I am sharing a basic fundamental truth about running businesses but it is so basic that people may take it for granted. Every business exists to fulfil a need or want from the customer. If the business can understand the need or want of the customer really well and also execute their service or sale of products to meet the relevant need or want and even exceed the expectation of the customer, they have got the customer hooked. A satisfied customer means potential repeat sale and even word-of-mouth referrals by the satisfied customer for introducing more customers to the business. On the contrary, if a business provides lousy experience for a customer and keeps doing so long enough, the result is potential permanent loss of customer. This results in permanent loss in repeat sale from the same customer and also potential word-of-mouth referrals for introducing more customers to the business.
I personally have experienced this fundamental truth in business. I was once patronising a particular car servicing company. However, after some years I switched to my now current car servicing company. Ever since the switch, I have so far been satisfied with the service provided by my current car servicing company for the past few years. Why did I make the switch?
Originally, I was satisfied with my previous car servicing company. It was a car dealer company as well and my first and second used car were bought from this previous car company. When I was buying my first used car, the car company got me a medium size used car from their list of used cars. I was satisfied with my first used car and had it serviced at this same car company over a few years. After a few years, I decided to change to a smaller used car. However, when I was making my purchase decision at the same car company, I was persuaded by the car salesperson to go for a medium size Japanese brand used car because the reason given was that it will carry a high resale value should I sell the car after a few years usage.
The advice given by the salesperson was not wrong and sounded logical. I went ahead with the purchase and got a medium size used Japanese car. I continued to service this second used car with the same car company. I decided to change my second used car again after another few years. This time round, I again wanted to purchase a smaller used car. Unfortunately, the car company happened not to carry a small used car in their list of used cars at that time. The salesperson tried to persuade me to buy one of their medium size Japanese used car using the same argument again that this type of car has a better resale value.
All seemed well. However, little did the salesperson knew that I had already set my mind this time to get a smaller used car and was thinking of holding on to this third used car for a long time and will not be changing car any time soon. I did not get a chance to voice my needs to the salesperson as what I got from the conversation was just the salesperson keep talking and explaining to me the logical sense to get a medium size used car. This could be because he was eager to make a sale since they did not have a smaller used car at that point of time to sell me and was hoping I would change my mind to get a medium size used car instead.
Guess what? I told the salesperson I would go back and reconsider my decision and return to the car company to make my purchase. The result is that I never did get back to the car company again. I eventually visited another car company and made my purchase of a smaller size used car as I intended to. Days later the previous car company called me up to ask for my decision and I was sorry to disappoint them that I had made my purchase with another car company. As for my car servicing with this previous car company, you would have guess it correctly that I did not return to the car company again for my car servicing needs but changed to my now current car servicing company.
My current car servicing company has served me well. I could feel their sincerity in wanting to do their best to fulfil my car servicing needs with reasonable car servicing response time. There is also a personal touch as they actually remembered me as their client every time my car is due for servicing. Sometimes, when I asked for a discount on their car servicing, they will provide a small discount for me. Even if I am a loyal customer to them deserving a small discount, they have also done their best to keep me as their loyal customer and supporter of their service.
From my experience as a customer, the business that can understand my needs or wants better and can fulfil them better will get my sale. Sometimes, it is not just the price of the products or service that matters, but more so the quality of experience provided to the customer. I am glad to say that I have remained a loyal customer of my current car servicing company even though I received many advertisements on cheaper car servicing by other car servicing companies. Why do I stick with my current car servicing company? This is because they have provided quality customer experience so far and people tend to stay with familiar comfortable experience. Familiar quality customer experience is such a strong positive reinforcement and feedback that keeps the customer returning for more. This is a virtuous cycle that ensures repeat sale from the same customer and may even through word-of-mouth referrals from existing customers to help the business expands its customer base.
As such, the revenue of the business will grow steadily over time. The business will thus expand in size to service more customers. Then, it will be time to look at how the business can find ways to accommodate the increased customer base to maintain or even improve their level of quality customer experience. As long as the business continues to provide better quality customer experience, it will keep growing and have to constantly seek to accommodate the increased customer base and keep up their quality customer experience.
Do not underestimate the power of quality customer experience as it is a fundamental truth which obviously will make or break a business.
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