Being kind is beautiful
Great! Your business value proposition is about solving problems your customers shouldn’t have in the first place! Don’t worry — you are not alone.
Having great support as the value proposition is a trap a lot of businesses fall into. You should have a great support — but will your users really recommend your products based on this feature?
When was the last time you called your customer to ask them: “How’s it going? Is everything alright?” You know, that kind of call where you don’t try to sell. You don’t reply to an e-mail or are you checking in on the customer whose bill wasn’t paid yet. I am talking about customer care call. Where all you do is care about the customer and the purpose of the call is maintaining a relationship with the customer.
Does it really happen?
Believe it or not — it does! It’s even written in ISO 9001: call your customer to check on them and their satisfaction with the product. Oh, that’s not an “I care about you” call? Well, you certainly need a reason at all — asking someone about the weather while they’re at work might not come across as nice, but rather annoying. Yet, asking how satisfied they are and whether they had any problems they haven’t reported (because the problem was too small or temporary) — well that’s beneficial for you both.
When was the last time you asked your customer how satisfied they are with your product or service?
Who does that?
I believe: “Who does that?” is the wrong questions. We should be asking: “Who should be doing that?” The answer: everyone! Want a prof? It happened to me about a month after I bought my new car. He learned I was happy and that I had a minor problem he helped me solve via phone (namely: Does the car auto lock when I go out and leave it unlocked? The answer: it does, it’s a menu item setting.) In the end, he offered his further help via his direct phone number. I was glad we had this call — and he has another happy customer who even writes about this. =)
Your excuse: I have no time!
Of course, for some businesses, this kind of contact is too time-consuming. I don’t expect a call from Coca-cola about their drink I bought in the supermarket. But in B2B world, where buying process is personal and carts are large (4 figures and more), such calls can help you save headaches and marketing budgets.
Customer care and trust
If you’re feeling good when someone is genuinely interested in how you feel, believe me, your customer feels the same. Genuine interest builds trust and the trust is sales driving force number 1. And even when you’re using automated e-mail messages, make sure to follow up on the reply in person. Include a personal message (something only you know) — or even make a phone call. Don’t hide in woods after the sale is complete — your relationship with a customer has only just begun.
What does this have to do with content strategy?
Believe it or not, content strategy is all things content. Having a complete ecosystem and organizational culture where Kindness is the key most certainly has a place in there — it may even make sense to include this in your written strategy.
