Look up the word "CUSTOMER" in the dictionary. It says: "the person who PAYS you".
The real estate agent does not pay you! The builder does not pay you! In fact, your company does not pay you. The company is a clearinghouse for collecting the money from a customer and writing the payroll checks. The people who put the money there - in the bank account - are your customers.
- How do you think of your customers? Do you recognize that they feed you and your family? Do you understand that the degree of service and help you give them, determines your wages and your success?
ACTION STEPS: Write yourself a check for $1 million dollars; put your name on the "pay to" blank and at the bottom of the check is a line with the word "for" - write down the words "For Fantastic Customer Service". Then post it in a place where you can see it every time you speak with a customer.
- How CONSISTENT is your positive attitude?
ACTION STEPS: We all have good days and bad days. Read about "positive attitude" for 15 minutes each morning. You can do it yourself or post it on the company intranet for all to read.
- How do you know that the customer received help when they called? Have you documented the BEST responses for every reason the customer calls you?
ACTION STEPS: Learn the top 5 reasons people call you and make up scripts that are designed to help your customer AND make them feel great about doing business with you.
- Do you know how much money one customer means to your company? Have you ever calculated the LOSS of just one customer?
ACTION STEPS: Jeff's formula is that each customer is worth 20 times its initial income. For example, if you collect an average of $3,000 in fee income for each and every loan you close, losing that customer COSTS your company $60,000 over the lifetime of that customer. (If you lose 2 customers per month, for 12 months, it costs your company $1.4 million dollars per year - and that ain't chump change.) It's not just from the customer themselves, but the loss of their referrals as well. Figure out what it costs your company to lose just one customer!
- How do you rate your level of success with customers? On how SATISFIED they are - or how LOYAL they are?
ACTION STEPS: Ask your top 10 customers what makes them stay with you, in order to better understand why they would rather "fight than switch" to another company. Write them down and incorporate them in your every day job actions.
- What's the "word on the street" about you? How many people tell you positive stories they have heard about you?
ACTION STEPS: Call your competitors, real estate agents, and title company reps and ASK them what they say about you (anonymously)? Call your 10 best customers and ask them how you have helped them. Now the hard part...call customers that you have lost and find out what they have to say.
- How do you feel INSIDE after each customer interaction?
ACTION STEPS: Remember how you felt the last time you got great customer service? Target 5 great customers per month and create a simple plan to make them FEEL great.
Based on these question and action steps, can you SEE the difference between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty?
My recommendation would be to hold a company-wide meeting (if you don't have a staff, you can still do this yourself). The first step is to make sure that everyone understands "who pays you"!
Develop focus groups within your company and decide what question they want to research, and then have them report their results back to the group. As a group, develop an action plan to not just "satisfy" your customers - but "WOW" them as well.
Need some additional help? Bill Hogarty, President of Olympic Funding, gave a presentation at the 3rd Annual "Turn On Your Million Dollar Brain" Workshop, called "The Ultimate Customer Experience: Strategies for Creating a WOW Experience" You can purchase the 72-minute audio CD for only $99. CLICK HERE TO ORDER.
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Copyright, 2003, LoanOfficerMagazine.com
