In order to take a smart approach to customer appreciation, you first need to measure the profitability of each customer. To get a complete view into the total costs for each customer, all employees should track the time spent on any and all customer activities. An automated time-tracking system will make it much easier to determine these costs and will give you a vantage viewpoint into your company’s activities. Also consider any value that your customers offer you aside from direct sales. Customers who are willing to go the extra mile by referring new customers, participating in case studies, or otherwise improving your brand can offer a great ROI for you, and that needs to be considered.
Great customer service is always important, but aside from that, the best way to endear your company to a customer is to deeply understand their needs. This may require a time investment, but if you can understand what your customer wants, you can focus your efforts to help them achieve it. Position your company as an important part of your customers’ future strategies and they will likely pay you back many times over. And you’ll be able to intelligently plot out the appropriate amount of time for each customer since you already determined their overall profitability.
Of course, not every customer will be responsive to your outreach efforts. Even if you have determined that you can devote time to developing a relationship, some customers just aren’t interested in anything beyond your core product. That is fine. Scale back your efforts, but don’t completely cease them. Sometimes, persistence pays off. Similarly, keep an eye to the future. Companies often change strategy and focus which could present a future opportunity to reengage. Be ready to step up your activities when it’s the right time for them.
The most successful targeted customer outreach programs are mutually beneficial.
At my company, Journyx, we have implemented a deep integration with Microsoft Dynamics GP accounting systems for some of our customers because our software is a flexible add-on to Dynamics. Although we originally implemented this for just one customer, we have been able to capitalize and expand on the success of the original offering. If it weren’t for a specific instance of customer outreach, we wouldn’t have discovered a profitable market for this business.
Take customer outreach seriously, and treat it with as much respect as any other business project. The results can be measured in your bottom line, and you may uncover unexpected benefits that you might have otherwise missed. Move forward intelligently, with an eye to your costs and capabilities, and the rewards will be substantial.
About the Author: Curt Finch is the CEO of Journyx. Journyx strives to be relentlessly creative and to build tools that help you spend your time on things that matter. After all, time is all we have. Founded in 1996, Journyx offers customers two solutions to reach the highest levels of profitability: Journyx – project, time and expense tracking software – and Journyx PX – resource management software that provides work and financial forecasting for a complete picture of project and budget status, employee time and availability. Connect with Curt on Google+.
