What if your Business Disappeared Tomorrow?

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If your business disappeared tomorrow, would anybody miss you?

No one wants to close their doors. But let’s imagine the unthinkable: how would your customers respond if you had to close up shop?

I can think of two scenarios…

Scenario one: you disappear and no one notices… That would be a disaster, but what would it tell you? Maybe it tells you that whatever needs your service or product fulfilled, those needs could be fulfilled by someone else. What you had to offer in the end was just a commodity, and all commodities are replaceable.

Scenario two: you close your doors and your customers wander around dazed and confused; they can’t imagine life without you. That would still be a disaster, but the story is different now. This story says that no one else could meet your customers’ needs the way you did. Whatever you had to offer was not a commodity, it was something else, something irreplaceable.

We all want to survive and we all want to thrive. But how cool would it be if your customers needed you to survive even more than you did? What would make us that irreplaceable?

Any commodity you sell can be replaced, often more cheaply, by someone else. People selling commodities are always looking over their shoulders, knowing something cheaper, something shinier, is coming up behind them.

So what is not a commodity?? What can you offer your customers that can’t be replaced? The answer is: a relationship.

A relationship is the opposite of a commodity.

Relationships are as unique as snowflakes. No two customers, no two businesses, and therefore no two relationships, are exactly the same. They cannot be reproduced – not more quickly, not more cheaply… Not at all. And what cannot be reproduced has no competition.

A great relationship is the ultimate ‘unique competitive advantage’.

How do we create that unique, positive relationship with our customers? We can start by asking some key questions.

1. Who are your customers? Do you really know them? What do they want, what do they hate, what will they splurge on and what do they buy in bulk, where do they live, what excites them, what are their values? What are the back-stories to their lives?
2. Do you know what your customers value your business for? What brings them through your door? What do you have that they want? What do you offer that makes them choose you over your competitors?
3. What are your customers’ triggers? What ‘language’ do they speak? What gesture can you make that would make your customers feel like you ‘get them’? What can you bring to the relationship that will make them feel like they are truly important when they do business with you? What words and images speak to your customers?

Answer these questions with confidence and accuracy and you will be well on your way to building those irreplaceable relationships.

Remember, the answers can’t be about a product or service! If the only thing that you know about your customers is what your in-store stats tell you, or that your customers value your business for great parking, or that their trigger is a loss-leader sale on detergents, you need to ask better questions. If those are the only things that tie your customers to you, your business is still about commodities. Discounting is not the basis of a great relationship.

There are many ways you can create unique relationships with your customers. Here are a few suggestions:

1. Treat your customers as people with names. Who doesn’t like to go into a shop to be greeted by name and to be asked if you’ll have ‘your usual…’? Make it a practice to have a conversation with every customer who comes through the door. Exchange names if it is appropriate. Keep a few notes of key conversations, likes and dislikes. Share information about key customers at staff meetings.
2. Make your customers feel like they are “on the inside”. Everyone loves to feel like they are part of an ‘inner circle’. Give your customer insider tips on your industry. Give away ‘secrets’ for free. Information is just another commodity, you cannot lose or retain customers based solely on information. It is the value that your skill, your passion, your action, adds to the information that ultimately creates value for customers. For me this is a primary role of social networking for business.
3. Educate. Take the time to provide ‘rich’ information to your customers. Keep them informed about new developments in your industry, and about trends that are affecting the products and services they are buying. Everyone loves being ‘in the know’ and these days consumers are educated and looking for the ‘back-story’ on what they are getting. This is another great function of social networking for business.
4. Show your customers they matter more than their money. How did Radiohead and Trent Reznor make a fortune giving away music for free? They understood that relationships with their fans matter more than their money. And their fans reward them royally. You don’t have to give your business away, but you can find ways to go that extra mile without charging for it.
5. Get out there. Still on the ‘you matter more than money’ theme, though on a larger scale, this is about community service initiatives. Be more than a business, be an active member of your community. Like any great relationship, you get back what you put in.
6. Give your customers something to talk about. Do something remarkable for them. It doesn’t have to be anything huge, it doesn’t have to be every time, but it has to be remarkable enough that it makes people talk about you. A little gift, a special delivery, some great advice, a referral to a competitor when its the right thing to do… Whatever it is, be consistently remarkable, and people will talk.
7. And most important of all… Listen to your customers. No survey, no marketing report, can take the place of a conversation. Never miss an opportunity to give customers a chance to talk about themselves, and about the things that have brought them into your business. Ask questions. And when they talk, listen. Really listen. You are listening for two things in particular: anything that gives you more information about who your customers are, and anything that tells you why they are with you now. These two pieces of information are critical, because with them you can continue to feed the ‘great experience’ positive feedback loop. If you know intimately who your customer is, and why they come to you, you are more able to tailor their experience of your business to their needs and triggers.

The more you can do to build relationships with your customers, the more they will come to feel that you understand them and their needs. You will have crossed that magical threshold where your customers come to you for a relationship and an experience, not just for a commodity. They do business with you because they want that experience, and they value your relationship. And that cannot be reproduced.

If you were to close your doors after developing remarkable relationships like these, you would be missed indeed. But even better, with remarkable relationships like these you will never have to close your doors!

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