Keeping

your
customers
If you wonder why your
customers left when you
think your competitor has a
similar offering then think
again. Tangibles may
resemble but intangibles
may not and there could lie
the difference

Balajhi N
N.Balajhi - B usine ss Consulta nt

Keeping your customers

O n t he ot her d ay I wa s hav i ng a di scu ssi on wi t h m y new cl i ent whe n he pop ped t h e

que st i on, why do cu st om er s l eav e despi t e sam e of f eri ng f rom com pet i t ors? He wa s
m aki ng an assum pt i on t hat t he of f eri ng f rom hi s com pet i t or i s si mi l ar t o what hi s
com pany of f ers. I t wa s di f f i cult f or m e appro v e or cont radi ct t hat wi t ho ut kno wi ng t h e
det ai l s ho wev er I t ol d him, "t angi bl es m ay resem bl e but i nt angi bl es m ay not " and t h ere
coul d l i e t he dif f erence. I nt angi bl es t hat I am t al ki ng about are giv en i n t he di agram
bel o w. T here m ay not be anyt hi ng ne w ab ou t t hem but j ust t hat one need s t o real i se
t hat t hey, t he i nt angi bl es, are v ery m uch part of an of f eri ng by a com pany t o it s
cust om er s.

Intangible aspects of an offer to customers

Pre-sale ser vice

F ew ye ar s back, i n a sem i nar, one sal e s

m anager shot b ack at m e sayi ng ' serv i ce
st art s onl y af t er sal e s' when I dre w t he
at t ent i on of audi ence t o 'pre -sal e serv i ce'.
But whe n I a sked hi m about i nf orm ati on
su pport giv en t o cu st om ers on ord er st at u s,
del iv ery t im e, desp at ch et c. he sai d "t hey
are part of t he proce ss". T hen i sn't po st -
sal e serv i ce part of t hat proce ss?
Fig. 1 -Intangibles of an offer to a customer

I t 's im port ant t o cl assi f y any i nt eract i on bet we en a cu st om er a nd a com pany, wi t h

regard t o a sal e, a s serv i ce as i t und erl i nes t he i m port ance of t he act i v i t y bei ng
perf orm ed. Any serv i ce bef ore t he prod uct i s del iv ered i s part of 'pre -sal e s serv i ce'.
T he rea so n why I am em phasi si n g on 'pre - sa l es serv i ce' i s becau se p e opl e acr o ss t he
com pany are i nv olv ed i n t hi s and not j ust sal es d epa rt m ent . Manuf act uri ng, Account s,
R&D, T ran sport at i on are som e of t he depart m ent s t hat ar e re sp on si bl e som e of pre -
sal e s serv i ce act iv iti es. A wel l co -ordi nat ed, unif i ed approach i s nec e ss ary t o en sur e
t hat t he cu st om er get s what he i s m ade t o ex pect f rom t he com pany. I t 's v ery easy f or
a com pany sl i p up her e. Cu st om er f ocus ac r oss t h e com pany i s t he onl y way f orward
i n t hi s regard.

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Post- sa les ser vice

Not m uch need s t o b e sai d wi t h regar d t o 'po st - sal e s serv i ce' ex cept t hat st i ck t o your
est a bl i she d and ex pect ed serv i ce st andar d s bot h i n t erm s of t im el i ness a nd d el iv ery.

Commitmen ts

Comm itm ent s are of t wo t ype s, one i s aut ho ri sed an d t he seco nd un aut hori sed. Man y
com pani es f ace pr obl em s wi t h u naut h ori se d commi tm ent s m ade by t hei r sal e s t eam t o
gai n a sal e. Som e of t hese don't g et doc um ent ed an d q ui t e a f ew m ay nev er reach any
ot her per so n ex cept t he concern ed sal e sm an. Ev ery commi tm ent t hat i s v i ol at ed
creat e s a de ep hol e i n a cu st om er' s t r ust . A c om pany sh oul d b e m i ndf ul of
commi tm ent s i t m akes i n t he f orm of concessi on s, ad di t i ons, t erm s et c. and hon our
t hem wi t hout f ail . W it h resp ect t o unaut h ori se d com mi tm ent s m ade by sal e sm en, t he
cust om er shoul d not be m ade t o pay, f or t he mi st ake i s n ot t hei rs. Com pani e s m ust
set t hei r h ou se i n or der and dri v e hom e t he m essage t hat una ut hori sed com mi tm ent s
wi l l not be t ol erat ed and t ho se who m ake t he m wi ll be m ade t o pay f or i t .

Relat ion sh ip

Beyond t a ngi bl e s, serv i ce and com mi tm ent wh at el se can a com pany of f er? A
rel at i onshi p , cert ai nl y . W hen you buy a p roduct of a com pany y ou are a pr ou d
cust om er of i t onl y if t he com pany i s e qual l y prou d t o hav e you on t hei r l i st . I n m i d
1990' s, be si de s po or serv i ce st and ard s, m any cu st om ers j um ped ov er t o ne w priv a t e
sect or bank s d ue t o poor t re at m ent m et ed out t o t hem by st af f of Publi c Sect or Banks
(PSB’s) i n I ndi a. I n f act t he t i de i s no w t urni ng a nd m ore a nd m ore p eopl e are l eav i ng
f or PSB's. Nowaday s, cu st om ers get m uch bet t er t reat m ent f rom t he st af f of PSB ’s
and t hei r serv i ce st andar d s hav e im prov ed great l y.

Never betray your customers' trust

Cu st om ers ca n get v ocal when t hei r ex pect at i ons o n t an gi bl es a re n ot m et but m ay not
wa st e t hei r l ung po wer t o g et t he m essag e acro ss whe n i t com es t o i nt angi bl e s,
barri ng m ay be post - sal es serv i ce. T hey wi l l j ust m ov e away an d t he on u s wi l l be on
you t o l earn why t hey di d so. O ne of t he ba si c t enet s i n bu si n e ss m anagem ent i s
"nev er bet ray your c u st om ers' t r u st ". W hen a cu st om er deci de s t o buy your pro duct o r
av ai l your se rv i ce he / she st a rt s bui l di ng t rust i n yo ur of f eri ng and r em em ber bot h
t angi bl es a nd i nt angi bl e s are p art of an of f er. If t hi s t rust i s t ake n f or grant ed or

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N.Balajhi - B usine ss Consulta nt

pl ayed ar oun d wi t h t h en t h o se c u st om ers w ho l eav e you wi l l t ake a way m uch m ore

bu si ne ss t han t hey b rou ght you i n t he f i rst place.

Final words

T angi bl e a spect s of a product / se rv i ce m ay wi n y ou a cu st om er but i t i s i nt an gi bl e

aspect s t h at h el p you ret ai n cu st om ers. I n t angi bl es carry your o wn m ark a nd are
dif f i cul t t o dupl i cat e unl i ke t angi bl es. T hey ev en m ask som e sh ort f all s i n your prod uct s
and serv i ces, al bei t f or a short peri od, t heref ore be m i ndf ul of t hem .

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