Say it with Data:
To Grow Customer Relationships, Exceed Expectations Systematically

By Todd Smart, with Susan E. Fisher

"Say it with flowers." That old marketing slogan elicits a sweet smile. "Say it with flowers" suggests the power of the unexpected gift, the "ah, you shouldn't have" moment when the recipient is surprised by the delivery of a message of love.

Yet, the "say it with flowers" approach works best when the gift is truly unexpected. Hand that special someone a bunch of daisies for the seventeenth annual time on your seventeenth wedding anniversary; your sweetheart will likely be pleased, but not overwhelmed with emotion.

In contrast, try bursting into a room and tenderly handing a long-stemmed dozen of American Beauties to a rose-lover on random Tuesday in the middle of March. Your surprise may be rewarded with a passionate kiss. The unexpected gesture suggests you are willing to go beyond the call of duty.

The power of "say it with flowers" works similarly with business relationships as it does with personal relationship. Giving is a powerful way to connect with your customers and prospective clients. It's a rare turn of graciousness in the gimme-gimme world of business.

Of course, one good turn deserves another. Over time, you will build up a bank account full of gratitude and good will that will come back to benefit you.

Giving can take the form of providing physical things, extra service or information. To give — to add value — when not anticipated can take your relationship to a new, deeper level. You become more valuable because you provide more value.

Time and time again we are asking something from our customers and prospects. All businesses have systems in place to take information, money or time away from their relations. Few businesses have systems in place to give back.

Yes, there are the traditional ways to treat the customer: golf outings, schmooze-session dinners, conferences in warm weather climes. Plus, a good number of organizations turn to loyalty programs, corporate versions of frequent flyer programs.

Typically these efforts have two flaws that make them less valuable: Perks are rarely customized to provide precisely what the customer really wants or needs. Incentives simply fulfill expectations. Both simply say to the customer: "You scratch my back; I'll scratch yours."

Giving the expected won't set you above the competitive crowd. Customers expect you to meet expectations. Meeting expectations will maintain a relationship, but to grow a relationship you have to go beyond the expected. To build relationships, you must add value in relevant and novel ways.

This isn't easy. In fact, it's hard.

What makes this particularly difficult is you have to replicate this relevant, novel giving effort for large numbers of individuals. As a person, you may be able to literally "say it with flowers" by picking up the phone and ordering a bunch on a random day. As a business, you must have a systematized method to add value so you can provide it on an on-going basis for large numbers of individuals.

Here are some steps to get you started.

Step One: Find out what people want.

Establish a process for discovering what your customers need. Find out what kind of tips and tools would be valuable to them. It's a constant process of companies — talking to their best prospects and customers, understanding the challenges in their careers and in their life and providing information, services or things that makes life better for those people. The form of that valued information, services or things will vary from industry to industry, from business to business.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software can be a great tool to get you to the starting line. Yet, using CRM software alone is not relationship building. It won't give you results unless you apply the information your CRM helps you compile in an intelligent, thoughtful way.

Step Two: Be intuitive and creative

Customers may not directly tell you what they want. For example, consider a friend of mine, John Bintz, President of Apple Tree Investments, who has a database of 17,000 venture capital, buyout and private equity firms, and angel investors. He only touches all of his customers when has a deal to offer that fits their criteria, which is about four times a year. Besides these four-times-per-year contacts, how can he add value to the relationships he wants to grow with these 17,000 business people?

See John's Web site here.

With a household income of upwards of half-a-million-dollars-a-year, these customers won't want a monogrammed pen or a yellow squishy ball. They also have all the information on the markets they need. What these super-successful, busy professionals may really appreciate are tips on balancing work and home life. Now John may not want to have his firm associated with life balance issues, but he may wish to adopt the thought process that leads to such outside-the-box ideas. Here are a couple of examples of companies who did just that:

Ralphs Grocery Company, which operates more than 400 stores in California, already had a commitment to quality products and savings. How could it stand out in a market swamped with quality food at discount prices? It decided to give customers what they really wanted (and, perhaps, didn't expect): more time. Ralphs employed new technology to improve bar code readers, and thus reduced checkout times.
Read the source.

Like other loyalty programs, Harrah's Total Gold entitles guests to freebies — food, accommodations and entertainment. Instead of serving up a one-size-fits-all program to customers like many other incentive programs, Harrah's uses the power of computers to analyze and predict what customers fancy. For example, Harrah's might hand hotel vouchers to an out-of-state guest, while passing show tickets to a local guest.
Read the source.

Upscale clothing store Mitchell's of Westport gives customers the kind of individualized attention associated with the "good old days" of retailing, but it does it with the help of some very modern technology. According to KMWorld, the Connecticut retailer keeps close tabs on customers' preferences and purchases, following up accordingly. So, the article notes, if a man buys an Armani suit, Mitchell's system generates a friendly appreciation letter and reminds the customers of the date when the suit will be ready. If the store schedules an Armani sale, the customer gets notified.
Read the source.

This topic is on my mind, not because of Valentine's Day, but because I'm talking with business people every day who want to grow their relationships systematically by using our one-to-one relevant newsletters... of course. Now pick up the phone, send an email or snail mail that will add some value to one of your relationships in an unexpected way before the expectations of Feb. 14 are here.

Todd Smart is the President of BeTuitive Marketing. A "serial entrepreneur" — as described by Crain's Chicago Business — Todd has founded and been president of four successful businesses since the age of 22. In addition to Crain's, Todd has been featured and quoted in a number of publications, including Forbes, Success magazine, ePraire and a cover article of Inc. magazine. Todd is an entrepreneur who possesses a deep understanding of the complexities of growing business relationships.

Susan is the Editorial Director at BeTuitive Marketing. Susan's articles have been published in both the print and online versions of a variety of publications including Investor's Business Daily, the Boston Herald, Fortune magazine's Technology Buyer's Guide, InfoWorld and the Chicago Tribune.

Copyright © 2005 BeTuitive Marketing

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