Are You Building Long Term Relationships

We had a recent experience with a Toyota dealer in a smaller town. When we had ordered the car, we had very positive feelings about this dealership and our relationship with them. The first time we encountered a problem with the vehicle, the service department "blew us off". They implied that we had somehow caused the bulge in an exterior panel of the vehicle.

Frustrated, we stopped at American Toyota in Albuquerque. They wanted to investigate what had caused the bulge and volunteered to have one of their technicians remove the interior panel and see what had happened. Turns out, when the smaller town dealership had installed a subwoofer, they had to remove the interior panel. In the process, the smaller town dealership had used a tool and caused the bulge. When American Toyota discovered this, rather than have us go through the hassle of contacting the smaller town dealership and having them fix the problem that they had created, American Toyota volunteered to pay for the repair. We were elated!

It's clear to me that American Toyota is trying to build a long term relationship with their customers. They could have diagnosed the problem and sent us back to the dealership we purchased the vehicle from. But they didn't. They offered to fix the bulge at their expense. That's customer service!

As a result of the service we got from American Toyota, we have purchased another car, only this time we purchased it from American Toyota!

Think about whether or not you are building a long term relationship with your customers. It doesn't take a lot of money to take care of your customers and the goodwill it creates is tremendous.

Katie Wacek is the President of Sandia Mountain Marketing, a marketing consultancy that provides strategic and tactical marketing expertise to small- and medium -sized companies, professional service firms, and thought leaders throughout the United States. Learn more.

Keep Your Customers Happy

What differentiates you from your competitors? Is it the quality of your offerings? Service? Responsiveness? Billing accuracy? Think about it. If you’re not sure, your business might be getting lost in the numerous options available.

One of the easiest things to do to differentiate your business is to be responsive. How many times have you called a business, left a message and didn’t hear back from them for several days? Or sent an e-mail and then waited for a response that might come days later or never? What message is being sent when businesses are unresponsive? Do they really care about you as a customer or prospect? It's common sense and common courtesy to be responsive, but unfortunately many businesses don't follow through.

This has been on my mind recently. Last fall I had a problem with some work that was done on our driveway. When I called the company to tell them about the problem, they reassured me that they would stand behind their product and fix it. Since October I’ve called them six times. Each time I’m reassured they will be out as soon as the weather warms up. We’ve had very hot temperatures this past week and still no call or visit from the company….so, I called again. Within the first 20 seconds of the phone call they volunteered that they had “forgotten” about me. They apologized and again reassured me that they would stand behind their product. They’re coming on Saturday. Finally. Hopefully, they won’t “forget”.

Don’t forget about your customers and prospects. Be responsive. Do what it takes to keep them coming back for more products and services. Keep them happy.

Katie Wacek is the President of Sandia Mountain Marketing, a marketing consultancy that provides strategic and tactical marketing expertise to small- and medium -sized companies, professional service firms, and thought leaders throughout the United States. Learn more.

Stand Out From the Crowd

Writing a proposal is a lot like writing a resume. When you send a proposal off, you're trying to get the business. When you submit a resume, you're trying to get a job. Think about the following guidelines when you're working on your next proposal.

1. Be concise and clear. After writing the proposal, review it for clarity. Does it say what you want it to say in a concise and clear manner? If not, rework the copy so you can articulate your points in as few words as possible.
   
2. Layout the proposal in a professional format. Is the format you chose professional looking? Is the information organized in a logical order? Did you use headers and subheads to make the information easier to read? The presentation of the information is often as important as the words you use.
   
3. Stand out from the crowd. Is your proposal unique in some way that will draw attention and stimulate interest? What's different about your proposal? Is the structure of the proposal different? You want it to be read and you ultimately want to "win" the business.

Here's to your success in writing more effective proposals.

Katie Wacek is the President of Sandia Mountain Marketing, a marketing consultancy that provides strategic and tactical marketing expertise to small- and medium -sized companies, professional service firms, and thought leaders throughout the United States. Learn more.