Satisfied customers can be one of a business' most important assets.

One of a business’ most important assets does not appear on a balance sheet: its current, satisfied customers. How much emphasis does your management team place on nurturing and maintaining current client relationships? Studies have shown that it costs five times more to find a new customer than it does to keep an existing one.

A huge amount of resources are expended in developing the right message and finding and marketing to target prospects. Although this may be necessary to maintain or grow a business, finding the right balance between actively pursuing prospects and keeping current customers satisfied is critical.

Attention Must Be Paid
The structure of most organizations and their associated business processes is built around delivery of tactical or operational results. The focus is on the steps needed to get the project done or the tasks associated with getting the order out the door. Most organizations pay little attention to the cumulative impact that these everyday processes have on their customers. The focus is on the efficiency of the process and not necessarily the customer experience that results.   

I’ve found management often does not take the step of aligning its standard operating procedures to provide for more opportunities for meaningful interaction with the client. When done strategically, this interaction can drive additional sales to these customers as well as prompt satisfied customers to refer new business.

Don’t get me wrong – effective business processes are essential to managing cost and driving productivity. However, if you want to leverage the revenue potential of your customer base, it is also important to understand how the processes you have built for internal efficiency can influence a customer’s perception and experience.

When I refer to service, I am not referring to delivering on time or on schedule at a fair price. These factors are expected if you are going to be allowed to compete. In my experience, many companies promote the effectiveness of their service with little evidence of what really makes them distinctive. Distinctive service relates to building the relationships, processes and information systems that allow you to anticipate and be flexible in how you deal with your customers.

Small Changes = Great Rewards
For example, an engineering firm client with six divisions had developed strong internal processes for the completion of work in each division. This seemed to be an efficient structure, but a review of the firm’s procedures revealed a problem: Any client dealing with multiple divisions at the same time had to coordinate with a different person in each division.    

From the client’s point of view, it was working on one project and wanted one point of communication. After realizing the impact that improved service performance would have on the company, management agreed to a substantial reorganization that revolved around a central point of contact for a client.

Similarly, a manufacturing company client with several operating divisions had separate customer interface people for different functions in the company. One department could not provide an order status update if the order had moved to another department.

Utilizing customer relationship management (CRM) technology, the client was able to build a comprehensive database of all customer interactions and orders. As a result, any service representative could answer any status inquiries and customer history questions.

Another manufacturing company treated each customer complaint as an individual event. The complaints were generally resolved quickly and efficiently. However, the firm did not take time to understand how many complaints were being recorded by specific customers. It had no idea of the cumulative impact of its mistakes until it was too late.

Again, using CRM technology, the company and its consultant created a system for logging complaints. When a customer’s complaints exceed a certain number in a given period, an e-mail blast is sent to members of sales and senior management. They meet within one business day to discuss the issue, and the CEO proactively calls the customer to let it know his or her company has identified the issues and is working on them.