Companies and customers are from different planets. The ways they “do business” differ so vastly that it is difficult for companies to keep up with consumer demands. The client is always right is an age old analogy, one that most strive to live by, but this is often much easier said than done.

The reason for this is that life on Mars is commercially driven. Emphasis is placed on business processes and protocol to ensure profitability.

The key to successful business lies is attraction, acquisition and retention. However, retention requires a handy amount of effort. More often than not, these efforts form part of the original transaction and the time consumed by these processes intrude in the next business cycle of attraction and acquisition and negatively impacts profits.

Hence client relations, communications, up selling and cross selling opportunities and consumer demands are less prioritised.

The problem resonates from the fact that life on Venus is emotionally driven. Most of the times purchasing behaviour resides on the consumers’ emotional front. Completing a transaction is similar to engaging in a relationship. Even the purchasing of products or groceries is an indication that the customer has made a conscious and emotional decision to engage with your brand.

While companies might not necessarily agree on this, it has been proven on many occasions.

A typical example of this is when a web development agency delivers a website to a client. These agencies will profess that in many cases, they are suddenly regarded as first line IT support as well. This is especially true when the service delivery was seamless and the client happy with the product.

Why does this happen? Customers find it hard to connect with businesses that understand that transactions reach further than just the exchange of money. When they do, they get clingy.

So for all the times that you curse these persistent clients, realise that they are the customers that value your work the most. They are what I refer to as brand evangelists.

They are the people that will ensure your brand is carried to their peers.

These customers need to be treated with the same value you derived from their transactions. Luckily, in the digital age, there is technology that assists you in your client relations management and simultaneously allows you the opportunity to cross sell and up sell.

Stay tuned for the follow up post on these opportunities.

Many businesses reckon they know their clients purely based on their LSM statistics or purchasing habits. Others assume they intuitively know what their clients want and react as if it is in their best interest without genuinely aquiring their true needs.

To many businesses it is a money game. Get in, have your say, get out. Cheque is in the mail. Technically it is, but realistically it has always been about customer relations.

Sound customer relations instills brand loyalty. The sort of trust people strive for in their own personal relationships.

And when there’s money on the line, there are relationships hanging in the balance.

Businesses need to tread carefully as this video illustrates the typical relationship many businesses have with their customers.

If you find it funny, it’s because you know it is true.

Business these days is as much a personal affair as it is a monetary one. Ask any loyal customer what sets their preferred brand apart from others and you’ll find in most cases it is not cost, but a well sustained trust relationship.