Key customer reviews

Luckily, you are just seconds away from some very smart brand marketing solutions. Click here!

Key points

However often you meet with your customers to discuss your business, you will probably not identify issues that threaten your relationship without a formal review.

The benefits of conducting key customer reviews are:

1. underline the professionalism of your organisation, especially if your customer is process-oriented
2. emphasise the commitment of your organisation to a long term business relationship with the customer
3. customers like them, but only if they regard you as a significant supplier
4. you can usually increase your customer contact base, and therefore make the account more secure

In the case of major accounts, it is probably better for your top management to conduct the reviews personally, as it shows greater organisational commitment. The structure of the review itself will ensure the right level of objectivity.

In more detail.....

1. Ideally, you would conduct reviews with at least 5 of the key contacts within your customer who influence your relationship, spending about 30-120 minutes with each. In a very large customer, you may wish to review 50 contacts all over the world.
2. Your task during these reviews is to listen. You should never explain/discuss issues, and you should not make suggestions for improvement. They come later.
3. Design the review document around the topics you feel your organisation must get right to deliver your brand. Allow your customers to add topics they think most relevant.
4. Put your customers in charge. You facilitate the review to allow them to say anything they want, in any order they wish to say it.
5. After the review, you can deal immediately with any issues which need addressing urgently, or which are easily resolved.
6. Write a formal response to your client contacts, listing:
• your overall ratings
• areas where you excel
• areas for improvement
• recommendations for change, which could/should include some suggestions as to how your client can make your life easier too
7. Follow up on critical areas frequently. Remind your contacts that you are picking up on issues they raised.
8. Analyse the loyalty indicators (final questions) to conduct a customer stakeholder analysis. Which contacts are most favourable towards you and why; which are likely to be undermining you and why?
9. Repeat the review after 18 months.

Luckily, you are just seconds away from some very smart brand marketing solutions. Click here!

For further information, please contact enquiries@mudvalley.co.uk

© 2004, Mud Valley ™ brand marketing community.

Related answers