80 The Financial Times Guide to Business Development
Golden rule 1 – Know your customers and
clients
Too many people in business obviously believe they have super human
powers and are able to remember every customer or client over the past 20
years. The truth is, of course, many can’t remember a customer who returns
after a week, let alone those who don’t come back at all. Perhaps even more
important and damaging is their perception that past customers and clients
will remember them.
This isn’t good enough. There is no excuse for not knowing who your cus-
tomers are. To do this you either need to have an effective electronic CRM
(customer relationship management) system or at the very least a simple
manual system that works for you. This doesn’t have to be expensive, but
it must enable you to quickly access key information about your customers.
This is not optional if you want to survive and prosper. Too many busi-
nesses are even failing to do the two most basic things:
1 Capture the names, addresses and contact details of their customers
and clients.
2 Store them somewhere where they can be easily accessed and used for
future business development.
For example, when was the last time a restaurant you have eaten in made
any attempt to take your address or e-mail so that it could contact you
again with offers and promotions? I have only ever been in two; both were
small, independent businesses. They got my details without it feeling inap-
propriate. One simply had a card on the table to ll in to join its restaurant
‘membership scheme’, which offered a 10 per cent discount off future
meals and various other offers. I enjoyed the meal and service, so why
wouldn’t I be interested in such an opportunity?
The other had a weekly competition to guess the name of a large soft toy
on display in the restaurant entrance area. Winners would get the toy. Of
course the entry cards, which had to be handed in, asked for names and
e-mail details. Not only did the restaurant harvest many customers’ details,
but guessing the name of the panda became a sociable bit of fun to chat
about over the meal.
Be creative and nd a way to get the details of your customers. If you can’t
think of a clever scheme, simply be open and ask politely: ‘Would you mind
if I make a note of your contact details, so we can make you aware of future dis-
counts, offers and new products?’ Some will say yes and others will decline,
..................Content has been hidden....................
You can't read the all page of ebook, please click here login for view all page.