Think of a tricycle. Were it not for the fact that a tricycle has two small wheels at the rear and a larger wheel at the front, it would topple over.
Similarly, a retail business relies on three ‘wheels’ to operate efficiently and effectively — product development (control), operational excellence (costs) and customer service (relationships). But the question is, which should be the large wheel at the front?
The answer is that relationships must be your big ‘wheel’ if you want to thrive and grow in a sustainable way over the long term.
When we speak of brand loyalty, most retailers immediately think it’s something that can only be achieved through conquest and conversion. They also assume that the brand strategies of old, which entailed mass media (all channels), of following the leader, making empty stereotypical promises and celebrity endorsements, etc, are still the way to dominate the market.
But times have changed.
Today’s consumer is bombarded with ads, messages and posts everywhere they turn, from the moment they get out of bed until the time they get back in at night. Think of the times when you’ve waited in a queue for a service or sat at the station waiting for your train to arrive.
Did you spend that time looking at billboards or chatting to the stranger beside you? Or did you, like most people today, have your eyes glued to the screen on your mobile device?
Yet very few retail brands understand how to meaningfully engage with their target markets through today’s online channels. Now think of all the posts and ads that attracted your attention so much that you felt compelled to share them with others.
No doubt most, if not all, of those posts and ads would have connected with you on an emotional level.
A business associate of mine recently shared a powerful example of brilliant customer service in action. He was about to board an aircraft to take a flight and, like many people these days, posted his action on Facebook, including a hashtag with the name of the airline he was travelling with and a comment that their service that morning had been exceptional.
It was what happened next that made this experience extraordinary from a customer service point of view. The airline responded to my associate’s post, thanking him for the acknowledgement and promising him a gift in return.
The gift arrived, as promised, by registered mail about a week later. On opening the parcel, my associate was literally gobsmacked. The airline had sent him a set of his favourite designer brand of quirky, handcrafted shoelaces, something they could only have known by searching through his Facebook page.
A handwritten note, signed by the airline’s ‘Thank You Department’ (literally the name of the department) accompanied the gift. Naturally my business associate shared what had just happened with his vast social and business networks, literally singing the airline’s praises.
There is no reason why any business (retail or other) couldn’t replicate this level and delivery method of customer service.
In short, people no longer engage with and follow brands the way they used to. The brand strategy buzzwords of old have been replaced with words like ‘audience’, ‘influencers’, ‘community’, ‘collaboration’, ‘relationships’ and ‘engagement’. Words like ‘quality’, ‘premium’ ‘fast’ and ‘cheap’ have become so overused that they have lost their meaning.
People are looking for brands they can trust, brands they feel a connection with, brands that engage with them and brands that treat them like a ‘guest’ as opposed to just another customer.
The Power of 3 is all about maximising your company’s bottom line through operational excellence, winning a person’s mind through continual product innovation and, most importantly of all, winning a person’s heart through the delivery of exceptional customer service.
Another dimension to the Power of 3 is seeing things with your ‘third eye’. This is about putting yourself in the shoes of your customer and seeing things from their perspective.
Too many retailers put all their emphasis on rationality and operational matters but forget that consumers more often make decisions based on emotion. Yes they do consider rational matters like cost and quality, but at the final decision-making moment, it all boils down to what they like, what they can relate to and what connects with their hearts.
— The writer is the Executive Director at Thought Leaders Middle East.
