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Introduction

Customer contact is essential in a fast paced business world. Many professionals and small businesses live off their customer contact but to many it is ad hoc and with too much strategy. Many still find it difficult to set up a strategy that will make life easier for them and better for their clients. The following points will provide and framework and kick start to those wishing to bite the bullet and create a process that is both positive and profitable.

1. Develop a 12 month Customer Contact Plan

• Creating such a plan provides you with a broader view and allows you to ’see’ where your activity time is being spent.
• To enhance the plan consider using ‘colour codes’ to identify areas of commonality and where leverage can be gained.

2. Identify customer ‘types’ and market accordingly

• By ‘grouping’ client types you will be able to market more effectively and also begin to know where your business comes from.
• This will also allow you to react/respond differently and with ‘intention’ to each group.

3. Complete standard items in ‘chunks’ to save time and increase visibility

• Identify items like writing out cards (birthday, Christmas, other seasonal cards) and take the time to write them all out at one time.
• This will save time in the long run.
• Sort each card into date order and place in tickler file. When the day arrives (or a week prior) send out the card.

4. Invest in technology to automate newsletters/messages

• There is considerable technology that can automate messages for you. Investigate some of these.
• These will allow you to write a few regular newsletter at once and then set them up to go out at regular intervals.

5. Create ‘contact points’ throughout the year

• Key clients may require a visit, an extra call or a personal note. Diarise appropriate times up front so you are well prepared.

Steps 6 - 10.1 next week!

Blogging has become the communication tool de joeur.

It is a magnet for building communities, momentum around issues, (abusing people) and engaging audiences in some form from all over the world.

But is there a point where you don’t blog?

What prompted this line of thinking was a thought about which industries might actually be hurt by blogging.

Take Banks for example. Once a shining light of credibility and integrity they have slipped back recently to be just above carsales people in trustworthiness according to a few surveys (Still looking for the formal results, will come back to you.)

I would have thought a blog by a bank on customer service or updating their members/customers on upcoming changes would be a superb idea to get the engagement happening and by opening up the two way communication, actually build loyalty through openness and transparency.

However, a summary search on Google, brings the banks up a little short. Zero on page one of a search of “bank blogs”.

So is it a case of no bank blogs because:

1. We don’t have the time (really, who does?)
2. We don’t know what the reaction will be (that’s half the point - plus you can moderate comments)
3. What’s a blog? (Er, ok!)

Having been in banking for the past 20 odd years and knowing the actual person who would be responsible for this in a few banks, I can see a world of possibilities and a world of wins.

But in the broader sense, would it be commercial suicide for an industry like banking & finance to run a blog? A legal minefield?

I believe banks would actually gain some serious momentum in customer loyalty circles with a well managed, open and honest blog.

Here are the top 10 benefits of a blog for industries like banks:

1. communicate directly with customers
2. create announcements around significant changes at no cost
3. supply information customers can comment on
4. build loyalty through ongoing community contact
5. viral communication of bank policies
6. real issues being raised and dealt with
7. customers supplying workable cost saving solutions
8. banks re-inventing their ‘personalities’
9. reduction in complaints being escalated to ombudsman level
10. communication of resolutions to common problems

It is true this can be accomplished by a website but not in the same communicative way a blog can.

I’ve focused on banks here, as I said because that is my background, but there must be other industries where blogging hasn’t caught on and yet could make a difference.

Enlighten me!

Over at the Church of the Customer Blog there is a great story about Terry Heaton who bought a digital camera from CompUSA and ended up with just the box. When he went back to CompUSA they basically said: “you should have checked the box.”

I find this very funny. CompUSA can’t win this and if you check out the post, you’ll see why. Blogs are powerful things.

I can’t think of a case though, where the 2 Step Rule won’t work, unless of course you want to string it out as long as you can in the hope one side will give up. catch a complaint early and you’ll have it resolved in 2 steps.

Ready?

Step 1: Who is at fault? Who started the problem? Who made the first assumption?

Step 2: They pay!

The crucial step is Step 1.

Mess it up here and you’ve really lost the battle before you start. If done well, you’ll play it right every time. If you immediately take a view of “I’m going to win this” just that attitude will come across and the client will take the same view. Now you’re in trouble. Most people are reasonable. manged well, a client will admit their error. As a supplier though, I’d still do something to sweeten the situation. I want them to come back.

As a supplier to customers you may want to review that and always take the view the customer is right. Then it’s a one step process! Easy!

But really, read the post over at Church of the Customer and, if you can, explain to me how CompUSA can legitimately win this?

One mistake we can make is that we think everyone knows what we learnt early in our business lives. I often make this mistake and can be guilty of glossing over subjects I assume the participants already know.

So, I will endeavour to remedy that and provide clear and concise information to help you grow as a manager.

The first item I’ll put forward is “brainstorming” and I’ll even leave the explanation to an expert: Randah Taher

You can download her manifesto here: 10 Guidelines for Brainstorming

Her website is here. Have a look.

If you want to make significant change in your business your life, your relationships, just about anything, you’re going to need time to do it.

In fact, if you don’t give yourself time, you’re probably going to screw it up.

There are dozens of tools out there from software planning tools like MS Project and others that start off looking like a great idea but in the end, you need a plan to learn how to use them before you even start with your plan of changing your life (or whatever it is you want to change)!

So, what do you do, what do you need and how do you know you’re making progress?

Well, I suggest you follow a 90 day planning cycle.

• 90 days gives you time to make the change without putting unnecessary pressure on yourself.
• It allows you time to get used to any new situations you find yourself in.
• It also gives you time to communicate with others what you’re planning to do and for them to get used to the idea.
• (Heck, it could be something as simple as cutting down your TV time!)

So, as with all tasks, break each portion into actionable steps and plan a date you’ll have them done by. If you decide to use index cards, allocate one card to each month. Then you’ll know that once the first month is over, as long as you’re on track, the first card is superfluous.

MIT has a document as a template you can follow. A little more detailed than what I have written here but it provides you with some decent parameters to work within.

Barry Zweibel, business coach, has an article as well on where to use a 90 Day Plan - in a job application process - this is an awesome idea!

If you have implemented a 90 Day Plan I’d love to hear of your experiences and how you used it.

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