Business is Personal

Ever wonder why some businesses seem to attract and keep customers far better than others?

I think the answer is that they understand that business is personal.

Starbucks has figured it out. It only takes a moment standing in line for your morning coffee to witness the dozens of ways people order their java. Burger King touts the slogan "Have it your way". Harley-Davidson has long understood the value of aftermarket motorcycle acessories, allowing their customers to customize their motorcycles. To make them stand out from the crowd.

It's a well known fact that in the service industry, one way of cementing a customer relationship is to recover from a screw-up. To make something right. To demonstrate that your customers matter. In fact it is more powerful than had you served them correctly in the first place.

Several weeks ago, I blogged about how the Lexus service experience really stands out. I also told you about Pipe Networks (hosting service) who publically challenged themselves to build a new datacenter in 100 days. Daring to be different. Daring to fail (or succeed publiclly). And there's the experience of my son's first car, where Scion turns customers into fans.

And I'm a big fan of Dell, who, although they're basically PC manufacturers, allow their customers to customize their PCs and also give their customers a voice through their IdeaStorm site.

They understand that to build brand and service loyalty you must personalize the business relationship.

You can do this a number of ways.
1. Allow your customers to personalize your products or service.
2. Find a way to demonstrate how your customers are (personally) important.
3. Give your customers a voice (and listen to them). Find a way to start and maintain a dialogue.
4. Be true to your corporate personality (let your freak flag fly). If you can't tell me how you're different from the competition, neither can your customer base. At that puts them at risk.