Owning Your Customer's Heart - The Key To Customer Loyalty

There are days when she gets more mail than I do (and that's hard to do!)

We've gotten to the point where many of the brochures go unopened straight into the trash, except (and this says something about the thinking process inculcated into my kids) those that show great advertising design, which my daughter sets aside for her swipe file (hey - who says you have to wait until you're old to build your future!)

The thing that most of these Universities and most of us as businesspeople don't recognize is that this isn't a battle for the mind of a student, it's a battle to win his or her heart.

Think about it. The selection of a university is not a minor purchase. This will become her alma mater ("nourishing or fostering mother"). 40 years from now, she'll still be identified with, cheering for, and probably encouraging her kids to attend the university that she chooses.

So, a school (and the rest of us) have got to do something to strike right to the heart of a student or a prospective customer.

Most schools recognize that a great way to hit their heartstrings is to get the prospective student onto campus for a visit. Where they are going wrong is that they are doing it through the logical tack (sending them a brochure, hoping that they'll bite) rather than the direct emotional attack.

However, in the midst of this undifferentiated and undisciplined rabble, two colleges have managed to cut through the clutter to strike right at my daughter's heart.

The first called her two weeks ago and asked her what her grade point average was. Then they told her that, based upon that and her ACT scores (which they already had access to) she could expect to receive a scholarship for "about $10,000" from them. A few days later, a letter showed up, awarding her a scholarship for $10,000 per year for 4 years. Not a $10,000 scholarship, $40,000!

Contingent on her applying and being accepted to their school.

That cut through the clutter, built self-esteem, and elevated that school way up in her rankings.

(There's something important to note here - because of her scores, my daughter would qualify for this level of scholarship at the majority of the schools that are sending her materials. But only one was wise enough to reverse the application and scholarship award process - offering her the same scholarship that they would later on, but before she actually applied to be a student; thus breaking through and grabbing her heart. In other words, this school did something that every school could have done, but didn't, and stood out as a result.)

The second school stood out another way. They sent a letter inviting her out to a recruiting weekend. We had to pay airfare, they did everything else. While there, the students attended a few classes and got presentations on the university, honors program and housing. They did a scavenger hunt that caused them to visit many of the buildings on campus (how many stairs are there in x building's lobby?) Then they took them to basketball and football games (including a tailgate) - there's nothing like cheering for a team and singing the fight song for every touchdown (5 times) to start to create an identification with the school.

It's the same theory that schools use for athletes - why not use it to recruit scholars too?

And since all of the kids invited had scores of 30+ on the ACT, this school is clearly targeting the top end - exactly the types of people they want to have at their university.

Let's switch from college to PR -

How can you get a piece of the heart of your customers?

I suggest that hearts aren't normally easily obtained - usually you have to buy them.

"Wait a minute," you say - "my heart can't be bought."

Wanna bet?

It happens all the time.

Think about your first love. Usually it started out with some kind of initial attraction, maybe even infatuation, but turning that puppy love into real love required an investment by the person who set out to gain your heart.

They invested time, caring, sharing, loving, flowers, dates and dinners. Your love was purchased at the cost of much time and effort.

(By the way, this is the problem of many marriages - once the ring's on the finger, many consider the process to be complete, when in reality, the process of investing in the relationship has just started. Think about it - how much have you paid into your key family relationships this week?)

It works with customers too - you have to pay to buy their hearts.

Sometimes that payment is non-monetary and intangible - making the extra effort to greet them with a smile, to go out of your way to serve them no matter what you mood, to figure out what this particular customer's needs are so that you can fully serve them.

Sometimes it costs money like giving them discounts, advertising heavily, giving them a feature or flavor they can't get anywhere else.

Sometimes it means uniting with a cause with which they agree. Ben and Jerry's and SC Johnson do this with their environmental efforts. Others sponsor the community holiday parade, specific shows on PBS, the symphony or little league teams. Still others give their employees a day off to support a key cause with which their customers agree.

They key here, (besides the clear benefits of the universe giving back when you give out) from a publicity standpoint, is to make sure that you find a way to communicate this support to your customers, so that they see your ties and understand that your heart's in the same place that there's lives.

This requires a different paradigm. Usually in business we think of investing in capital, in bricks and mortar, even in processes to cut our costs.

But there's another side to the equation that most companies ignore.

How can we invest in our customers?

How can we build that customer / supplier relationship, so that they feel a loyalty to us?

Examples of the opposite of investment, "dis-investment" abound - food companies that have cut so much out of their costs that their product no longer tastes like food, companies that have designed their products to be short-lived, and companies that train their people minimally if at all in the key core skill areas of customer service.

Here's an exercise that you may find useful for your next staff meeting. Take two pieces of paper - label one "Investments in our Customers", label the other "Dis-investments". Then take some time to make a list on each page. It's my bet that your dis-investment side will be longer than your investments.

Then brainstorm some ways to resolve those issues.

What's it worth to you to own a piece of your customer's heart?

Tags: Customer loyalty