The Hidden Power of Your Customers: Four Keys to Growing Your Business Through Existing Customers

MAKE IT PERSONAL

You can use your understanding of your customer's needs and motivators to help create a more relevant, personal experience for them. When you tailor the customer experience based on individual preferences, you build trust and loyalty and encourage positive word of mouth. Often, you can collaborate with customers to ensure that you're designing the experience exactly the way they want it.

One example of a company successfully using personalization to better connect with its guests is Hilton Hotels, a chain that has rolled out a number of ways to customize its offerings to guest needs. For one, the Hilton Breakfast is offered as part of the hotel buffet and room service. Breakfast makes up a large percentage of the meals eaten at a hotel, and Hilton is reaching out to its customers to encourage more of them to eat it there. Hilton introduced the Hilton Breakfast in 2007, under this premise: “Everyone's idea of the perfect breakfast is different.” Hilton's brochure describes the program this way: “Simply select the breakfast that's right for you, and follow the color chosen on the Hilton breakfast buffet. We'll do the rest—you'll find that our buffet offers the widest choice of fresh and premium quality product imaginable.”

More specifically, the contents of Hilton's breakfast buffet are color-coded into these categories: Low Fat & Low Calorie, Hi-Energy, High Fiber, Low Cholesterol, and Indulgence (i.e., everything on the menu). Guests can self-select their food ...