Educating Your Customer:
A Vital Part of Marketing

Customers are smart and they sincerely want a combination of features and benefits that will provide them with superior value. The problem comes when the customer isn't told what that value combination is.

Customers who haven't been educated on value will invariably be blinded by the lowest price.

To promote long-term customer loyalty and increase sales, your company must ensure that customers know what makes its products and services more valuable than those of its competitors. This requires that you provide consistent customer education, at every meeting point, both on what standards of quality customers have a right to expect and what your company is doing to meet those standards.

A top-level customer education program begins with top-level employee education. Each of your employees must know why your offerings are superior. Then they must be ready and able to discuss that superiority with customers. Only when your employees are educated can your customer education imperative truly get under way.

Here are three steps for getting started:

Define the problem(s). What problems could be solved if your customers were better educated? How could gaining certain knowledge help them to view your products and services, and those of your competition, differently? Knowing a problem is always the first and best step toward solving it.

Involve your customers in the process. Solicit your customers' input and participation. Ask them about their needs. Then ask what you can do better to meet those needs. This stage could be as simple as a five-question feedback form or as advanced as a focus group. Discounts or promotional prizes are often useful here.

Deliver on your promises. Once you know what your customers need, deliver it. Then make sure your customers appreciate what you are delivering. For instance, if you are a retailer, floor displays could better educate customers on important product features, or point customers to a different section of the store.

Do you do business mostly over the phone? You could design an easier, more intuitive voice mail/answering system, then educate your customers on how to get what they want with a minimum of aggravation. And, of course, an informative, entertaining web presence is essential today, regardless of your business.

Customer education is one of the most cost-effective avenues you have to dramatically strengthen your competitive position. It is a never-ending process that, unfortunately, most companies never start. Following these guidelines can help your company avoid that pitfall.