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«The Kommerchesky Director» magazine, №10, October, 2017

What can make the client interested in: the product pyramid method

What can make the client interested in: the product pyramid method

To make clients return, it’s necessary to treat them as the best friends, who came to drink a cup of tea with you, or relatives, visiting you. I’m going to tell you, how to inculcate concern for clients to every employee.

Work out a product pyramid

Make a pyramid for every product, using the following principle:

  • Lower level works for clients’ attraction;
  • Upper level influences on the recurring visits and products’ sales (loyalty).

For instance, as far as leisure centre is concerned, the pyramid involves attractions, additional offers (such as restaurants, karaoke) and atmosphere. It’s the «all inclusive» concept, that brings uniqueness to a product: having paid for everything at the entrance, the client acquires an access to the whole range of entertainments. And, the atmosphere creates added value, the visitor is eager to receive. At first, people look for the concept, and come back for mood. Our task is — to give clients the idea that we create positive emotions.

Take care of atmosphere

Nothing influences the atmosphere, as the way the sincere service does. That’s why it’s important to select employees, who love people and «serve» Guests. We fulfill the selection with the help of assessment-sessions. Let’s suppose, it’s demanded to recruit ten line managers. We use to invite about 50 people and conduct various games, give tasks to nominees. At the same time HR-managers observe the way they react. If the candidate doesn’t share our values, it’s immediately seen — such persons are got rid of at once.

Besides, we develop corporate culture, that contributes for sincere service formation. I’m going to give some examples.

«Demote» your Chief Manager

We have such days, when the Managing Director, by the way, serves visitors at the wardrobe. That’s the way we cheer up our colleagues and make it clear: no work is shameful. The Leader should treat his employees the way he would like them to treat their clients.

Use the Buddy Concept

Translated from English, the word buddy means friend, old chap. Every member is a friend, but not a colleague or a subordinate. This principle is extended as for an office-cleaner as for the Chief Manager. For example, we formulate the post titles the following way: admin buddy, bar buddy, leader buddy, cash buddy, press buddy etc. Such an approach helps new-comers to adopt, promotes team-building and transmits company’s values.

Subordination — is a system with strict submission of junior members to senior ones. But team relations should be formed on equal terms. So, that employees would earn respect by their deeds, but not by their rank. Formal subordination influences local atmosphere badly, unlike friendly relations do.

Be on a first-name basis

The members of the company get used to treat each other only the given way. Certainly, not everyone is able to get on a first-name basis at once. However, everybody overcome this border in the course of time. Such an approach lightens working relationships and unites the whole team. Making relations with newcomers on equal, we help them flow into the team quicker.

Involve newcomers into working process

We conduct welcome-trainings for our new employees, during which it’s possible to test all the attractions of the leisure-park. It’s important, all the members should be universal and don’t get tired of their workspace. That’s why, our fellows are involved into all sections: billiards, bowling, roller rink, wardrobe etc. They have an opportunity to make more time to their favourite entertainments. Everyone chooses a section, most interesting to him. For example, during the welcome-training a member comes to know, he prefers Q-Zar Game most of all, — that means, this very attraction is going to become his priority position.

An involvement effect occurs, when all the members admire the business, they have and the company, they work in, because it takes their interests into consideration.

Find a point, where opportunity, desire and impulse are being overlapped

The client’s desire to come back is formed at the turn of three factors. The Guests return if there are:

  • opportunity — money and time, comfort on receiving service or products;
  • desire — the expectations of last visit have been compensated;
  • impulse — even if there are opportunities and desire, it’s not necessarily the client will come back. There should be an impulse for further action, and it’s the company’s task to make it. It can be any event, action or loyalty programme.

It’s the events schedule, that helps to make impulses. We, for instance, employ unofficial (Halloween, Valentine’s Day) and official holidays, school and university vacations, and also, periodic actions: Student’s Night, Schoolchild’s Day, children holidays and others.

If you work in the field of B2B, it’s your clients’ education that can become an impulse towards buying. Thus, a company, dealing with sanitary engineering equipment supply, conducts trainings for designers and architects. People, taken courses there, can recommend their customers to buy this particular plumbing. Another example — my father’s building company. It arranges public trials of its production. They show off the control anneal of fireproof constructions at the test bench. Also they hold a training and a stand-up party.

Empower your employees

We don’t have such a principle as «the customer is always right». First of all, respectful relations between the Guest and all the members are of great importance. If the visitor isn’t right, we, taking a sober view of the situation, aren’t going to indulge him to the disadvantage of our staff. When we get to know about a problem situation, there are two ways of the course of events: a local open conflict or dealing with claims post factum.

Resolve conflicts locally

In cases there occur delicate situations, the employees, who communicate with the customer directly, have to solve them. For this purpose, empower your employees. For example, any member of our centre has the right to make a present to the Guest. It can be candy floss, ice-cream, free pass for the next visit or any other sincere outburst, directed at the client.

Besides, the employee can share his sympathy by means of such a «compliment». If a pleased customer receives an ice-cream or a candy floss unexpectedly, it just increases his loyalty.

Even industrial enterprises are capable of realizing such an approach. Thus, «sales» can offer their customers to test some samples of new production or to arrange personal (guest) presentations.

Adjust your dealing with client claims

It happens, we come to know about our clients’ displeasure from feedback sites, social networks, Book of complaints and suggestions etc. Then, the Quality Service is involved. It carries out all the comments monitoring and gives feedback. If a negative comment is being proved, we invite the author to visit our leisure centre again and to become a «mystery shopper». As a bonus, he gets free pass and an opportunity to spend 1500 rubles for food and drinks.

If the client is not right, we take our member’s side. More often, it happens in case our Guest is badly drunken. It shows our staff, we equally treat both — our Guests and employees. «The Client is always right» principle can affect the staff relationship banefully, so as it often brings dissatisfaction to our members, and this will certainly have its effect on visitors.

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Source: «The Kommerchesky Director» magazine, №10, October, 2017


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