Malik Khan, CEO,
PointClick Technologies
I personally fly out and deliver these plaques to our phenomenal clients as they reach that ten-year milestone. Each plaque is a promise to continue these partnerships and relationships for as long as the customer allows us to serve them.
Is this a little thing? Maybe, but it matters. It matters because at this point our customer knows that our relationship with them is personal. Our partnership with them matters to us, and we want them to know how important that partnership is. The 10 Year Plaque unlocks and opens many opportunities for us. It is part of our corporate culture at PointClick.
In the last 12 months over 75 clients reached the 10-year milestone — a milestone that we now call The 10 Year Club.
75 clients. 10 years. 750 combined years of stellar service. Is that number even imaginable in the hosting industry? Three-quarters of a millennium of hosting in a land ruled by giants, and wondering how do we beat the giants? And then learning it’s possible to beat the giants.
You beat them by leveraging the relationship. Giants are big. They are huge, but giants are not nimble. And they are terrible at building the partnerships that matter. Giants are terrible at the little things.
Those customers joined us when we were a startup and they stayed with us during the difficult times, difficult times when our own growth became our stiffest challenge.
Customer acquisition is tough in any business — what’s harder is maintaining the customers you fought so hard to acquire. How do you keep those customers using your products and services?
I could never understand companies who treated their customers poorly after acquiring them — a practice that provided a motivation to start PointClick.
I learned that many companies try to grow too fast, neglecting their customer base in pursuit of more customers. Other companies simply do not care much about maximising and nurturing their relationships with existing clients.
Every conference I’ve attended in the last couple of years tries to build a theme of customer experience or the Age of the Customer. If we are in the Age of the Customer now, then what age was it before? The Age When the Customer Didn’t Matter? When did any business of any value ever live in that age? For me, the customer is the centerpiece of everything, the sun that our planet orbits. Without that sun our planet is cold and dead. I started with that philosophy and it is the guiding philosophy at PointClick today.
The next customer is unknown, and unknowable, but the customer you have today is gold.
Our customers are our partners and a partnership is stronger than vendor/client. You could purchase products and services from a multitude of other companies, but I give you a reason to keep purchasing and partnering with me — now and forever.
Our startup goal to keep our customers now and forever requires stellar service and total engagement. We adopted the mantra and brand promise we still live by, “The Little Things Matter in Managed Hosting.” And so now we recognise our long-term partners with trophies and plaques and personal visits to award those trophies and plaques.If you are looking to grow your own business or sales — remember — nurture existing customer relationships rather than throwing darts at uncertain campaigns. Marketing is important, but doesn’t it make sense to make sure your marketing includes those who already trust you?
Create your own customer experience process and make it part of your culture.
