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The Downward Spiral Of Cost Cutting
Cost cutting has become a survival tool for most of us. After all, in the non-profit world you've been affected by poor economic conditions which has affected your endowment funds and gifts. Your paying customers have also declined as people are watching their pocket books. So how does one cut costs yet remain focused providing exceptional customer service? Here are 5 tips to get you started:
- Leadership must remain focused on building up employee moral. Happy employees will exceed guest expectations.
- Do not cost cut in area's that have a direct impact on customer service. For example, cutting staff during busy times and making your customers wait in line is not a good idea.
- Those customers who have visited often, find a way to say thank you. Building relationships during hard times will pay off.
- Use your staff as your marketing ambassadors. Encourage them to wear their uniforms out in public, hand out brochures, and generally get potential customers excited about visiting your location.
- Do something worthwhile in your community as an organization. It will make everyone feel better those that participated and those that received. Plus the good will you'll have earned you can't buy.
- Think outside the box. Is there another way you can provide a service to your customers with out adding expense? Ask your customers, I'm sure they'll tell you how!
WHO ARE YOUR CUSTOMERS REALLY?
Recently while we were working with a client on defining who their customers really are, they began to realize that there was more to it than demographics. It also became evident that they had defined "the customer" much too broadly and had not taken into account the customers attitudes and emotions which may drive them to visit their location.
This had a major impact on everything from how they communicated with the customer (brochures and leaflets) to employee training (staff needed to understand what customers valued so they could deliver). It also had a major impact on their growth strategy.
Ask yourself the following questions to see if you need some alignment between what your customers value and what your museum or attraction is actually delivering.
- What perception do your customers have for your museum or attraction?
- What perception do you want your customers to have?
- Is there an alignment between what they value and what you want them to perceive as value?
- How are your employees communicating these values to your customers?
- How is this reflected in your business objectives or growth strategy?
Bottom line: You need to understand who your customers really are. You want to put desired perceptions in the minds of your customers in a controlled manner and then deliver on them. But doing so, you'll reduce the chances of customer rejection.