9 Signs Of A Healthy Brand – Customer Relationship

Mark Di SommaJanuary 24, 20142 min

It’s amazing who we forget and how quickly. I don’t remember any of the people on the bus last week. Who did I ride home with last Thursday? My mind goes blank. It’s nothing personal – it’s simply that I have no reason to remember them. Or they me.

Exactly the same for most transactions that take place between people and brands. People get what they’re looking for, and then they go.

If you ask the people responsible for running brands what customers they want, they’ll often say “as many as possible” or “people who spend a lot” or this age group or that ethnic group – but that’s not what they really want at all. Because, when probed, they have no idea who they want as customers. They’ll take anyone whose buying. They just want the money.

And yet many of them spend their working days trying to get those very same people to value them above the myriad other offerings. To value them as more than just a price.

As Robert Kozinets has so rightly pointed out, one of the great fallacies about relationships is that brands tend to connect value and loyalty – but customers can actually be loyal and buy very little, or they can buy a lot and not be loyal at all.

So how should we judge a successful customer, and more particularly, a successful customer relationship? What motivates people to put faces to actions?

I think there are 9 sure signs that a relationship between a brand and a customer is healthy, personalized and mutually beneficial:

1. Consistency – there is a regular pattern to how, when and why people buy

2. Integrity – there are no hidden agendas on either side

3. Openness – facts and opinions are shared

4. Humor – people smile at the thought of being in each others company

5. Delight – there are pleasant surprises for everyone

6. Confidence – people believe in themselves and each other

7. Time – everyone is given the time they need to do the best work and to make the best decisions

8. Endorsement – names and experiences are shared

9. Value – everyone feels they have got what they needed to get, and more, out of each exchange

If you can remember each of your last three customer exchanges, try marking them against these criteria. If you’re honest, you’ll probably find there’s a spooky correlation between the marks you give and what you actually feel about the relationship with the people involved.

If you can’t remember the last three exchanges in detail, despite what the numbers might be telling you, you don’t have successful customers. You’re just negotiating traffic. And chances are, someone feels like they’re being taken for a ride.

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Mark Di Somma

One comment

  • Serge

    February 12, 2014 at 12:57 pm

    Really, I believe if those checkpoints you enumerated are followed, than you will definitely remember more information and details about every transaction. And your customers are going to feel the same way. This is every brand’s goal – to get remembered and recognized.

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