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Dashboard By Robert Counts and Chad Counts
Growing the Customer’s Way W
e all want to get better at what we do. We all want to see our business
grow. Another way to say this is that we want to be more effective and more prof- itable. The competitive nature of busi- ness must always be examined and strate- gies must always be developed in order to accomplish our “wants.”
All of our businesses depend on cus- tomers. Without customers we have just have a bunch of stuff and employees to pay. Every year, there are many books written about how to grow your sales and how to satisfy or keep your customers. In the last decade or so the term “customer experience” has replaced the term “cus- tomer satisfaction.”
The growth of online businesses is built on the idea that if the customer can purchase what they want with the least amount of effort then that is what they will do. They will continue to do that as long as the experience aligns with the ease of purchase. If the purchase isn’t what it claims to be, or the purchase doesn’t arrive when promised, then the customer’s experience changes their like- lihood to purchase online.
Those of you who sell through eBay know how stringent eBay is when it comes to customer reviews. It is everything! A bad review can drop your company’s parts from the first page to the last page. So, our experience with things like eBay makes it clear that customers are highly influenced by their experience. Customers will remember their experience long after they remember what they paid for a part. Your customer’s experience is affect- ed by every employee in your company. Their experience with the sales person and the delivery driver are the visible people they experience. But their expe- rience is also impacted by:
• How well your buyer purchases vehi- cles with parts that you and your custom- ers need;
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• How well the part was inventoried; • How well the part was stored to keep it as originally inventoried;
• How timely the part is worked and prepped for delivery; and
• How well any concerns are handled when it comes to credits and billing. About two-thirds of customers are willing to pay up to 10% more if they receive a great pur- chasing experience.
Pricing is always important to getting the sale. But, it is not as important when it comes to building and keeping a repeat customer base. If you look at your sales by customer you will see that around 70 per- cent of your sales comes from the top 30 percent of your customers. Getting repeat customers and growing repeat customers is all about how they feel about their pur- chasing experience with your company. Companies who brokered over 30 per- cent of their sales and continue to grow are accomplishing this through excellent customer service. Since they depend on other people’s parts to take care of their customer, they must manage the custom- er experience carefully. They are not get- ting and keeping the customer based on price.
Companies that have a brand known for a
great customer experience have grown five per- cent faster that comparable companies. Knowing this should help inform how you are planning your growth strategy. All thriving things are growing. Whether it be plant or animal, there is no alterna- tive to growth other than decline and go- ing out of business.
Along with looking at increased pur- chasing, marketing, and adding or re- placing staff you must strategize on how you are going to manage the customer experience. It may even come down to an individual who has that as part of their job duties. In smaller companies that is going to be the owner, general manager or possibly the sales manager.
Counts Business Consulting provides sales management services to the automotive recycling industry, such as sales
force training. We have the expertise and experience to increase your company’s sales performance. Reach Chad Counts at (512) 963- 4626 or crcounts@countsbusinessconsulting. com and Robert Counts at (512) 653-6915, robert@countsbusinessconsulting.com or visit www.countsbusinessconsulting.com.
January-February 2019 • AUTOMOTIVE RECYCLING