Create, Inspire, Deliver

There are three steps to customer engagement and success in business. They are create, inspire, and deliver. The following is a look at how you can implement these three ideas into your business strategy:

Create your product or service- The first thing you have to do is have a product or service to sell. Most businesses already have their basic products and services created. The question is whether or not it is something you should stick with, revamp, drop completely, add to, etc.
- Has to fill a need- If people do not need it, chances are they won't want it, especially when economic times are tough. You should look at the market you are in, the industry you are in, and ask yourself if there are any needs not being filled that you could fill. Put yourself in the shoes of the customers, and ask yourself if you have any needs that are not being met by the current market.
- Has to meet customer expectations- When you create a product, it has to be quality and value. It has to meet customer expectations, and not disappoint. In other words, make sure it is something worth buying, and that anything you say about it, is true.
- Should have a clear market- You have to know who it is for, and how they should use it, and how you are going to let them know about it. In other words, do not just create something to create it, create something for a specific, clearly defined, market.

Inspire customers to become loyal- Once you have a product in place it is time to get your potential customers excited about your product, and inspire your employees to be the best employees possible. Inspiring employees and consumers is usually accomplished with the following three things:
- Have a purpose- Purpose is great, as it helps customers relate to you. For example, if you make products that are organic, you relate with the customers who are concerned with natural products. If your purpose is to provide the best customer service of anywhere, you will get the customers who want to be treated right, enough to choose the businesses they do business with carefully.
- Treat employees well- If you want to inspire loyal customers, you have to start by inspiring employees. When an employee feels important, trusted, respected, etc. they treat customers the same way. This means the better your employees are treated, the better they treat customers.
- Be authentic- Be yourself, stick to your values, and be authentic, share emotion and passion, and you will see customers as a result.

Deliver- The best way to deliver is to provide value, and really follow through on your promises. If you can't do it, don't say you will. If you say you offer fast shipping or superior service, then you better make sure that you really do that. Deliver on your promises. You have to be trustworthy, and you can't do that if you try to fool your customers, or provide low quality products or services.