Who are your VIPs?

The other day I was trying to get through to my new email service provider on the phone as there was an irritating problem which I didn’t understand and couldn't fix myself.  I like to think I’m reasonably intelligent but some of this ‘technical’ stuff has me running scared in case I break something!

I should add that this same supplier has been my domain registrar of choice for quite a few years, and I’ve always found them helpful and friendly, so they were my obvious choice when I needed to switch email providers.

After dialling in and selecting the ‘Support’ option I was placed in a queue.  After 5 minutes I gave up and got on with some work.  Then I got an email from one of my newsletter subscribers reminding me of another email related problem.  Now anything that concerns my subscribers is top priority, so I dialled the provider again, selected ‘Support’ and waited to speak to a human being.  And I waited..... and waited ...... After 10 minutes I was getting pretty steamed up and seriously wondering if the support desk had taken the afternoon off!

I hung up and dialled in again, this time selecting the ‘Sales’ option.  Wouldn’t you know it, that line was answered after two rings!   I won’t bore you with the rest of my story, but it got me thinking about how we sometimes treat existing clients and potential clients differently, without realising it.

Great efficiency and helpfulness are often deciding factors for potential clients in the buying process.  These factors can outweigh price objections and see off competitors, even in a crowded marketplace!  But the reality has to live up to the promise and that’s often where the problem lies.....

Once the client has signed up or completed the transaction, many providers breathe a sigh of relief and get back to impressing other prospective clients.  Meanwhile the brand new latest client may be starting to wonder whether anyone is still interested in him now they’ve got his money.  Disappointed, he may not be keen to buy anything else from this provider, nor recommend them to others.

Looking after existing customers well will pay off many times over – and needn’t take much extra work.

Here are my thoughts:

1.    Answer customer support lines quickly
2.    Follow up queries to check everything is now OK
3.    As your existing clients how you could improve their experience – surveys are a great way to get ideas for new products or services too
4.    Send your clients an occasional unexpected bonus as a ‘thank you’ for being a loyal customer, what you send isn’t as important as sending something.

What do you think? What’s important to you as a customer? What do you do to treat your existing clients like VIPs?