Client Success

I recently came across an article about leadership influence, the go-giver way. The article highlighted a book written by Bob Burg and John David Mann titled "The Go-Giver".  This book focused on the "go-giver" theory and how it is related to business...

Everyone is familiar with a go-getter, someone who goes after what they want and in doing so makes things happen for themselves. A go-giver is different but comes up with the same, if not better, results. Someone who lives the go-giver way works with the theory of shifting your focus from getting what you want (me, me, me approach) to giving and putting other's interests first (them, them, them approach). They end up adding value for others and living a life of fulfillment but also having success while doing so and most likely making more friends along the way.

I found this "go-giver" perspective to be interesting and nice value to live by. I also couldn't help myself from relating this attitude to the customer service and sales aspect of business. For those of us who have chosen the sales and customer service field at Allied, we work with this giving mentality everyday.  And in doing so, we turn our customer service interactions into valued partnerships that will continue to grow.

The core of customer service and sales is valuing your customer and and putting their needs first. Whether their needs are about small business supply chain management, corporate marketing communications, data to print programs or helping them redesign their websites. If you value your customers needs before your own, they will notice and in turn will enjoy working with you going forward.  This will also make them want to be more than just your customer, they will start to look to you as a valued partner.

And, once this shift happens you will begin to notice that they value your opinion and look for it when it comes to their business needs. The most valuable gift you have to offer to your clients is yourself. Once we realize this as customer service and sales professionals, people will start to view us as partners and that's when the fun of being a strategic print and marketing partner really begins.

Well, I'm sure by now you have probably realized from my last post and now this one... I love starting my day with a nice cup of coffee.

So, I thought I would share an experience I had the other day. I pulled up to my local Starbucks drive through for the first time in months and the barista, Starbucks employee, who took my order sounded hurried. I thought it was a little odd given Starbucks has a brand identity of being laid back and focused on making good coffee and not necessarily of being in a hurry. Since there was no one behind me, I shrugged it off as they must have a big line inside.

Then as I was patiently waiting to pull up to the window the barista chatted it up with the car in front of me. I thought it was nice that she spent the time being personable with probably one of her regulars. When I did eventually pull up to the window, only 5 minutes later, I was greeted with a big smile and asked how I was doing. Then I was handed a free drink card for the next time I visited a Starbucks. Score! I'm definitely going to come here more often!

The next day I came across an article that highlighted how Starbucks had strayed away from their typical ambient setting and was focusing on how to serve people faster. In doing this, they alienated some of their regular customers. Realizing their misstep of straying too far away from their brands core values, they asked their customers for help with the launch of a website, mystarbucksidea.com.

In launching this as part of an integrated marketing communications program, they gave their community a place to give the brand some feedback on what they are doing right & wrong, what coffee flavors they want them to bring back & different promotions they think Starbucks should offer, such as free coffee on election day and mini Starbucks cards.

Obviously - the barista who gave me the free coffee card has achieved the perfect balance the launch of the website was striving for. She realized she had rushed me and in doing so, had strayed away from their brand identity. To make up for it, she offered me a free drink. Starbucks found what their customers were looking for by using a personalized virtual place for people to give feedback and then strategized and implemented plans to keep their customers happy.

We can all take this into consideration when it comes to our daily interactions as marketing and sales support professionals. We don't need to be the one to provide the fastest or the cheapest quote. It is more important to have personal relationships with our clients by focusing on the one to one communication, finding out what's important to them and offering them a personalized experience with their marketing communications company that they don't receive anywhere else. 

Stick to your core brand values.  That's what keeps the regulars coming back.

The key to a CSR's success is setting realistic client expectations up front and planning to over-deliver on every project. The success of any integrated marketing communications program, or print fulfillment project is often determined before it starts.

Success is defined by the client; it is a mental image clients have of what they will receive. So the CSR and Sales Consultant's goal is to shape the client's expectations so that they  can deliver more than the client's definition of success.

Just the other day I was helping a client set up a sell sheet to be a part of our document management program. Before I even started the set up process I explained that the process from start to finish was probably going to take a few days (managing their expectations). Then when it was completed in one business day (exceeding their expectations), they were impressed.

This is one of the many ways we create the client experience here at The Allied Group. 

One of things we pride ourselves at here at The Allied Group is our listening skills. We figure we have two ears and one mouth for a reason. We should listen twice as much as we talk. And by listening, we mean listening to the wants, desires, and needs of our customers and clients. We want to be able to be responsive to you. As your customer service specialists, we feel the best way to do that is by listening to you.

The Allied Group has a variety of different value added services from inventory management, data to print, web design branding and fulfillment projects. I support all of these functions in my customer service role. Every service listed above has to be personalized based on each customers needs and if we aren't listening, we may miss an opportunity to provide you with what it is you are looking for.

Customer feedback from one client gives us an inside scoop into what some of our other clients may be looking for from us as a partner. For example, if we hear you talking about other projects you are working on, we may be able to provide an innovative solution that has worked for another customer. We may also be able to offer you a different product in our service line that may be helpful in that project.

Plainly stated, customer service is about listening and taking action based on each and every one of our customers feedback. So please feel free to talk with us and tell us what your needs are. We’re here (hear) to listen!