5. Leverage Your Credit at the ‘Wow Bank’

 The customer’s opinion of your business is a bit like a bank account, where the higher your credit balance the greater the amount of ‘interest’ you earn from their loyalty and advocacy.

In order to build up credit in the wow bank you should aim to make a deposit every time you interact with the customer by doing what you can do to deliver more value or improve their experience. Even small gestures that cost nothing, such as smiling and remembering the customer’s name, help you to build up your credit and allow you to offset any ‘debt’ when things go wrong. Handling complaints well restores your credit; handling them brilliantly is like making a big deposit in the bank.

It may seem obvious to say that avoiding a problem is always better than having to fix one, but many businesses are so focussed on winning new business that they often neglect the customers they already have and so risk losing them to their competitors. Delighting your existing customers means not only will they remain loyal but they’ll also do your advertising and attract new customers for you.

Reflections

Can you think of a time you handled or managed a customer complaint and it didn't result in the outcome you expected?  Can you use that scenario and analyze it utilizing the L.A.S.T. mnemonic device we discussed in Section 4 and see what you could have or should have done differently?  How do you think the outcome could have changed if you used a different strategy?

Here you will find a link to my Udemy course to learn how to develop a customer-centric strategy and put in place the people, processes and systems to create the wow factor and transform your customer experience, following in the footsteps of the world's favourite brands.  This link is unique to Catcat users and offers you a discount to begin.