Customers have more power than ever before. With one click, buyers can access information about a vendor’s customer base, partners and competitors. They can easily run back-door reference checks. Often, vendors don’t know these references have been completed until the selection process is over.
The sooner businesses realize customers are their most important asset, the quicker they’ll pave the road to success. This requires a critical shift in focus from customer satisfaction to customer success—and it can have a viral effect on your marketing ROI. The credibility of a peer company that recommends your solution outweighs your best lead generation efforts 100:1.
Today, it’s just as valuable to keep a customer—and keep them happy enough to act as brand ambassadors—than acquire a new one. Companies need active strategies for customer renewal.
Every department needs to focus on and understand how they can contribute to customer success. Here are the set of rules that Xactly lives by, in ascending order:
The Customer Rules
10. Get customers involved with your future product plans.
9. Do right by the customer—even if it is unprofitable in the short term. You’ll gain your profit in the future.
8. Appreciate your customers. Simple thank you cards go a long way.
7. Stay connected. If you aren’t communicating with your customers on a regular basis, someone else is.
6. Set realistic goals with your customer early and often. Meet and exceed expectations.
5. Measure your organization’s success by your customers’ definitions—not just by traditional business metrics.
4. Understand how your customer defines success.
3. Listen, listen, and then listen some more to what your customer says.
2. Be a “partner” not a “vendor”.
1. The customer rules, period.
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What are some of your company rules?
Visit again soon for real-life examples of some of the above.
