Categories: Business Blog

The 3️⃣ Critical Relationships that Determine the Customer Experience

Does my brand love me back?

Dependable Access: Your product must be consistently available. Customers buy because your product is always in stock. If it’s not, they’ll switch to a more reliable competitor. Even loyal customers will leave if your product isn’t there when they need it. Maintain strong relationships with retailers and distributors to avoid out-of-stocks.

Brand Promise: Customers have expectations about price, quality, and performance. They don’t want to shop around; they want consistency. Changing packaging, positioning, pricing, or quality without considering customer habits can drive them away. Consult your salespeople before making changes—they talk to your customers every day.

Customer Service: Customers need confidence in their purchases. They want to know you stand behind your products and are willing to improve based on feedback. Ignoring customer suggestions or complaints can drive them to competitors. Loyal customers prefer improvement over refunds. Treat your customer care team as a valuable source of feedback and relay this to marketing and production.

The customer experience hinges on how they feel about using your products. They want to feel confident and “loved” by the brand they love. Protect long-term relationships in the supply chain. Elevate the status of your sales and customer care teams to keep your brand relevant and your customers loyal.

Who We Are

Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey co-authored the New York Times bestselling business book, The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand. The book has been selected as recommended reading in the CEO Library for CEO Forum, the C-Suite Book Club, and numerous university classes on business and entrepreneurship. It chronicles their humble beginnings from the laundry room of a rented Sonoma County farmhouse to the board room of E&J Gallo, who ultimately acquired their brand and engaged them as brand consultants. Barefoot is now the world’s largest wine brand.

Beginning with virtually no money and no wine industry experience, they employed innovative ideas to overcome obstacles, create new markets and forge strategic alliances. They pioneered Worthy Cause Marketing and performance-based compensation. They built an internationally bestselling brand and received their industry’s “Hot Brand” award for several consecutive years.

They offer their Guiding Principles for Success (GPS) to help entrepreneurs become successful. Their book, The Entrepreneurial Culture: 23 Ways To Engage and Empower Your People, helps corporations maximize the value of their human resources.

Currently they travel the world leading workshops, trainings, & keynoting at business schools, corporations, conferences. They are regular media guests and contributors to international publications and professional journals. They are C-Suite Network Advisors & Contributing Editors. Visit their popular brand building site at www.consumerbrandbuilders.com.

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

The Barefoot Spirit

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