The Trump Blog

Once when I was the first person getting on an airplane, I heard one of the attendants exclaim, "Here come the animals." For that attendant, passengers were a nuisance and it is very likely that that attitude carried over into how the attendant dealt with passengers during the flight.

You don’t have a problem like that in your company, do you? I hope not, because in order for your enterprise to succeed, members of your organization must show respect for customers -- not thinly disguised contempt (TDC).

When customer orientation grows, profits grow too. Consider Sanity Music, a chain in Australia, which doubled its market share in just two years and earned more than $1.50 more per CD than their competitors due to the enthusiasm of their staff.

Look at ticket-takers in the Disney theme parks too. They make every guest feel welcome and good. And that didn’t happen by accident. They receive hours of instruction about treating park visitors as guests--before they even begin work.

So, what type of training do you give your customer servers? It has to be good, because members of customer-driven organizations need to have what Tom Peters has called a "passion for perfection." Passion for perfection is a concern to get things right and get them right the first time.

Buck Rogers, former head of sales at IBM, believed that in customer-driven organizations, employees dealing with customers must have "thoughtfulness, courtesy, and integrity." In short, they must treat customers the same way that they would like to be treated themselves.

I expect that when I do business with companies. Shouldn’t your customers have the right to expect that too?

And by the way, customer orientation will never grow in your organization unless it is also present in you - the person at the top.

When Lou Gerstner took the top job at IBM, he made it clear that he would be the sales representative for five customers and sent a very clear message to all those in the organization regarding the importance of customers to IBM.

If Lou Gerstner could do that in a company as vast at IBM, can’t you do it too? You can, and you should, because all your success depends on it.

If you ask a group of entrepreneurs how their enterprises could make more money, nearly all of them will give you the same answer:

“We need more customers.”

That is a smart answer. The broader your customer base, the greater your profit potential. Yet smart entrepreneurs can also increase profits by targeting their current customers more effectively.

Growing with current customers has two main advantages over finding new ones:

1.      You already know your current customers and what their needs and priorities are.

2.      You are already in contact with them, so you have opportunities to persuade them to purchase more.

The key to making more from your current customers is to implement one or more of these strategies:

Strategy One: Improve Loyalty

The most important way to increase loyalty and retention is to satisfy your customers. That means you need to find out what they like about your products or services and provide more of it. If you run a health club, for instance, start by asking, "Can you tell me what you liked about your class today?" and then provide more of it. You can also implement loyalty plans, such as price discounts or gifts to members who work out two or more times each week. The critical thing is to talk with your customers and give them more of what they like.

Strategy Two: Get Customers to Use More of Your Product or Service

There are three ways for you to persuade your customers to increase usage:

1.      Point out that their needs have increased.

2.      Show them new uses for your product or service.

3.      Simply remind them to use what you are selling.

Strategy Three: Upsell Your Customers to More Expensive Models or Versions

Airlines try to persuade coach passengers to fly in more lucrative classes such as business or first class. Car rental companies are currently adding convertibles, sports cars and SUVs to their inventory. In a health club, you might persuade customers that they need a trainer or need to upgrade to a more feature-rich membership package.

Strategy Four: Get Them to Pay Higher Prices

Sometimes when companies raise prices, they point to the increased costs of doing business - an argument that rarely makes customers feel good about paying more. A stronger argument for an increased price is increased value. For example, the owner of the health club might increase the hours the health club is open, or add new equipment when raising membership fees.

Strategy Five: Get Them to Accept Less Value

Offering less value for the same price lets you decrease your costs. But tread carefully. Some organizations do this without letting the customers know that this is going on. For example, producers of candy decrease the size of their packages without decreasing their price, or airlines may make it much more difficult to use frequent flyer miles. But eventually your customers will notice - and at that point, may leave you.

Value-engineering is a more stable approach to cutting costs. It means taking a close look at your products or services and eliminating or reducing benefits that the customers do not really care about. For example, if your health club customers rarely use certain pieces of equipment or if other equipment available provides the same type of workout, then it may be possible to remove that equipment.

To summarize . . .

The strategies I outline today can let you increase profits dramatically without having to develop new customers, hire additional salespeople or undertake other costly activities.

You’ll be making more money while spending less. That’s a combination that spells profit to any smart entrepreneur.

If you’re a new entrepreneur, your daily to-do list is already a mile long. You’re hiring, managing your managers, getting your systems in place, bookkeeping and all the rest.

But how much time to you spend thinking about your customers?

If you’ve been too busy to think about them, you’re making a serious mistake. All business failures can be traced to a lack of knowledge about customers’ identities, wants and needs.

Here are five groups of customers you need to meet and get to know.

Current Customers

They could be past customers who are following you into your new enterprise, or the historical customers of a business you have acquired. Connect with them. They are the only people who can let you know how you and your company have done in the past - and how well you are doing now.

You also need to commit to being in touch with them on an ongoing basis, so they can monitor your future actions and let you know how well you are doing. You can also get ideas for new products and services by asking them about their future needs and how they will be satisfied.

New Customers  

They are uniquely able to give you important information about what is attracting people to your products and services and the ways in which you are perceived to be superior to your competitors. Don’t just cash their checks - talk to them.

Lost Customers

Don’t let them walk away quietly. They have valuable information for you, namely, where you fell short in satisfying them. It may be a benefit not delivered. It may be a negative interaction with someone in your organization. It may be a price thought to be too high. Whatever it is, you need to know about it before another customer leaves for the same reason.

Heavy Users

They are the experts on your product or service and those of your competitors. They can advise you of trends in the product category. They can guide you to problems that need to be solved. In addition, the heavy users probably comprise the majority of your sales.

Potential Customers

How do their needs differ from those of your current customers?  Potential customers represent your opportunity for growth.

Once you identify them and get to know them, you can redesign your product or service if necessary so you can communicate to them the information they need if you are to persuade them to buy from you. The members of your sales staff serve as communications links in this process, so train them to ask sales prospects about their problems and needs.

Remember, Success is a Partnership with Your Customers . . .

Never forget that customer problems represent golden opportunities for any business. If you can discover those problems and solve them today and tomorrow, your enterprise will grow, outdistance the competition - and succeed.

Customers are the source of all your financial returns - your revenue, profits and cash flow. Satisfying them while making a profit at the same time can be difficult. But doing so is the only way to remain successful over time.

Many books have been written about customer satisfaction, some of them quite complex. But any organization can manage customer satisfaction by following my COPS model, which stands for Culture, Organization, Process and Strategy.

My book Trump University Marketing 101 explores the COPS model in depth. But here’s an overview that can help you review how effectively your organization is satisfying its customers - and where your efforts are lacking.

Culture - You have to make customer satisfaction everyone’s responsibility. Remember that if your organization is customer-driven, everyone needs to be committed to satisfying customers. That includes you. When Lou Gerstner took the top job at IBM, for example, he announced that he would be the sales representative in charge of five accounts. That’s the kind of thinking that reorients company culture toward customer satisfaction.

Organization - Make it easy for everyone in your organization to satisfy customers. When a customer calls with a problem, for example, the person who answers the phone must be able to rectify that issue. Strive to empower your people to satisfy customers on the first call. Look at British Airways, which not only addresses customer complaints, but which empowers its employees to offer gifts, like upgrades, to help preserve customer relationships.

Process - Design processes to satisfy customers’ needs - not the needs of your organization. Years ago, for example, banks kept the classic “banker’s hours” and closed their doors after 3:00 P.M. and on weekends. Now that has all changed, due to competition. Some of the most successful banks are also the most customer-friendly.

Strategy -  Over time, all organizations need new customers. Yet they need to retain current customers too. The strategy for reaching these goals can be simple. SAS, for example, advertises and markets to attract new passengers. But it has also identified “moments of truth,” such as the times when customers check in or claim their baggage, that offer opportunities to cement customer loyalty. Whatever your strategy, make sure it has the customer at the center.

You have spent a lot of time thinking about who your customers are. Perhaps you sell educational products to young professionals with children. Or you sell moderately priced clothing to retired people on fixed incomes.

Yes, you know who your customers are, and that is essential. But the wisest marketers take it one level deeper. They  sell more - by understanding the roles of all the decision-makers who participate in a decision to buy.

Let’s say, for example, that you own an auto dealership. One day a family of five comes into your showroom. They aren’t just a demographic group. They all are involved in a purchase decision. And they can all comprise the sale you are trying so hard to make.

Within that family, different individuals have probably taken the following roles:

The Gatekeeper - This individual controls your access to the members of the decision-making unit. He or she was the one who said to the rest of the family, “Look at this car ad I saw in the newspaper.”

The Initiator - He or she started the decision-making process. ("We really need a new car now.")

The Influencer - This person has an interest in the outcome of the purchase decision and contributes opinions that control the outcome. ("I'd really like to buy a minivan so each of the children can have a seat.") Or it could be the son who is urging the family to buy an SUV, not a minivan, so he can have something flashier to show off to his friends.

The Decider - He or she “signs off” and makes the final decision, but may not be the most important member of the decision-making unit. ("I'll see what money we have in the bank.")

The Vetoer - He or she has the power to stop the purchase. ("I won't drive a car unless it has side air bags.")

The User -  He or she is the end-user of the product or service. ("I need to have space for our children and the neighbor's children.")

Some decision-making unit members may assume more than one role. A teenager may suggest the need for a new car and may also provide information about cars to parents, for instance. Other decision-makers might restrict themselves to just one role. For example, the decider might be a father who controls the family’s money but who has little interest in which minivan the family buys because he will never drive it.

Good salespeople are skilled at selling strategically to the people who fulfill each of these roles within any decision-making unit. But understanding the decision-making structure of your buying units isn’t just for members of your sales staff. It’s vital for marketers and advertisers too.

In the end, your marketing efforts convince individuals to buy, not demographic groups. The more you keep that in mind, the more effective your marketing efforts will be.

The television show I was watching last night was punctuated by some pretty crazy ads. I saw flying cars and a talking toilet.  

To judge from those ads, you might think that you need to be a creative advertising genius to get your customers to buy anything from you. Not so. These classic approaches can get your message across simply, without breaking your advertising budget:

1. Target the competition by giving facts about why your product or service works better, costs less, or has other basic advantages. 
2. Just show your product attractively. (This doesn’t work if you have an ugly product.)
3. Showcase your brand. Just remind your customer about the positive attributes of your brand while you display your product.
4. Use testimonials from satisfied customers.
5. Have a celebrity or expert endorse your product.
6. Simply remind customers to use your product if they have not been doing so lately. Sometimes they forget that you are there.
7. Provide a toll-free number to make it easy for customers to make an impulsive decision to contact you.
8. Give a slice of life by showing people using your product in real-life situations.
9. Offer discounts, gifts or special promotions.

It’s all simple stuff, but these days simplicity can make you stand out from the advertising clutter. I think that most people are getting a little tired of talking toilets and flying cars anyhow. Aren’t you?

Note from Michael Sexton, President of Trump University: To learn more marketing strategies that work powerfully for smaller businesses, be sure to enrol in Dr. Sexton's Marketing Mastery Program from Trump University.  Classes are forming now.

A post on this blog a few weeks ago described the marketing traction that small businesses can develop by sending out press releases to local media. Today, I would like to add to that strategy.

The first step is to have your company contribute to the quality of life in your community. You could buy a new piece of medical equipment for a local hospital, offer jobs to local retirees, or sponsor a new playground. Once you have done your good deeds, send out press releases about your activities to local media - newspapers, radio stations, regional cable networks. They will be eager to tell your news.

When you demonstrate your commitment to your community, you will receive more far-ranging benefits than you can generate from advertising alone. (After all, advertising is intended to generate sales and usually not much more.) When your community involvement makes news, you:

• Cultivate customers who will be much more eager to buy from you than from your competitors.
• Create “buzz” for your company and what you sell.
• Transmit a marketing message that remains active in the minds of your customers for months and even years.
• Establish your brand as something that people can believe in, not just buy.
• Encourage local vendors, investors, service providers and other businesses to contact you.

With community-cenetered public relations, you can talk to your customers like a neighbor, not just another business that wants their money. If you can accomplish and help people too, that is a classic win/win for everyone involved.