Pharmacy I went to as a child.
I remember as a kid always going to this card and novelty store downtown in my hometown to buy Smurfs. I'd visit with the owner and she'd show me what's new, how to identify a real Smurf versus a fake one (yes, it mattered!), and learn which were the collectibles. I also bought cards for my family there, and the owner would give me advice as to what to buy my mom for holidays.
My family would go to the corner drug store to pick up prescriptions. We'd have a conversation with the store owner or their family. We'd learn about the drugs we were buying, talk about a few different topics, joke around, learn about what's new, and then move on with our day.
Why did we go to the mom and pop store? The corner drug store? And why do we still still go to those stores when cheaper alternatives exist? Well, we trusted the owner and often had a relationship with him. He or she would refer us to products that solved our problems and we felt like he or she cared. And there are probably more reasons (feel free to list more in the comments.)
Why do we go to certain larger stores today?
- We order from Amazon because we know we’ll get our stuff (even if there is a delivery problem, they find a way to get your purchases to you)
- At Best Buy we’ll get a good deal and can pick it up in person
- We go to the Apple store because of the service, the products, and well, it's a great looking store
I think sometimes we forget that we have logical reasons why we shop where we do. Sure, these stores offer solid benefits, but in a way, we have a relationship with these companies because our interactions have been pleasant and positive, and in the end they meet our needs. We purchase from them often and the experiences are great. We encounter helpful employees when we purchase products or have questions, and keep coming back for price, experience, location or other reasons.
Relationships have always been the basis for business success. However, the Web and an obsessive focus on bottom-line results has made transactions seem more important to business than people - customers and employees. A sample list of transactions:
- Making a purchase.
- Clicking on an ad or a link.
- Liking a post.
- Submitting a form with information to become a lead.
- Getting information.
These types of transactions are necessary for businesses to get information and understand if messaging is working, people want a product, or they are on the right track financially in the market. They provide great checkpoints towards success. However, I think at times we forget that transactions alone, these checkpoints, don't make a business. Sure, business is based on exchanging money and it is necessary. But there is more to a transaction than a money exchange. There is more to a transaction than getting a lead or contact to call later. There is more to a transaction than using a product once. A transaction should be a milestone in a relationship that needs to be built so there isn't a one-time only transaction. The goal should be for the relationship, and additional transactions, to continue.
Transactions are about activities. And you can measure activities to show that you are doing something, but an activity alone doesn't always mean progress towards a goal or a relationship.
It makes one wonder if it is time to include new metrics or shift them to reflect how we build a relationship (e.g., repeat calls, purchases, customer initiated discussions).
People don't give great product reviews and referrals because they had a single, great transaction. Great product reviews and referrals comes from a great experience and relationship with that company.
Brand helps establish relationships
What is a brand? Brands aren't only the look and feel of a company. Great branding extends into the experience someone has with your company.
- Purchasing
- A phone call
- Submitting a payment
- Asking a question to sales or someone else in the company
- Understanding how to use a product
Just about anything. These types of experiences build relationships and relationships aren’t always about a purchase. Let's face it - when you make friends with someone, do you remember when you buy someone coffee or do you remember the conversations you had during the coffee meeting? Or do you remember that you bought the tickets for the sporting events or that your friend came to that event with you and you found an awesome Indian restaurant after the game?
It's the experiences that are memorable; transactions aren't. Brands are focused on the experiences, not necessarily the transaction itself.
What is a sign of a customer or prospect having a great relationship with a company?
The individual sees the company as a resource and industry leader who can provide guidance about trends and is an expert in the problem you are having and can help you solve your problem. If someone values your input and guidance, they trust you and you're now a part of that person's life. That means you have a relationship with that person.
Another sign of a great relationship - the repeat purchase.
Awareness doesn't equate to trust
Seeing an ad doesn't mean that someone will buy. Ads and offers build awareness of their business and encourage you to try their products and services. And getting you in the store simply won't sell you on the store or a product. You can buy, but that's a single transaction. The repeat purchase or use confirms a relationship.
A sign of trust and relationship: the second or repeat purchase
The first money exchange transaction is a test, it's about building trust. Although a customer may see your solution as essential to overcoming their fear of failure and decide to use your product, a customer is still testing you. It's only after a first time purchase that you could say that a customer truly converted. I have heard this for years.
The first purchase is an activity that indicates some trust, but it doesn't mean that the customer truly trusts your company and has a relationship with it. True conversion happens when you see that company as a trusted resource to help you in your life through advice, providing solutions, and input.
I think companies need to stop focusing so much on clicks and click through rates and forcing bottom line sales results (and by forcing, I mean encouraging sales to push someone to buy rather than build a relationship with someone and see where it leads). We as a society tend to obsessively focus on these business tangibles - these bottom line results. Those are important, as are forecasted results to help us track revenue and spending. But what these numbers don't reflect is customer satisfaction, and that's a key metric if you want repeat business. Someone buying one time from you isn't a conversion. It's a transaction, an activity.
If you are working towards building a relationship what's tricky is that you can't predict where a relationship will go. You just can't predict people. Ironically, you may be able to forecast a pipeline for sales, but that isn't a guarantee of it happening, either.
It makes you wonder if, in a way in the end, the transaction is connected to the relationship. If you don't try to build a relationship, you won't get the sale. If you get the sale, you progressed the relationship.
Maybe the relationship and brand is more integrated into sales and revenues than we thought.
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