Customers who are highly profitable and have high lifetime value.
Here’s how they act:
Desire your offering - Desire is an emotion, it is a form of motivation. The opposite of desire is apathy or indifference, as in it doesn’t really mean anything to me. Harley-Davidson owners have desire for just about everything “Harley”. General Motors products are not that desirable. GM needs to give customers a steep discount and even subsidies gasoline purchase.
Are not price focused - Starbucks customers willing pay a premium for the Starbucks experience. A supermarket “proudly serves Starbucks coffee” but there are not that many takers. Next door the Starbucks shop has them line-up out the door for nearly twice the price.
The more they consume the more they desire - people who are really into barbequing consume at least 20 to 50 times more briquettes than the average person. They are “in to it”. Some barbeque 300 plus days per year-rain or shine.
Forgive snafus - when a good friend or loved one forget your birthday or is late, you forgive and forget. The same is true if Nordstrom’s, REI or other retailer with terrific customer care drop the ball. One foul-up by most businesses and the likelihood of the customer coming back drops dramatically. Business from their friends also declines.
Seek advice on big issues - who do you go to when you need advice about a problem? Someone you trust and listen to you concerns. Certainly not the company that sells on price.
Value the relationship - Billy Blue a men’s clothing store in San Francisco had a dramatic drop in business when the economy nose dived in 2001. He wrote his customers a letter telling them he might have to close his doors if they didn’t start buying more. Business picked up immediately. One guy sent him a check for $2500 and said, “You know what I like, pick out some clothes for me.”
Become advocates - eBay gets more than half of their new customers from referrals. This keeps the cost of getting new customer to about $10. But there is more, advocates help their recruits learn how to use the system and help them develop successful strategies.
Have high lifetime value - a pizza might cost $10 but the lifetime value of a customer could be $5000. Many bid with coupons and free cokes to get the $10 dollars worth of business. A few focus on offering something more valuable to most customers, a great customer experience. The latter get a shot at the $5000.
Addicted Customers do not happen by chance. My new book Addicted Customers: How to Get Them Hooked on Your Company, explains how. (www.addictedcustomers.com)
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