The "Total Quality Management" concept, as preached by Dr. Deming for decades, not only has its attractiveness and value going in, but can be utilized on the back end to result in two additional sources of markets, plus customer satisfaction. If applicable, follow-up phone calls to customers, called "happy calls," are directed to determine the total satisfaction of the end user. The first purpose is to plug any quality leaks and then to turn an unsatisfied customer into the opposite. This is also market research to find out if the recent customer may have any suggestions for improving your service and/or value. Also, it so happens that soon after a successful transaction is the best time to ask for additional business. Most managers think that the customers are tapped out for a cycle, but emotionally, they are in prime time. Ongoing market research, i.e. asking for suggestions, is a quick response way to be flexible and to adjust to more lucrative market opportunities. You could pay a small fortune to have market research companies do for you what is being suggested. Why? At least for a limited time, call a statistically relevant number of recent customers and use the "marketing research" questions to gather the information that you want. In order to make those calls in the first place, you need to have names and numbers. So, find a way to collect them. It may be from a "free drawing", checks, a log, whatever. But, you don't own them as a continuous customer unless there is a two-sided relationship. That's why newsletters are put out - to put your name out, along with keeping them bonded to you. Any form of interaction that you can encourage, as stated in "The Marketing of Communion," helps the bond. I can't count the number of home improvement contractors who have told me about going out on a driveway estimate and ended up selling a room addition "because they asked." There is a lot of business out there, but, if they aren't coming to you, you have to go to them. Lastly, what a follow-up "happy call" does for your image is hard to describe. How many "happy calls" have you received? How did you feel about it. |
