How to Turn Casual Customers into Raving Fans
Copyright (c) 2009 Judy Murdoch
Highly Contagious Marketing
http://www.judymurdoch.com/workbook.htm

One piece of advice I’m hearing again and again is the
importance of taking good care of your “core customers.” The
customers who have been working with you for years, who send you
referrals, and who return again and again to buy from you.

Loyal customers are vitally important during difficult economic
times like we’re currently experiencing because they’re less
expensive to sell to: you don’t have to spend weeks sometimes
months building credibility because they’re already sold.

But what if your business is relatively new and you just don’t
have many customers who are coming back yet? Or what if you just
lost several of your business customers and you need to cultivate
new relationships?

Can you do something to accelerate the process of turning casual
customers into raving fans who sing your praises?

Enter the art of creating a fully satisfying customer experience.

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A Satisfying Experience is the Key
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A “satisfying customer experience” means that the many ways
that your customers interact with and use your products are
designed to satisfy in a meaningful way.

This goes far beyond solving the customer’s basic problem.

And this is where the magic can happen.

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Dimensions of a Fully Satisfying Experience
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Customer experience is all about “how” a problem is being
solved. And this “how” can be broken down into different types
of experience including:

* Physical senses: sight, sound, taste, smell, and touch

* Emotions that come up (happy, curious, interested, annoyed,
amused)

* Heart-based connection (feeling like the other people have
empathy for your situation)

* Intellectual connection (how you go about solving problems;
how you learn; vocabulary you use)

The more of these dimensions that are touched in an appropriate
way, the more satisfying your customer’s experience will be.

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Customer Experience: Albuquerque Turkey
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I can’t think of a better product that we can all relate to than
food so I’ll talk about my experience at Spinelli’s Market, a
local deli/grocery store to which I love going–especially for
their awesome sandwiches.

Although Spinelli’s sells some mainstream brands of snacks and
soft drinks, the best parts of the store are the aisles of
imported Italian foods, pastas, sauces, and olive oil and the
deli counter where they sell salads and cut to order deli meats.

The awesome sandwiches are made at the deli counter in the back
of the store.

You give your sandwich order along with your choice of sides
(pickle, a deli salad or fresh fruit or chips) to one of the guys
working behind the counter and they make your sandwich while you
wait.

I usually use the time to browse through the stores aisles and
pick something to drink.

When your sandwich is ready, the counter guy will call your name.
You then take your sandwich wrapped in white butcher paper along
with whatever else you’re buying to the front to pay.

Sometimes I eat my sandwich in the store at one of the little
metal tables in the front and sometimes I take my sandwich home.

Those sandwiches always make an impression. Every time I’ve
brought a family member or a friend or a business associate to
Spinelli’s for sandwiches, they will ask from that time forward
“when are we going to that great sandwich place again?”

Spinelli’s sandwiches are a great example of a supremely
satisfying experience. Here’s why:

* The ingredients of the sandwiches are always fresh

* The Spinelli family is very mindful of where they source the
ingredients. They support local farms and dairies and when
possible, buy from family owned businesses.

* You feel like someone took the time to really think about what
to put in a particular sandwich. All the flavors meld together in
unique and wonderful ways.

* Everyone working at the store is friendly and you feel like
they’re truly glad to be working at such a cool place.

* When you’re done eating it’s not just your stomach that
feels full.

My heart feels full too because I’ve eaten something prepared
with thought and care and because buying lunch from a local
business is contributes to the health of the community I live in.

Now take a moment and compare this experience with visiting a big
franchise place like Subway or Taco Bell.

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Creating a More Satisfying Experience for Your Customers
=========================================

So what about your business, what can you do to create a more
fulfilling, satisfying experience with your prospects and
customers?

Here are four steps I recommend to get you started.

=== Step #1 Remember Why You Started a Business to Begin with

Before jumping into the specifics, I think it’s important to
take a moment to remember why you started your own business. Was
it because:

* you saw a better way to do something than what other companies
were offering at the time?

* something you’re passionate about that you wanted other
people to experience?

* something important to you that you wanted to actively support
through your business?

And make sure your heart is fully engaged too. When your heart is
fully engaged you enable customers to engage with their hearts as
well.

=== Step #2 Ask Yourself, “How is the Reason Behind my Business
Showing Up in My Products and Services?”

If you started your business because you care deeply or have a
passion or have a true innovation, I imagine it’s showing up in
the products and services you offer. Even without deliberate
effort.

Take a look at what you currently sell and in what ways is the
care and love for your business showing up in your products and
services.

For example, the Spinelli family supports the Slow Food movement,
a grass roots movement which encourages people to eat locally
grown and produced whole foods.

In addition to sandwiches, the Spinelli family produces and
markets a line of Italian sauces and sells made-from-scratch
entrees that busy customers can heat and eat at home.

=== Step #3 Ask Yourself, “Are There Ways Customers Can
Experience More of What We Care About?”

My guess is that if you sell something special, your customers
know.

But if you aren’t talking about what goes into creating your
products and services, they may not know how to articulate this
difference to other people.

If this is the case, you and your customers are missing an
opportunity for word of mouth marketing.

For example, one of my clients creates girls dresses using
patterns and fabrics from the 1950′s and 1960′s. I love her
work because the dresses are cute without being frilly or fussy.

But there are lots of cute kids clothing lines out there. I felt
her products were something special

I suggested to her, as part of her marketing, to share the story
behind how she found the pattern and why it appealed to her.

Her stories are funny and entertaining and they help store owners
who carry her lines and the customers who buy the outfits feel
involved in something special and unique.

=== Step #4 Choose One Small Change to Make so Customers Feel
More Engaged and Satisfied

By far, the easiest change you can make is to tell your story to
customers so they understand why you have the business you have
and sell the products and services you sell.

Sharing your story helps people feel more engaged and satisfied
for several reasons:

(1.) They have a way to articulate to others a reason for trying
your products and services. Referring others helps your customers
look good to others and you want to make it as easy as possible
for them to do so.

(2.) It allows customers to feel like a part of something larger.
When you share your story those who share your experience or
point of view find a kindred spirit to be with.

(3.) Stories are easy to understand and remember because they
touch us not only intellectually but emotionally. Human beings
seem “pre-wired” to absorb and integrate information that comes
in narrative form.

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Bottom Line
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To create more raving fans it’s important to understand what
makes your products and services uniquely satisfying to current
customers.

This satisfying experience goes beyond simply solving a
problem… a satisfying experience engages the senses and
emotions as your customers use your products and services.

Four steps I recommend for creating a more satisfying experience
are:

1. Think back to why you started your business to begin with

2. Ask whether that reason is reflected in the products and
services you sell

3. Find ways in which your clients can experience what makes your
products and services special

4. Find an opportunity to tell a story and more fully engage your
Customers

———————————————————-
Judy Murdoch helps small business owners create low-cost,
effective marketing campaigns using word-of-mouth referrals,
guerrilla marketing activities, and selected strategic alliances.
To download a free copy of the workbook, “Where Does it Hurt?
Marketing Solutions to the problems that Drive Your Customers
Crazy!” go to http://www.judymurdoch.com/workbook.htm
You can contact Judy at 303-475-2015 or judy@judymurdoch.com