October 20th is “Get To Know Your Customers” Day. That’s a great occasion to review a couple of KYC-related topics!
Most of you have already been aware of Know Your Customer (KYC) guidelines that expanded from financial institutions to every business entity no matter what the industry is.
Traditionally, the KYC procedures were focused on identity verification, and used to ensure compliance with anti-money laundering and anti-bribery policies.
Beyond this primary usage, KYC is a powerful tool to know your customers really better.
The Power of Knowing Your Customer
In fact, it goes way beyond laws, policies and guidelines. It’s about creating a link and building a genuine relationship with your customers.
People love to talk about themselves, and if you take the time to talk to your customers about non-business topics, you will find that, more often than not, they are more than happy to engage you in conversation.
By getting to know your customers, you can find a whole lot of valuable information from them. Such as where they live, whether they do have a family, what their hobbies are, do they have pets, etc.
By finding out this type of information, you can determine what their needs are, then proceed to tell them about the products or services you believe would be ideal for these needs.
Another plus when it comes to getting to know your customers, is that every time you speak with one another, you are strengthening the relationship you already have with them.
Your Customer is Not a Statistic
When a customer walks into your hotel (or restaurant, or store, or clinic…), you want to make sure they feel welcome, you want to treat your customer as though they are a piece of gold, and not as a number.
Have you ever been standing in a line, and when it comes to your turn to be waited on, the sales associate yells out “Next?”. Just thinking about that scenario makes you cringe, right? It is hardly a way to build a relationship with your customer.
When you engage in a conversation with customers, be it in-person or online (website, mobile app, email…) show them how much you know them, how much you care, and how much they are valuable to you.
A strong business relationship is a great opportunity to obtain all of your customer’s business as well as the business of all of their friends and relatives through referrals.
How Well Do Your Customers Know You?
Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart, asked himself this important question several years ago. His answer at that time: employee nametags. So, he rolled out an initiative that required all of his employees to wear badges; the purpose of which was to “help the customers get to know the people they bought from.”
However, helping customers “get to know you” isn’t just about names. It’s about your ability to educate your customers not only about your products and services, but also about your brand’s core values and engagements.
Customers need to know about you in many ways: your environmental engagement, your social impact, the way you treat your employees and suppliers, how -and how much- you invest in digital to meet their needs…
If you follow these principles of reciprocation, your customers will get to know you better than ever before! So, remember what Jeffrey Gitomer said a decade ago on Twitter:
In sales, it's not who you know. In sales, it's who knows you.
Where to Start?
The better a person gets to know you, the better they will begin to trust you, and the more likely they will be to engage with you.
Here are 5 best practices to get you started:
Customer Relationship is a two-way street.
Meet your customers half-way!
