How worthwhile would it be if every time a customer had a need or a challenge they were seeking a solution for that they called your business first?
It might not even be a product or service you deliver, but that they thought to come to you first because you’re somebody they associate with having the ability to solve their problems. If your business was who your customers thought of first, that they recommended first, that they contacted first if they needed something, what could that do to your bottom line?
For me, that’s about designing your relationships and getting to know your customers intimately. It’s about creating systems and a culture within your business that not only puts the customer first, but has a genuine thirst for knowledge about what’s important to them and what role you play in satisfying their needs.
In many small-medium businesses the person with this kind of intimate customer knowledge is either the business owner or a key staff member who may have been with the business an extended period of time in a sales or customer service role. Both carry around an abundance of knowledge in their heads and are usually the person that other employees turn to with questions about ‘how things work’ in the business. They are both valuable but what happens if they’re not around, sick or worse leave the business?
Having a process, framework and system in place to capture knowledge and share it with everyone actually empowers everyone in the business to nurture and build customer relationships.
Squirrel Business Solution’s founder, Kylie Harker, is a Melbourne based consultant who assists business owners find and implement the best fit CRM and other systems for their business. Squirrel focus on four core principles: integrating your systems, streamlining your processes, enhancing your customer experience, and unlocking the value of your data.