By Kevin Lawrence (www.CoachKevin.com)
 

Knowledge is a powerful fuel that propels successful businesses.  It helps you understand how your business rates with clients, and it allows you to make positive changes to accommodate their unique and varied needs.  Although many people listen to what their customers have to say, their businesses still don't realize their full potential.  Highly useful feedback is often not obtained because the wrong questions are being asked. 

It would seem that many people are "too close" to their business to properly dissect and analyze its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.  A "neutral party" is sometimes much better equipped to elicit feedback.  That's why we put together the following Ten Essential Things You Need to Know About Your Customers list.  It's designed to help business people like you begin the process of gathering more useful information when probing and consulting clients.  Because, in business, ignorance is never bliss. 

1. Why did your customers originally choose to deal with you?  Find out why people first chose to work with you, rather than your competition, in order to identify tapped and untapped means by which to stimulate your business' further development.  If most of your business has come from referrals, it makes sense to continue focusing upon them.  At the same time, you may find that there are business growth strategies you're not taking advantage of, or changes that need to be made, to help generate business in other ways.

2. Why do existing clients continue dealing with you?  Generate a commentary about what keeps people coming back. Whether it's one specific reason or a few, there's some way to explain why people remain loyal.  If you happen to get comments like "I haven't found anything better yet," then you know you need to do something, and quickly!

3. How would your customers rate their overall level of satisfaction with your business?  Asking customers to comment on their rating here often generates interesting feedback.  Many business people are surprised at how satisfied their customers are.  Most of the time - in our experience - customers have turned out to be happier than imagined.  Regardless of how well you rate, however, this information will illustrate the level of loyalty your clients do or do not have for your business.

4. What are your business' strengths according to clients? Where you consider your business to be strong won't necessarily be where your customers think it's strong.  When it comes to building a business, it's crucial to emphasize what your clients want.  And, especially when it comes to attracting new clients, it's very important to develop plans and strategies bearing your customers' preferences in mind.  Emphasize what your clients consider to be your strengths when explaining the value of your business and its services to prospects -- because what they see, not what you think, is what matters, in the end.

5. What are your business' weaknesses according to your clients? The question people least enjoy asking is often the most rewarding of all.  This isn't a surprise.  Nobody enjoys being "criticized."  However, when you gain feedback by asking for it directly, say, in a questionnaire, you can expect to get plenty of hints about "big" and "little" things you can do to improve and satisfy your customers more.  Generating a dialogue should not be avoided, and customers who offer their opinions should be appreciated -- they're not criticizing you;  they're offering you an opportunity to serve them better and increase their loyalty.

   The findings of the Strategic Planning Institute study on customers' complaints are astounding.  The study discovered that the average business does not receive complaints from 96% of its unhappy customers.  At least 90% of these non-complainers will not do business with the company again.  On the other hand, amongst those four percent of unsatisfied customers who do launch a complaint, seven of ten will do business with the company again so long as it is handled properly, and a staggering 95% will do business with the company again if their feedback results in a rapid solution that exceeds their expectations. 

   Sometimes, you'll find that it's easier to have someone else ask the questions for you.  Clients tend to be more straight-forward with a neutral third party than they can be with you.  Also, keeping survey results confidential enhances trust amongst respondents. 

6. What level of awareness exists amongst your customers respecting each of the various services you offer? This is extremely useful information because:

   1. your company may not be maximizing opportunities to provide its clients with additional profit-generating services;

   2. customer service can often be improved simply by raising service awareness levels -- existing clients may have to expend energy and other resources looking elsewhere for services you could conveniently provide for them. 

   Often, loyal customers don't have a clue about which services a business offers -- it's your responsibility, and to your benefit, to keep people informed. 

7. What would you have to do to get more business from existing clients?  If you don't ask them, they probably won't tell you.  Be pro-active about discovering your clients' needs, and offer them customized suggestions and recommendations for improvement and growth.  Once you begin a dialogue of this sort with a client, you will quickly find out what you need to do to enhance their loyalty and increase the amount of business they do with you.  Sounds simple, and it is!

8. How do your clients' expectation levels compare with their actual satisfaction levels?  It's important to identify whether you are missing, meeting, or exceeding your clients' expectations when it comes to a variety of specific criteria such as professionalism, knowledge and reliability.  Information of this sort should help you to make purposeful changes that improve your business.  It's great to rank "well," but everything is relative.  Depending upon your clients' expectation levels, any particular rating can be positive or negative.  If your customers expect you to deliver a "10" level of service when it comes to knowledge, a "9" rating is a problem.  On the other hand, if your clients expect an "8" level of knowledge from you, a "9" rating is great.  Unless you keep all this in perspective, it is difficult to set your business on the right track.

9. What additional services would your clients like to see you offer? People sometimes don't realize that a demand exists for a service they can provide easily, without re-allocating significant resources.  That's why it's so important for you to keep asking your clients how you can provide them with additional value.  Marketing becomes amazingly simple when your "target audience" consists of loyal, existing customers.

10. How comfortable would your clients be referring business to you? People are usually very surprised to find out how comfortable their clients would be referring business to them.  That's why it's so important for people to hear the good news for themselves.  Knowing that your clients would be happy to help you grow your business should give you the confidence to do what it takes to generate endless referrals for your company.  You may even kick yourself for not asking this question sooner and more often.