When explaining the different types of products that exist, when differentiating a consumer from an industrial one, rather than entering its meaning, reference is made to the choice process, affirming that the peculiarity that distinguishes an industrial product from a consumer one lies in in that said process is rational, for that reason the decisions are free from any contamination of whims. And so the thing remains. All installed in a belief that we are all interested in believing, since there is a certain fear that the scaffold may fall.
And that belief is so impregnated in us that when they ask us what are the arguments on the basis of which we choose, for example, a supplier of machine tools, we respond with the forcefulness of having it very clear: “the manufacturer that guarantees the best post-sale service ”(66%) or“ the price ”(57%) or“ the machine with the highest technology ”(30%) or“ the best result in a real test ”(29%).
On the other hand, when they ask us the reason why we have chosen a specific supplier, in the last machine purchased, the answers have very little to do with the previous ones: 33% for "the positive experience", 27% for "the references", 11% for "the price", 7% for "the after sales service", 4% for the machine technology "and 3% for" the best result in a real test ".
If they keep asking us, and we find ourselves at ease with the one who asks us, what makes us uninhibited, the distance between what we think and what we feel still becomes more evident. What we put at the top, both of the value pyramid and the loyalty pyramid, are absolutely subjective aspects. Three data. One: Machine tool users put "the manufacturer is there when he needs it" at the top of the value pyramid and loyalty to "trust and customer service". Two. The users of technology centers put, in both corners, the same aspect, "involvement with the company". And three. Users of professional services, belonging to the industrial sector,They put the value "to make me feel calm" and the loyalty to "trust and proper care." Conclusion, we believe we are one thing, but we really are another. Or in other words, we speak rationally, but we act emotionally.
Well, believe, then, that, when choosing a supplier, the decision is based on objective aspects, is to be ignoring our own reality and that of today's commercial activity, hence it should not surprise us that we find ourselves, more and more often, as out of place, causing us exhausting and frustrating stress.
How is it possible that despite being at the highest level of quality ever achieved in the products manufactured, in the services provided and in the assistance offered, despite having implemented the CRM and despite being at prices with symptoms of freeze, is it increasingly difficult to retain customers? This is the question that continually assaults us and to which we are not knowing how to answer. And we don't know how to give it because we try to answer it from ourselves and we can't answer it from ourselves. We cannot do it, because, first, we reject emotions and, second, we do not see the customer beyond the sales figure.
If we asked the client, seriously and professionally, it is when we would know that he buys us or because we are the cheapest or because we are 'politically correct', and that he is not faithful to us because we do not impact him emotionally. These are the answers that count. To settle, then, with a portfolio of clients, without further ado, however large it may be, is to err on the side of myopia. Today, the guarantee of the future only comes from a portfolio of loyal profitable customers.
And because? Because nothing and nobody brings the benefits that a loyal profitable customer provides. A loyal customer, from a quantitative perspective, saves costs, increases their purchase turnover, grows up-selling and cross-selling rates, and accepts a premium price. And from the qualitative point of view, it is the best and highest prescriber, forgives mistakes the most, pays less attention to the competition, allows innovation in both directions, increases the satisfaction of its own employees and helps to improve planning. It is clear, then, that achieving a loyal profitable customer must be the strategic objective of every company.
However, achieving this objective from the premise that there must be an emotional impact is not possible through techniques, however sophisticated they may be. A certain type of professional is required. Of course, with enough knowledge, experience and skills, but, and this is fundamental, with remarkable emotional development.
The emotional impact only occurs if what the client perceives exceeds the expectations that had been created - which is very difficult, today, to occur outside the subtle sphere - and that this impact is sustainable, requires a professional with a coefficient high emotional.
This is a hard reality to assimilate and more for the technician, but this is the business context of today. Obviously it may not be accepted, but it should be done without further ado, just because the word emotion does not enter the vocabulary is, at least, daring.
