Press Releases

Love is.. the key to long-term profit and sales gain

3rd November 2005

ONE of the UK's top motivational speakers told a conference in Edinburgh today that companies had to make customers "fall in love" with them in order to achieve long-term sales and profit goals.

Derek Williams, who is director of the highly successful business consultancy Results for Business, told around 500 delegates to the 5-Star Customer Management Conference at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre, which is co-sponsored by the Evening News, that too much emphasis was often put on short-term gains.

Mr Williams told the audience of sales and marketing professionals and business leaders that good customer service was "critical" to building a strong business.

"Often there is too much focus on short-term sales and profit goals and not enough emphasis on long-term customer loyalty," Mr Williams - who is also managing director of the WOW Awards, which recognises outstanding customer service in the UK - said.

He suggested that if businesses placed more focus on giving their clients top levels of customer service, long-term profit and sales growth would naturally follow.

Mr Williams said: "It's worth companies directing their efforts into holding onto existing customers, rather than spending money chasing new ones.

Part of business success was about "paying attention to detail", Mr Williams said, but was also built upon the principles of "consistent and systematic" customer service.

"If you can get customers to fall in love with products and services, then you will get results," Mr Williams said.

According to many sales and marketing experts, customer service sits at the core of customer management and is one of the fastest growing disciplines in the UK, despite it being viewed by some companies as an after-sales concern.

Bob Downie, the conference chairman and founder of the one-day event - now in its third year, opened the conference by welcoming the delegates to the city before introducing Mr Williams as the first speaker.

Mr Downie found the inspiration for what is now billed as the biggest event of its kind north of the Border after attending a European customer management event in London a few years back and realising there were few Scots in the 1200-strong sell-out crowd.

This year's convention had been billed as the biggest line-up of speakers in the event's short history, with contributions from the highly-acclaimed Chris Daffy, founder of the Academy of Service Excellence; James Timpson, managing director of the eponymous UK retail chain; Piero Ferrari, former operations manager at London's Tower 42 complex; media marketing heavyweight Ellis Watson, who was recently lured by John Menzies to head its key distribution arm, and Pete Sowden of the Yorkshire Building Society - who was returning after 2004's event "due to popular demand".