Business owners tend to forget how important it is to meet and exceed their customer’s expectations. One of the first things they teach you in marketing is to always exceed your customer’s expectations. Returning customers are the core of any business. Think about your own shopping habits, don’t you tend to go to the same stores and restaurants over and over again? And, if you stopped going, it’s either because they went out of business or you were dissatisfied with their service the last time you went. The internet makes it easier than ever for business owners to wow their customers.
In order for your business to succeed, you need that return customer! Let me share one of my own personal experiences to clarify what I mean.
My youngest daughter, who is a nursing student attending Baylor University in Dallas (Yes, I AM a proud parent!), called me Saturday morning complaining that her throat was very sore and that she was losing her voice. She is new to Dallas and did not know a doctor who was open on Saturday. I told her she was most likely going to have to find one of those “Doc-in-a-box” clinics that were open all weekend.
As I have mentioned before, I am a parent with three children and to top it off I am very klutzy. So, I have had to visit more than my share of doctors on the weekend. So, I KNOW how these clinics work and how packed they get on the weekends. I told her to pack up her books and get ready to spend the rest of the day in the doctor’s lobby.
We called the university to see what they recommended and I was right, they suggested a medical clinic. They gave us the names of a couple of clinics in the area and I searched on the internet to see which was closer to her. While I was researching, one caught my attention, CareNow.
While on their website (www.CareNow.com), I noticed a button in the upper right hand corner that said “WebCheckIn”. Being curious, I clicked on it. The next page announced, “Wait at home, not at a doctor’s lobby.” So, we filled out the normal forms a doctor asks you to fill out on a first visit and entered her health insurance information. Within ten minutes they called her to confirm her appointment and told her they would call her thirty minutes before the doctor was ready to see her. They called her within the hour. When she went to the doctor’s office, she waited less then two minutes to get in to see the nurse. The doctor was with her less then five minutes later. Total time at the doctor’s office – 30 minutes!
Expectations met, EXCEEDED and WOWED!!!
Whoever designed this WebSign In system really understood what Tom Peters was writing about in his book The Pursuit of WOW! His basic concept was that to be very successful in business, it wasn’t enough for your business to be “Good”. Most of your competitors are “Good”. To be very successful in business you had to find a way to get your customers to say WOW when they were done dealing with your business.
The doctor who owns CareNow understands WOW. He took the most common customer complaint about going to the doctors (the long waits and wasted time) and using the internet and his website to eliminate it. With everybody’s hectic schedule, do you think this gives CareNow’s clinic a competitive edge? All I know is that I wish they had a clinic in El Paso!
So the big question is – How could your company use technology to WOW your customers and get a competitive advantage?
An even bigger question – How would your business be affected if one of your competitors used technology to WOW your current customers?
Internet marketing is essential in today’s world. So, don’t be left in the wind by not taking action. Also, don’t forget, if you need help, call our office so we can help you get started on wowing your customers.