Who is our customer?

Who is our customer?

Businesses love to offer incentives to their customers. They give them
cards to swipe every time they buy something and hand out coupons at
every transaction. But does this really help consumers, or is this a way
for businesses to figure out who their customers are and motivate buyers to
change their buying decisions?

My take is that loyalty programs and other rewards program are really not
helping to get a good understanding of what the customers needs are.
They are just finding ways to move customers into behavior that works
best for the company.

At Signature Community in the past we  have  fallen into the trap of trying to
manipulate our customers' behavior. We tried to convince residents that
reading the paper or going to the gym was a benefit suited for them or that
our home buying program would allow them to save money on their next
home purchase. These manipulative programs were great selling points
but not used extensively and therefore are not necessarily good retention
mechanisms. In a survey of our new residents, 67% said they moved into
their new apartments because of gym access, yet our reports show that
less than 30% of our residents actually use the gyms. Aspirational? Yes.
Useful? Probably not.

Over the years we have realized that in order to be a good provider of
customer service you need to be an all-things provider. You don't need to
provide all things to everyone but you have to be able to provide anything
to anyone. We keep our offices open late and staffed to give our residents
the opportunity to walk in or call with a problem, suggestion or request, and
we also provide an online maintenance request system for residents who
don't want to have to talk to anyone.

In the world of customer service today, it's not about doing one thing really
well. It's about being able to perform services on multiple levels to reach
all customers and be able to readily respond to the evolving wants and
needs of our customers.

Thanks for making Signature Community the all around provider of
customer service in the apartment living business.
--
Nickolas Jekogian
CEO
Signature Community
917-763-3500
www.ASignatureCommunity.com
Blog -http://www.nwjceommm.blogspot.com/

"Si³" Signature: Ideas, Innovation, Implementation!
Send ideas to: ideas@asignaturecommunity.com