Nothing is gained by trying to promote everything. That only ends up confusing the marketing message. It is important that one promotes the right things.
Here are the six areas your business should promote this year:
1. Customer Satisfaction.
When on stage at an Apple event, Tim Cook likes to promote the insanely high customer satisfaction ratings they get every year, far outpacing competitors. They are a good company to study because they only have so much time to spare in a presentation and so much more to brag about than most other companies. It is instructive to see what they promote during such times.
The same principle is at work in the positive reviews of Crest Financial. This is another fast-growing company with very high customer satisfaction ratings. People will be more inclined to give your business a chance if they know that others who tried it were satisfied with your products and services. If your customers love what you do, let their testimonies speak for you.
2. Easy Financing.
One of the most frustrating customer experiences is being lured into a store, only to realize there is nothing there that she can afford. She will either walk away with something she isn’t really happy with or nothing at all. Either way, they will leave frustrated rather than satisfied. With something like retailer financing through Crest Financial, your hard-working customers can walk away feeling good about their experience, rather than feeling rejected by a faceless financing company.
3. Quality.
Constant pandering to low-price shoppers gets tiresome, both to you and the customer. You want a customer who is after something more than the lowest price. And customers who can’t always spend top-dollar still want to buy quality products. Once you have easy financing in place, focus on quality products that will look great, work well, and be trouble-free for a long time. Quality is a sustainable business model. The race to the bottom is not.
4. Value.
How much did you pay and did you get your money’s worth are two very different questions. One has only to do with price. The other has to do with value. It does not matter how much a person pays for an item, as long as she gets what she pays for.
Good value for the dollar is getting exactly what you paid for. Great value for the dollar is the feeling of getting more than what you paid for. It is possible to impart this feeling without actually losing money on the transaction. By going above and beyond the call of duty, you can do a lot to make the customer feel special. Figure out your value proposition and promote it.
5. Data Security.
Retailers have developed a nasty habit of asking for a lot more information than they need to complete the transaction. All that unnecessary data becomes the stuff of the next data breach. Adding insult to injury, it also becomes the stuff of the next spam campaign.
Selling customer information to third-party partners is more despicable than placing the information under lax security. Customers are aware of both threats to their data, and will rightfully punish companies that breach their trust. Do not collect data you don’t need. Do not use customer data as a side business.
6. Make It Right.
Somewhere between manufacturing and retail, things have a way of going wrong. As the retailer, the vast majority of those things are not your fault, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is that you are the only part of the sales chain to which the customer has access. Their problem is your problem. You have to make it right.
Don’t force them to go through a tedious process to have a product repaired, exchanged, or refunded. Make sure they know they can come to you, and that you will always have their back. Things are going to go wrong. You become a villain or a hero based on what happens next. Be the kind of company that will always make it right and promote that fact.
