Make Memories, Not Money
No, I haven’t lost my senses. I’m asking you to think about what really brings customers through your doors.
Businesses exist to make money, otherwise they’re hobbies. A business should cover its costs and make extra on top of that. How much extra is down to the business, the sector in which it operates and how it treats its customers.
Think about it, businesses DO make memories - not all of them always good. You only have to Google “Complaints about…” and name the company and you’ll usually find a long list of complaints, anecdotes of terrible experiences and (if you’re lucky) advice on how people managed to turn things in their favour.
What all these have in common is that they represent bad memories given substance. It’s not just one person, but lots. I often read buyer reviews on websites that allow them to see what people have thought. Amazon gives a great illustration (if you look at the “1” reviews) of people who weren’t dissatisfied with products and often had problems obtaining either replacements or refunds from the supplier (assuming it wasn’t Amazon). It’s these memories that influence whether I buy that product or not. If you want a “real life” example, just look at the user reviews of OSX “Mavericks” – Apple’s latest operating system for its MacBook and iMac range of computers. Some are balanced, but there are clearly some disappointed people out there…
So what are the memories you want to make for customers? Remember, if they’re positive, you’ll see one or more of these:
- Increased revenues
- Increased profitability
- Increased word-of-mouth recommendations
- Reduced costs from handling dissatisfied customers
- Reduced customer “churn”
Don’t underestimate the money to be made from creating positive memories. Sadly, many businesses take a “transactional” approach without thinking about what brings people back for more. What would you do if you had happy customers who told everyone they knew about how wonderful your business was?
I remember a conversation with the then Minister of Tourism for the Bahamas who pointed out that yes, they had a lot of tourists, but he then asked “But how many come back for a second time?” He had clearly grasped the point about making sure that tourists went away with positive memories.
By making positive memories for customers, your business will naturally make money. Your task is to decide where your strengths and objectives lie in order to use the former to leverage the latter.
I have spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With more than 20 years in the world financial services industry running different service, operations and lending businesses, I started my own Performance Management Consultancy to offer solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management. I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email . My website provides a full picture of my portfolio of services. For strategic questions that you should be asking yourself, follow me at @wkm610.
Labels: Customer Care, Productivity, Selling, Teamwork
posted by William Martin @ 09:38
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