For many companies, earning the respect of their customers can be quite challenging. This is because great quality is not always enough to win them over. A common mistake is thinking that to earn respect, you need to please customers in everything, confusing respect with an emotional bond.
The emotional bond is nothing more than the affection the customer develops for the company, and this affection is important too, but not as much as respect. Why? The emotional bond is emotional; therefore, temporary. Just as a customer creates an emotional bond today, they will create one with other companies tomorrow and forget yours. After all, the emotional bond is built very quickly and is quick to lose.
On the other hand, respect is difficult to build but is solid. When a customer respects your company, they will trust in the quality and service and will know your company stands out among others. Respect is not just any feeling because it is not emotional; it is earned with evidence and stances. A respected company earns customer loyalty, with which comes the freedom to act because the customer trusts in your decisions.
What Prevents Respect?
Many people sell the idea, especially on social media, that humanizing means building intimacy and that this creates loyalty, but this is not true for most businesses. Excessive intimacy is also harmful because the customer feels entitled to judge and demand more than they should, as the personal mixes with the professional.
Another mistake that happens often with small businesses is always demonstrating dependence on the customer. Some salespeople make it clear they need the customer to buy. Of course, this is true, but when the customer feels they have too much power, they might exploit this and take advantage of the company. The company needs to know that the customer is important along with many other customers, and it is this union that matters, not the customer exclusively.
But why have this vision? When a customer is lost, the company needs to be prepared to win many others. Equally important is to analyze the patterns and evaluate the reasons for this departure. Thus, perhaps your company will discover that this was not the right customer profile and redirect marketing to the correct audience. Not every departing customer is a loss; see them as an opportunity for improvement.
The customer is not always to be treated as king; they are not always right, and this needs to be very clear to everyone working in your company. When a customer is treated as king without well-defined limits, they will naturally feel superior to the company, becoming blind to perceive the value that the products or services have. At some point, this 'king' customer will find a respected company and abandon the first one.
Disorganization is also a recurring problem when it comes to earning respect. A disorganized company doesn't win it, because the customer doesn't feel secure with it. This organization should begin from the first contact, in the marketing itself, at the start of the sale and in the post-sale as well. Only after a well-organized process will the customer value the company's organization and efficiency.
Have a Respected Company Doing This!
It is very important to have some informal conversation with your customer to create some bond, but be careful not to delve too deeply into personal matters. Play the listener's role and reveal little about yourself. This way, the customer will feel close and maintain the respect that this relationship requires.
To keep your company organized, establish service flows in all areas of the company. This way, the professional will feel secure in assisting the customer, passing this confidence on to them. This technique also prevents mistakes from being made and important information from being omitted.
Your customer should be heard at the right time by the appropriate people. If necessary, schedule a meeting with a well-defined start and end time. Because the customer shouldn't take all your time, except in some cases where it's up to the professional to evaluate. When you're with your customer at that moment, show yourself interested, respectful, and ready to help. Time is limited, but the quality of service must be high.
When they complain or request something, analyze if their desire will also solve other customers' issues without harming the company and if other customers have already expressed the same need. Evaluating the overall context, the professional will decide whether the customer will be served or not. The customer is not the king; they don't decide for the company. The professionals decide. Customers' voices should be heard as in a choir.