Happiness Compounded

Last week we looked at the importance of creating happy customers by imagining how people will respond to our products – not just at the point of purchase, but well into the future. This week, I would like explore additional implications of organizing your business around a “happy customers” strategy.

First of all, we need to be convinced that “happy customers” are not only a measurable business metric, but a metric that is on par with revenue, cost of goods sold, etc. Thanks to expensive MBA programs, and equally expensive advertising and management consultants, in today’s complex marketing environment the “happy customer” mantra can seem rather simplistic, or worse -  downright foolish. What is it that makes us shy away from this approach?

Perhaps the word itself – “happy” – carries some baggage – i.e. “Happy Meals”, “Happy Days”, “Happy Birthday”, etc. So, in case you are in that camp, I visited thesaurus.com to develop some corollaries to the “happy customer” mantra. See if some of these phrases work better for you. Also, imagine the implications if and when these metrics are hit!

“Thrilled Customers”.
“Over-joyed Customers”.
“Ecstatic Customers”.
“Blissful Customers”.
“Tickled Customers”.
“Jubilant Customers”.
“Gleeful Customers”.
“Merry Customers”.
“Sparkling Customers”.
“Captivated Customers”.
“Elated Customers”.
“Mirthful Customers.”

I don’t know about you, but I almost feel thrilled just reading that list! Imagine if every once in a while a product you bought actually made you feel that way! The real life examples that come to mind are few and far between, so if you manage to pull it off, you will not run into a lot of competition. In fact, those who go the second mile usually have the road to themselves! So – what we’re really after are HAPPY!, Ecstatic, Captivated ,___________, ___________,  Customers. (you fill in the blanks!).

But how do we bring this approach back down into the day to day routine of business? At the risk of flogging you with another great book, I would like to point out a gem by serial entrepreneur Michael Masterson called Ready, Fire, Aim. Masterson is a big believer in focusing on customer happiness, and has seen the profitable results payoff in several different highly successful ventures.

“When customers are treated well, they stick around longer, buy more products, and recommend your business to their friends and colleagues….As a new business, making sales must be your top priority. Sales bring in cash, which can help solve most of your other new-business problems. But sales growth in and of itself should not be your main objective. You want to develop a growing business by providing quality products to an ever increasing base of happy, qualified customers. By qualified customers, I mean customers who will stay with you after their first sale and buy more products.”

Masterson goes on to discuss “CMQC” – Critical Mass of Qualified Customers. If you know the lifetime value of a happy (ecstatic, thrilled, mirthful) customer, and you have calculated how many of those customers you’ll need in order to scale up your business (the CMQC), you now have invaluable information about how many customers you will need to message, and at what cost per customer.  Once you attain your CMQC, your business will begin to grow far beyond its initial start-up phase.

In short, happy customers have a compounding effect, creating valuable sales both in the present and into the future when they will be inclined to buy your new products. Herein lies the rationale for investing in a solid customer database and messaging system. Believe it or not, the goal is not just to keep some expensive tech guys and consultants busy with work! Instead, you are building a working pool of long-term future customers who will gladly and happily – yes, maybe even joyfully – buy from you!

Next week we’ll explore the flip-side, taking a look at the potential damage that can be caused by unhappy customers in a 24/7 online age!

Jim Walker
[email protected]

Rick Simmons is a principal at Dinkum Interactive, a firm specializing in online marketing solutions for small and medium sized businesses around the globe. With more than 25 years of experience in advertising and marketing, Simmons has spent the last four years focused on search engine optimization, and other Internet marketing strategies. Reach him at 267-626-9094 or [email protected]