren’t going to buy, change your thinking to: “how can I help educate my customers now, so when they are ready to buy they can make a more informed decision?”

Reset your mind from selling to educating. Make a list of all the products and services you provide. Alongside each product or service, create a value statement or a statement of benefit that will accrue to your customers who purchase them. Now take the list of current customers — the best ones, who make up 80 percent of your business. In the last 12 months, have you or your sales team members shared the list of products and services and, most importantly, their benefits, with these top customers?

There is a great deal more to this process than I can fit in one article. But I can tell you that through a detailed needs-analysis approach, you can uncover customer requirements that you did not know existed. Further, you will educate your current customers on your entire product and service offering. If done well, you may even garner additional referrals that you would never have received without using this kind of process.

Charlie Fewell worked as a trainer and management head for AC Delco for over 30 years and now runs his own business consulting firm, Charlie Fewell & Associates, specializing in transitional leadership and business development. For more information visit www.CharlieFewell.com.