One CRM Best Practice
There have been a plethora of books written on the subject of customer relationship management (CRM). As is usually the case, a lot of good advice is out there as well as a lot of bad advice. This article will focus on one CRM best practice: building relationships of trust.
Princeton University defines trust as something that we have confidence or faith in. Something about which we have certainty because we have experienced it in the past. Do your customers trust you?
If you answered “no” to the above question or you’re simply not sure whether or not your customers trust you then here are three tips to help you out.
Consistency, Consistency, and More Consistency
Notice that one of the definitions of trust says trust is having certainty about something because you have experience it in the past. The Sun is pretty consistent; it rises every morning and so when it goes down at night we trust that it will come up again in the morning. The Sun is the best example of consistency.
The truth is that most businesses are horribly inconsistent. This inconsistency can be accidental or purposeful. Accidental inconsistencies happen when a solid process is not in place within a business that puts out similar results. An example of an accidental inconsistency is a product defect. The product should weigh five ounces, but the manufacturing process put out a product that weighed six ounces. There are books on operations management that explain how to get rid of these types of inconsistencies.
The second type of inconsistency is much more intriguing. This inconsistency is coming from you and the other business managers at your organization. In an attempt to continue making the experience better for the customer, you are providing them with inconsistent experiences. This leads to a lack of trust in your organization. The customer isn’t certain what to expect when they show up and this usually means they go somewhere else where they do know what to expect.
Times change and some of your processes might need to change, but make sure to remember that the customer wants a consistent experience; otherwise they cannot trust you.
The most profitable stores seem to be the ones that offer the most consistency. Wal-Mart stores all look close to the same and they all offer low prices. Home Depot has those orange vests that are known across the world and most of the time their store layouts are very similar.
Chances are you have had an experience where something changed at your favorite store and you soon stopped frequenting the store. It might have even been a change for the better, but you just wanted that same experience that you had been having for years. Human beings crave consistency. If you want your customers to trust you then be consistent.
There are a lot of CRM best practices out there, and CRM consulting firms can help your business out if you want to get serious about managing customer relationships. This article only attempts to explain one of many. Remember that if you can provide a consistent experience, you will gain your customers’ trust.
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