Years ago I owned a full service advertising and graphic communications company and enjoyed a lively and interesting collection of clients that ranged from multinational Fortune 100 companies to the Catholic Boy’s High School. We printed weekly ad flyers for a local grocery and handled the institutional marketing for the preeminent manufacturer of screw fasteners for cars and appliances. With almost no exceptions (a few clients were referrals) there was only one thing that these businesses had in common - they all did business with me.
The core of my business was working for clients with whom we had a long standing, profitable and successful relationship. I thought that building my business by attracting more clients like the ones I already had would be a sensible and relatively easy way to grow. The only problem was that I had no idea why my clients did business with me.
The old adage, "People do business with people they want to do business with," certainly rings true, but I needed to know why I was that person. A few days ago I found the results that I had from a survey of my clients. I proposed 10 reasons that a client/customer might have for selecting a business to work with and asked that they organize the list from the most important to least. Here is what I found out:
1) Great past results
2) Knowledgeable about my business
3) Great ideas
4) Dependable and on time
5) Stand behind the work
6) Well recommended, good reputation
7) Communicate well
8) Good personality match
9) Competitive prices
10) You are a family member and I have to deal with you
When I first reviewed these results I was very surprised that price was the least important thing (considering the special circumstances #10 involves). But what was most interesting is that the top five on the list were all in the #1 position on some of the surveys. It drove home to me that each client is unique and the relationship they had with me and my company was personal for each of them.
In the weeks that followed I had many conversations with clients that pointed out that the ten reasons I proposed did not include their main reason for being my client. Those reasons ranged from being conveniently located to feeling that they could trust me and my staff. One long-term customer said it was my support of a local charity she was involved with. One of my tenants with offices in the same building said I got his business because I couldn't hide from him if anything was not 100%.
We all have seen "Customer Satisfaction Surveys" from businesses we patronize. They generally ask fairly innocuous questions like, "Did we meet or exceed your expectations?" and then you have to rate them. Since your expectations might be a lot different from someone else the resulting information is not too valuable. Instead, we should be inquiring what it was that started the business relationship and if we are doing a good job keeping it going. The data developed from that type of questioning is useful in a couple of ways. You can create a composite of what is most attractive to most of your customers and then try to present those qualities with prospects. You can also be a bit more focused and aggressive on an individual basis.
Let's say you have a customer that tells you that the most compelling reason they do business with you is that you have great and successful ideas for their marketing. You can simply ask if they know any other business people that would appreciate the same thing. Asking for that type of referral compliments your customer and lets them know you appreciate their comments. The chances of getting strong referrals is extremely good.
My favorite exercise is to list the five businesses you have the most activity with as their customer and then list the reason why you chose them. Is your most compelling reason the same for each? Do you have different criteria for different businesses? Is your choice for a pharmacy the same as your auto mechanic? Why do you keep using the same doctor? Find out what matters to you and you will most likely discover that you have many of the same qualities and they are attracting your customers.
By learning why your customers do business with you makes it is easier to know what messages you need in your advertising to attract new accounts. You can perfect the introduction you make on first meetings. And you can communicate with existing customers being sure you reinforce the personality and behavior that keeps them loyal to you and your business for years to come.
Gregg Emmer is chief marketing officer and vice president at Kaeser & Blair, Inc. He has more than 40 years experience in marketing and the promotional specialty advertising industry. His outside consultancy, providing marketing, public relations and business planning consulting to a wide range of other businesses, has been a useful knowledge base for K&B Dealers. Contact Gregg at gemmer@kaeser-blair.com.