Does everyone at your promo company have a customer-first mindset? Do they see how their work adds meaning, creates value and helps clients succeed? If so, you have the foundation for a customer-obsessed culture.

Paul Bookstaber, a writer for Salesblazer, says that when you’re customer-obsessed, you build your products, pricing structure, payment options – your whole company – around your customers. This isn’t accomplished with a training session or two, but rather it is consistently reinforced.

Bookstaber says any company can become a customer-obsessed leader by following six key steps. We outline his guidance in this issue of PromoPro Daily.

  1. Do your research. To be customer-obsessed, you have to know your customers’ biggest challenges and goals. Create detailed customer personas and then communicate with your prospects and clients. Bookstaber recommends asking for feedback and inviting them to take pulse surveys to uncover what’s most important to them. He also suggests training your sales team to think of themselves as problem-solvers. Show your dedication to helping customers get their desired outcomes.

  2. Use the right processes and systems. It can be helpful to create core operational processes to guide your company’s strategic plans, direction and hiring decisions. For example, if you’re bringing on a new employee, you can use standard behavioral interview questions that can help you determine whether someone is customer-focused.

  3. Focus on teamwork. Bookstaber advises framing your selling language and training around teamwork. This can be as simple as changing your language from “me” and “I” to “us” and “we.” Integrate this language into your CRM and coach your sales reps to always speak from a place of teamwork.

  4. Reward the customer-obsessed people on your team. People respond to recognition. Show them you appreciate their actions and they’re more likely to continue those positive actions. Bookstaber recommends building processes to reward customer obsession. This could include anything from giving branded merch to giving a public shout-out at staff meetings.

  5. Prioritize customer obsession in leadership circles. Bookstaber notes that leaders are in a prime position to drive customer obsession from the top. Make sure leaders model customer obsession and encourage them to share insights and data on customer experiences as often as possible.

  6. Talk about customer obsession in regular training. Talk about it in onboarding and quarterly training refreshers, and provide learning resources to support it. Bookstaber says you might even include role-playing scenarios during sales kickoffs.

Employees at every level can nurture customer obsession. When customers know you’re committed to their success, they’re more likely to stay with you for the long haul and become loyal fans.

Compiled by Audrey Sellers
Source: Paul Bookstaber is a writer at Salesblazer.