I’m lucky to have a number of mentors in my life, and this blog is about one in particular who has an almost foolproof strategy for customer retention.
He’s a great businessperson with, I’m sure, many strategies for winning and keeping new business. I’m just going to talk about one. It’s something he’s famous for and something I’ve experienced again and again first-hand.
I don’t know what my mentor calls it, but I’m going to call it the “Crazy amounts of love strategy”.
Each year on my birthday, flowers arrive at my house or office. They’re my favourite kind of flower. Every person in my office knows they’re not from my husband, they’re from my mentor.
Each year on my wedding anniversary, same thing, flowers, not from my (fantastic) husband, but from my mentor.
While I was pregnant with my first child, almost weekly gifts would arrive for my unborn child. Again, from my mentor.
My mum has photos up in her house from a photo shoot of me he organised. My mum also has a key ring with my daughter on it (made from photos he saw on my Facebook page).
When I caught up with him for coffee recently he came with a gift for my daughter and before he left, bought me a little something at the shop we met at. He also met me in quite an awkward city location stating that I was worth the $70 parking ticket he would (and did) get for parking right out the front while he fit me into his busy day. Oh, and before he left he offered me the usage of his holiday house and picked up the cheque, despite my protests.
In short, he’s relentless. He’s got great systems (for remembering dates), but he’s also got an amazing heart and generosity.
Now while I don’t doubt the validity of our friendship, I also see it for the amazing customer retention strategy that it is too. Could I ever deal with anyone else if there was a real estate need in his area? Not a hope, and I’ve done business with him personally a number of times. Would I refer friends and family to him? Absolutely, and I have done so. If anyone mentions real estate in his area to my team, his name is the first that trips off their tongues.
He’s a whirlwind of magnanimity and I could never hope to replicate his generosity in its entirety – but I can and hopefully have learned from it over the years.
Each time he remembers an important date or an upcoming exciting event, I feel special. How can I replicate that feeling with my clients?
Each time he spoils my daughter or another family member my heart goes out. How can I implement strategies to have that affect on my clients?
His actions have the effect of ensuring my utter loyalty, but he never asks for it nor do his actions ever seem transparent or fake. How can I learn to make my customer service strategies as powerful, real and long reaching?
I guess the final experience is, that not only does he shower me with generosity and gifts, but also in amazing customer service lessons. The giving never stops with him!
Kirsty Dunphey is the youngest ever Australian Telstra Young Business Woman of the Year, author of two books (her latest release is Retired at 27, If I Can do it Anyone Can) and a passionate entrepreneur who started her first business at age 15 and opened her own real estate agency at 21. Now Kirsty does lots of fun things which you can read about here. Her favourite current projects are Elephant Property, a boutique property management agency, Baby Teresa, a baby clothing line that donates an outfit to a baby in need for each one they sell andReallySold, which helps real estate agents stop writing boring, uninteresting ads.
Smart Company is a sister publication to The Mandarin, catering to Australia’s entrepreneurs, small and medium business owners and business managers.
