Today, customer service is becoming more scientific than ever but some of the science behind it is not new. It is much more than about before and after-sales service. We live in a global economy, where the Internet is the chief protagonist, and Competitive Intelligence (CI) is the new catchphrase of the day. CI is not the only “CIA meets the boardroom” taking place by means of Internet technology, but it is not rocket science, and any business can take advantage of the benefits derived.

Businesses are watching their competitors through their websites, and virtually every firm that means business, has an online presence. By the same token, every business that wants to be on top of the corporate heap, should be doing the same. So, as Spy vs. Spy as this practice might seem, it is a lot more out in the open than in the bad old days, when the KGB and CIA were crouching on either side of the Iron Curtain – furtively recording every move made. However the techniques used are very similar to those that took place during the Cold War.

Competitive intelligence is designed to help businesses anticipate moves, and respond to opposition. So, just like the CIA, MI5, and the KGB recorded, debriefed, tracked, scrutinized, and analyzed every of each-others motives, matching them move for move in a process called “trade-craft”. So too are businesses involved in a very similar systematic process that is just as highly effective – CI.

The basic theme is to achieve a better understanding of what another business uses which gives them a competitive edge. We are not alluding to anything illegal or unethical such as industrial espionage. An example of industrial espionage is stealing the secret formula for Coca Cola. CI is above-board, astute, well-thought-out, systematic and an innovation which that drives better conclusions for companies.

One thing we can guarantee any business owner (A) of, is that their competitors (B,C,D and E) have made it their business to learn about (A’s) methods, in particular if (A) is successful.  (A) may be the biggest and best, but they still need to know what (B,C,D and E) are doing that enables them to have a stake in a similar market share. A Competitive Intelligence framework provides the tools to create more significant value, shape goals, formulate strategies, develop tactics, as well as counter threats from rivals in the same industry.

It is essential for any business to make a distinction between their brands, products, and services from rivals, even if these products are similar in nature. PWC (PricewaterhouseCoopers) has found that fast-growth firms use Competitive Intelligence, and find it to be either critically or at the least “very” important for enabling them to position themselves against threats, adapt to changes in the market, increase revenue, save money, and at very little cost in terms of return on investment. Even High School football teams use this methodology to great effect, and any business with an online presence, should be effectively making use of CI too.

Customer Service is the Bottom Line

The way you serve and support your customers is key to your overall business strategy. Customer service should be represented at boardroom level, and not as a subsection of sales. In a market where everyone is chasing a smaller pot – it’s absolutely essential to protect what you already have.

Customer Service Really Matters

Over 70% of clients rate customer service as the single most important factor in doing business. They place it above sales, marketing, brand, everything. Over 80% place after care for a major purchase as the determining point for future loyalty.

Your Customers Must Come First

When times are tight, people are more ready to switch suppliers or providers than ever before. Nearly 50% of consumers say that they would consider making a move if the benefits were right.

Cost Cutting Is Not The Priority

It’s easy to focus on new revenue streams and tighten care budgets, after all – sales are what count right? Wrong. Your existing customers spend more money than your new clients in most instances and serving them is cheaper than winning over new clients. Don’t slash care budgets to chase rainbows.

Well Trained Employees Deliver the Goods

If you want to have a reputation for the best customer care, then make sure your people are well prepared to deliver it. Invest in motivating, training and empowering your service staff – their level of professional competence translates directly into the customer experience. Happy clients means more money.

Engage with your customers and empathize with them

Remember your clients if you meet face to face, keep key details to make dealing with you more rewarding – on CRM systems. Use social media to broaden your reach. Make it easy for your customers to reach you, and make it easier to serve them.

Monitor Feedback and Complaints

Each complaint is potentially lost revenue, turning a complaint around successfully can bring enormous financial benefits to your business. Make sure you have the appropriate systems in place to track problems all the way through to resolution. Make sure you can analyze the data and use it to prevent some problems from occurring again in the future. In short be proactive for your customers, and don’t wait for a disaster before doing something positive.

Be Creative and Strategic

That means make sure that every point of contact is consistent in its approach and that customer delight (not satisfaction) is at the heart of what you do.

A downturn in the economy can still bring plenty of opportunities to the customer savvy business. Don’t waste that moment – go after perfection while your competitors are licking their wounds. Make your company the single best in your field, and listen to your customers tell the world about it.

So how is this best accomplished? If you are a small business owner, you need to let people know who you are and what you do. Advertising has a way of spreading like wildfire. Then once people get to know you and your product or service, the best form of advertising you can experience is word of mouth referrals and testimonials from your own customers to other people in their circle of influence.

Potential customers need to know what you or your product can do for them, but you need to stir up a desire or willingness in them to get involved with your business. How are you going to accomplish this? By building their trust.

An Essential Key Skill

Communication is a form of selling, so how you communicate is vital. Public speaking is a very important communication tool and is an essential key skill. It is a very effective way to communicate who you are, face to face, with potential customers and to sell your services, letting them know what you do and, more specifically, how you can help them. It is both powerful and influential because it generates trust and confidence in you as a person and gives a face to your business.

But public speaking can be a scary thing. It is the number one fear, with fear of death coming second. That means in a manner of speaking, people would rather be the person in the casket than the person up on stage speaking! Yet, public speaking is one of the best ways– using live events– to get people to know you. This form of presentation is essential for generating increased business and clientele, because people tend to do business based on relationships.

So why do most people shy away from this form of communication? Most often because of fear: fear of not knowing what to say, fear of forgetting their words, fear of looking dumb, or fear of being rejected. However, when you face these fears head on, armed with some simple strategies for successful public speaking, you can use this tool to your advantage to build your business and gain a cutting edge in your industry.

In the following series of articles we are going to look at how to pick the perfect presentation topic on which to speak. If you are a small business owner and are booked to speak in front of either your chamber of commerce or a networking group, how are you going to know what to talk about? This series of articles is going to show you exactly how to choose a great topic. That alone will give you increased confidence when you stand up to speak.

Meanwhile, get excited about this form of communicating because it is an essential tool for your small business. As you get your name and your business out into the marketplace, you will gain new business and clientele and be able to start expanding your small business base.

The first step in creating an outstanding relationship with your customers is to simply listen to them. That may seem like a simple thing to do, but so often we get so caught up in sharing what we have to offer and what our product is that we forget to take the time to listen to what it is that our customers, the people that are walking through our doors, really want.

For example, in my chiropractic businesses, I know what services I can render. I know what I think that I’m going to do but it’s so important, in the medical field especially, to listen to the patient’s complaints or concerns. The necessity to be focused on their concerns and complaints can be carried over to any business whether it be in the technological, merchandising, or informational arena. Specifically look at what it is that the customer wants to have. Can you hear them through, over, and above what you want to put out there? All businesses know what they have to offer, but do you know what your customers want and does what you have to offer equal what they need?

I truly believe that you need to be of service, and in order to do so you really have to know what it is that they want. To effectively do that, listen to their needs.

For example, there were a lot of times early in my practice, before I understood the strategies, when someone would come into my office and we would do the basic chiropractic care. But on top of that we would also include some extra therapies. We wouldn’t charge them for those and all we would basically say would be, “Have a nice day!” But those extra therapies were valuable. So now what we’ve trained our staff to say is something like this: “We just wanted to let you know that you had your chiropractic visit, but in addition to that we also did a massage therapy or heat therapy or we’ve provided you with this appliance. Normally our charges for that would be $300, but for you there is no charge. We just want to make sure that you’re comfortable.” It’s very important to let them know what you’ve done for them.

Here’s another example: I have a friend who is a very high-end carpenter and when he used to go to his clients’ homes to do finished carpentry work, he would often do little extra things because he is a very meticulous person. He was really terrific at what he did, but he would do the extra things and the bill would not show that he had given the client added value. Once after he had done work at my house I met with him and shared, “Ray, you know I really appreciate that you’ve done these extra things but you have given them no extra value. You’re not increasing the value of yourself and your company.” So I recommended that when he completed his jobs that, even though he is not going to charge for the extras he does, he should let the customers know how much he actually did for them.

So now on Ray’s invoices, he lists all the things that they had agreed on at a certain price and then he writes, for example, “In addition to that, we also did this extra chair. We repaired this, we patched that, we laid about 20 extra feet of board on your floor, we made this look right, and I didn’t like the way the last guy hung that door so we re-hung it for you. Normally that would have cost you $2,000 but that’s all at no extra charge because I wanted to make sure the job got done right”.

So when you over-deliver, let them know that you over-delivered. Tactfully letting them know that it was done is a very important step in your customer relationship building strategy.

My final strategy is one of the most important ones:

Let them know that they’re special. Let them know that you appreciate them coming to you. As I said earlier, there are thousands of choices available to people in our world today. With just a couple of strokes on a keyboard and a few clicks of mouse, people can shop anywhere in the world instantly.

Why should they come to you? Well, if you’ve been communicating in the way I recommended in my previous posts, you know that communication is really important. But besides that, you also want to let them know that you’re grateful for them being there and that you appreciate them trusting in you, being willing to be part of your business, and being willing to help you grow.

There’s a great expression: “Reward the behavior you desire.” Reward your customers for doing the things you want them to do. If they’re shopping with you, you want to reward them. That reward could just be a letter that you write and send out. For the people who are reading this that are small businesses, I love handwritten letters in your own handwriting. A personal note that says, “Hey, thanks for shopping with us the other day, I’m glad you like that.” For people who have larger businesses, that’s not practical and then an e-mail version or some type of a mail system that can generate letters for you is great. But let them know that you appreciate them. And I’m not talking about a follow up letter to sell them more stuff. I’m talking about a letter or a note or a call or something just to let them know that you’re glad they’re part of your business; that you’re glad that you had the chance to serve them.

If you put all of these five communication and customer relationship building strategies in place in any existing business system, your business will do better, your customer loyalty will increase, your profits will increase, and you’ll be able to serve more people. A win-win for all around!