Any business must have a sufficient number of (loyal) customers to make a profit and survive. Dr. Michael LeBoeuf’s decision to write “How to Win Customers & Keep Them for Life” is commendable. LeBoeuf is a well-known international author, business consultant, and dynamic professional speaker. He was a management professor at the University of New Orleans for over twenty years, retiring at forty-seven.
Companies ranging in size from Fortune 500 to small banks and medical practices turn to LeBoeuf when they need solid, practical ways to live and work smarter.
According to the author, the book contains everything you need to know about successful selling and how to win customers for life. The book discusses transforming any organization’s people into a customer-driven and turned-on team. According to LeBoeuf, the success of any business is primarily determined by knowing the answers to critical questions such as “Why do some people buy once…and never return?”, “Why do some people become strong, steady customers?”, “How do you turn an angry or complaining customer into a happy and satisfied one?”, “What are the five best ways to keep customers coming back?” and so on.
According to this author, “quality customer service” is one of the most important keys to long-term business success. He adds that there is a painful awareness that exceptional service is far too rare. According to LeBoeuf, the reason for this is due to three issues: (1) employees lack basic knowledge; (2) critical points of customer contact that can make or break a business are not adequately identified and managed; and (3) a poor reward system: most managers fail to reward workers for providing excellent service.
He claims that a typical business hires someone to do a job, pays them a flat wage, and gives them little or no incentive to go the extra mile for customers. According to LeBoeuf, the typical employee’s attitude degenerates into indifference or even contempt for the customers in this type of situation.
This book is divided into three sections. The first section, “The Fundamentals,” is divided into nine chapters. The first chapter touches on the world’s greatest business secret. LeBoeuf emphasizes the importance of customer satisfaction and care as a key to customer retention and business success.
“Consider how valuable your customers are for a moment. They alone enable you to earn your living in the manner that you do. Well-treated customers will be your best source of advertising and marketing, “He agrees.
LeBoeuf emphasizes that most people think of business success in dollars, cents, statistics, facts, and figures. However, he educates, all of those measures of success are determined by the behavior of customers and the employees who serve them.
According to LeBoeuf in chapter two, “Better than selling,” the “better than selling” principle focuses on what customers want and need, assisting them in purchasing what is best for them and making them feel good about it.
He teaches that this principle is essential for everyone who works, not just salespeople. He said, “You could work in a warehouse, a laboratory, or a production line and never, ever see a customer. However, that customer pays your salary….”
The author examines concepts such as the most excellent customer you will ever win, the only two things people ever buy, buying much more when they buy you, and the importance of customer perception in chapters three through six.
Chapter seven is about asking the golden question to gain new customers. In this section, LeBoeuf argues that if rewarding customers is the key to winning and keeping them, then the best way to gain more customers is to offer rewards that no one else offers.
Almost every successful businessperson you ask will tell you that finding and meeting unmet wants is the name of the game when it comes to winning customers him. “Finding workable, profitable answers to the golden question is more an art than a science, and one that frequently involves a large amount of risk,” LeBoeuf adds. He provides advice on how to improve your chances in this regard.
In chapters eight and nine, LeBoeuf advises on the importance of asking platinum questions to retain customers for life and the five best ways to keep customers coming back.
Part two is titled “Managing the Moments of Truth: Ten Action-Ready Strategies” and contains ten chapters, numbered ten to nineteen. In chapter ten, LeBoeuf discusses what to do when a customer appears, calls, or inquires. According to the author, the most important contact is the customer’s first contact with your company because if you lose him or her here, he or she is likely lost forever. He advises on how to make an excellent first impression.
In chapters 11 to 14, LeBoeuf discusses what to do when the customer is angry or defensive; what to do when the customer has special requests; what to do when the customer is unable to make up his or her mind; and what to do when the customer raises objections to purchasing.
The author claims in Chapter 15 about what to do when a customer gives a buying signal that it is too familiar for salespeople to spend half an hour selling their services and two hours repurchasing them. He educates that there is a time to talk, listen, and close and that the best time to sell is when the customer is ready to buy. LeBoeuf discusses how to recognize and reinforce purchasing and verbal purchasing signals.
He analyzes concepts such as what to do when the customer buys, what to do when the customer refuses to believe, what to do when the customer complains, and what to do when the customer is disappointed in chapters 16 to 19.
The final section, titled “The triple-win reward system,” consists of three chapters numbered 20 to 22. In Chapter 20, titled “What Gets Rewarded Gets Done,” LeBoeuf contends that people behave the way the reward system teaches them to act. “The single most significant impediment to effective performance in most organizations is a massive mismatch between the behavior required and the behavior rewarded. Organizations of all types fall into the trap of expecting A, rewarding B, and then wondering why they get B. “The author’s identity is revealed.
In chapters 21 and 22, LeBoeuf shines an analytical spotlight on how to keep the customer in the spotlight and the quality customer service action plan. According to him, when it comes to providing excellent service, many of today’s business owners and managers recognize that their service quality is ailing and urgently needs to be improved. He adds, however, that instead of making a serious commitment to improving it, they settle for Band-Aid solutions.
This book is excellent in terms of style. Aside from the language’s simplicity, the depth of the content is commendable. The text is easy to study because it is divided into three well-articulated sections. To achieve conceptual reinforcement, LeBoeuf begins each chapter with a legendary quote or a classical allusion. To perform analytical clarity, he also employs reflective illustrations.
However, the book’s layout could be improved. To convey linguistic formality, “And,” the coordinating conjunction of adding, should have been used instead of “&” in the book’s title.
In general, this is a classic. You must read this book if you want your business to survive in the New Year by learning how to win and retain customers. It is strategically sound.
GOKE ILESANMI, Managing Consultant/CEO of Gokmar Communication Consulting and Editor-in-Chief/CEO of [http://www.gokeilesanmi.com], is a Certified Public Speaker/Emcee, (Business) Communication Specialist, Motivational Speaker, Career Management Coach, Renowned Book Reviewer, Corporate Leadership Expert, and Editorial Consultant.
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