12 Most Compelling Ways of Winning the Customer

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How can you turn consumers into fans… and get them to spend more?

In the book, Winning the Customer, Lou Imbriano and Elizabeth King outline the necessary steps toward building customer relationships and winning large revenues. As the former CMO of the New England Patriots and the CEO of TrinityOne, Imbriano draws upon his experiences to share dozens of real world examples.

The book breaks down the process of winning the customer into three steps:

1. The Marketing Playbook- Organizing your structure and identifying / understanding your fans
2. Relationship Architecture – Connecting with your customers and the importance of creating memorable moments
3. The Revenue Game – The process for creating customer focused business solutions and the 9 steps to closing the deal.

Here are the 12 most compelling takeaways from ‘Winning the Customer’:

1. Relationships First

Think about relationships first rather than focusing on the transaction.

2. Overdeliver

Have loftier goals and make it your intent to over-deliver on expectations.

3. SCD test

All marketing promotions should pass the SCD test. They should be Simple, Creative and Dominating.

4. Everything Counts

Think of every interaction as an opportunity to gain a new customer or to build on an existing relationship.

5. Be Systematic in Your Outreach

Think less about business cards and more about approaching people / organizations in a way that resonates by design.

6. Memorable Moments

If you want to beat out your competition, you need to focus on creating memorable moments.

7. Tying ‘The Bow’

Find ‘The Bow’. A little strip of ribbon that when wrapped just right around a package or offering, that ties everything together and makes it perfect. The Bow shows you value the relationship enough to pay attention and cared enough to go the extra step.

8. Look Behind the Deal

Keep the contract in the drawer, stay focused that your job is to make sure your client is accomplishing its goals.

9. Needs Before Inventory

You can’t just sell people what you have, you need to a conduit for what the customer needs.

10. ABC – Always be Creating

Your role is find solutions. ABC – always be creating solutions.

11. No Shortcuts

The key to creating revenue involves following a 9 step blueprint. Stick to the plan as each steps builds toward an eventual close. Shortcuts do not apply.

12. Bringing it all together

Put a great plan in place, design an operational structure around it and bring it to life with strong relationships to win the customer and generate incredible revenue.

Are you winning the customer, and – if so – how? Maybe an even better question is, Why? Look forward to your comments!

Photo courtesy of Garry Knight, used under creative commons. Some rights reserved.

Stan Phelps

http://www.synergyevents.com

Stan Phelps is Chief Solutions Officer at Synergy Events. Synergy is an award winning experiential marketing agency specializing in the creation of signature brand experiences. He believes the longest and hardest nine inches in marketing is the journey from the brain to the heart of your customer. He blogs at Marketing Lagniappe and is currently writing his first book, 'What's Your Purple Goldfish?'.