Episode 23The Customer is King
Customers ensure your business survives and grows. To ensure that your business continues to succeed, customer focussed marketing is indispensable. Tonight, Peter Applebaum and the expert panel discuss how to treat your customers like kings!
Case study
Chris Powell launched his brand Integrity Life in a highly regulated and conservative market. Integrity is an insurance group dedicated to “making life insurance what it should be”. Their focus is on the commitment given to helping people when they need help most.
When Integrity Life was launched late last year, one of Chris’ strategies was to take over insurance giant QBE’s existing life insurance license. His other innovative strategy was to have a customer first mentality from the start.
Case Study Key Takeouts
- Test and measure is a great way to develop products, systems and services that are unique and really focussed on being the easiest and most effective for the customers.
- Focus on the whole customer experience not just one particular aspect.
- Ask your customers what they want. They will be more than willing to tell you and you can use this information to offer the best possible service for them.
- Show interest into customers, give them what they are asking for and repeat that process.
Marketing Panel
Christopher Powell
Managing Director & CEO
Integrity Life
Genevieve Rosen
Founder
Bed Threads
Tom Lawrence
Founder & CEO
Swanky Socks
Panel Key Takeouts
- Customers are willing to pay higher prices if you make sure that your product is of good quality and well developed.
- The customer should be in the heart of everything that you’re doing.
- Having the best customer care doesn’t matter as long as you don’t offer a product that has a real customer benefit.
- Any business decision you make should be tailored to your customers.
- Be open to what your customers want and stay in touch with them to see if their needs change.
- Try to make the product to be a part of the customer service experience.
- Caring about customers and paying attention to their needs should be priority number one for all businesses.
- Regular communicating with your clients is part of a good customer service.
- Using Social Media for your business provides real time feed back from customers and gives you an insight into their desires and needs.
Caller Key Takeouts
“Is customer service becoming more or less important due to Social Media?” – Viola Mikhail
- Since Social Media arises a lot of competitors joining the game. It is important to take care of your customers and to offer an enjoyable experience to not lose in this more intensive competition.
- A good customer service gives your clients a fine sentiment and is essential to separate from competitors. Often it is the deciding aspect to win the customer for yourself and your business.
- Unhappy customers will share their bad experiences with the whole world using Social Media. Therefore, providing a good customer service has never been so important.
Viola Mikhail
VeeVee Hair
“Is there an easy and cost effective way to add value to my customers?” – Melissa Don Port
- Use social media to engage with your existing customers and provide expert knowledge and content that is related to your business and relevant for your customers.
- In terms of dealing face to face to customers, it’s all about their personal experiences with your business. Let them enjoy being your customer and try to create a word of mouth scenario.
- Give your customers an experience that is in line with their expectations.
Melissa Don Port
Founder
Mia Cuccina
Marketing Tech Key Takeouts
How to use technology to get a customer service edge for your business.
- Good customer service can make a major impact on a company’s bottom line.
- Personalize the response to customers and make sure that all its information is correct.
- Acknowledge your customers comment and ensure that you understand the their feeling.
- Try to reply to customers as fast as possible as they expect to receive help within a period of one day at the most.
- You have to be available on the platforms that are used by the majority of your customers like Facebook, E-Mail or Instagram.
- Platforms that can help you establishing a good customer service may be Zendesk, Freshdesk, Salesforce, MyLiveChat or ClickDesk.
- No matter which platform you chose for your business make sure that it makes everyone of your customers feel like kings.