KYC will help you to avoid KFC

I always remember to know as much as I can about my customer, and never forget who my customer is. I will avoid positioning of Keeping my Fingers Crossed and hope that things will be alright with my client without any effort from my side. Get to know about your customer or..... you will find yourself keeping your fingers crossed...

In other words, Know Your Customer is important to make sure that you will not Keep Forgetting your Customer.

Knowing about your customer is the basis for building stable and long-term relationships with them. As the person in charge of the client relationship, your knowledge of your clients is of immense importance. This information must be kept and tracked in CRM system. Otherwise it will be a "Keep Fingers Crossed" that everything will be OK with the customer. I assume that the term of KYC is maybe well known to people dealing with customer relationship management in customer facing positions.

Let’s go into the details. In my eyes, KYC is divided into two main aspects that are surrounding your Customer-Facing activities.

Hard KYC

This group is related to the surrounding information of your client and includes the data about the company, the organization, the group and general information about the people you work with.

• The organization's field of activity and mission

Helps to adjust the product and services provided to the client.

For example: You propose 24/7 support to an around-the-clock operation customer. You will provide a financial oriented solution to the financial institute.

• The market segment and positioning of the company

Same as the above; you can help the customer to improve his positioning.

For example: help him to present innovative services in the market that will help him to position himself as an innovative company. On the other hand, an innovative company will present that they keep improving their services.

• The mission of the organization

You would like to present your solution and service according to the company vision. If you have a lifesaving solution, your “making life safer” customer will be happy to adopt your product.

• Financial condition

The intention is not to analyze the financial statements of the firm but to understand whether the organization is able to finance activities related to your products and services. Companies with a solid financial base will positively consider more additional services and products than an organization whose financial capacity is minimal, if at all.

• The organizational structure

Who-and-who in the company. You would like to know that you are working with - people and department. For example, you would like to know who is using your solution, and by that, set your effort to provide them an ongoing value.

Get known to other groups that are in contact with the group you mainly operate. This can help to have cross sales and up sales.

• Organizational structure of the group and Key People

This is related to the detailed structure of the group you work with. Who reports to whom. Who are the coworkers, managers etc. Who are the key position holders, executives, and decision makers.

You should be able to define who is your champion that you can count on and help you to push and support your solution within your customer’s company.

• Location – I

Record the company’s locations, branches, and addresses. Is the firm a global company with many independent offices/branches, or is it a one-headquarter company that forces its policies on all other branches?

• Location – II

Where the team you react with is located. Remember the culture gaps and get prepared to adopt the relevant culture behavior. For example, business card handling in the east.

Soft KYC

The “soft” information is related to details about the people themselves. I include the following topics (which is not all inclusive):

• Motivation

Why is the client interested in the solution you offer. offer? For example, if he wants to increase the security of his organization, you would like to provide and present the added value of your solution in this way. Other product benefits will not help justify the purchase and satisfy your client. If pricing and budget are major issues for the customer, you would put the low-cost solution aspects of your product as the top added values to your client. Show them how you can save them money.

I might add one more perspective and it the organization willingness to make changes. If you bring a new solution, it might change the internal status quo. You must be aware of this as this might require special efforts from your side to avoid antagonism.

• Challenges

What challenges does the firm face? Tailor your solutions to handle their challenges. Present it and demonstrate how you can do it. More importantly, continuously present the added value of your solution to handle the challenge.

• Competitors

Who are the competitors? Are you aware that there are external firms that try to push their solution to your client? Are there other groups inside the firm that would like to handle the challenge (like the IT department)? This can help to position your advantages above the other competitors WITHOUT pointing them out (hidden promotion). On the other hand, you can cooperate with other groups to secure your business by, for example, set joined activities with the other group.

• Personal details

Get known about the people themselves. I see this subject as being very important to establish a sustainable and strong informal relationship with your client. Together you can cross any obstacle.

• Personal background such as marital status, children, family, etc. This supports “small talk” outside the main business subjects.

• Important dates or events Build the informal contact with the client. Greet him for his birthday, wedding, work anniversary, and special achievements like a graduation date or event. I remember sending to one of my customers a chocolates box with wishes for fast recovery as soon as I heard that he tested as COVID positive. It’s not exactly a happy event, but... The phone call that I received immediately after was unforgettable. The customer was SO impressed by our concern. A month afterwards he renewed his contract without any hesitation. His explanation was: “I trust that you care about my business operation like you care about me as a person.” It costs us few $$$ but is worth millions.

• Hobbies and interests A common or interesting hobby is an important basis for conversation that brings the other person closer to you. He will respect your interest in his activities or the fact that you share the same interest. Another perspective can be demonstrated, for example, by a bottle of wine for wine lover. You can share an interesting article about your favorite band or singer.

• Personal details about the people (like clothing size). Although this seems creepy and an invasion of privacy, it does not mean that the information cannot be obtained during the ongoing working relationship. How can it be used? Think about a situation where you send your brand shirt to a customer (there are customers who really like it. Ask Microsoft’s customers…). But... if you sent an irrelevant size, you might find yourself disappointing the customer.

• Be aware of the cultural perspective and the personal willingness to share private information. Keep your Radar on.

The two main subjects I described above are not a clear dichotomous. There are many gray areas, and some items can be both hard and soft. The idea is Know Your Customer.

The $1,000,000 question is: what is more important?

Well, from my perspective, both are equally important. Spend the time and effort to get the information and maintain it on an ongoing basis in your CRM system. Make sure that the relevant information is transparent to other people in your organization (subject to privacy sensitivity, of course).

Clients feel that you know them, care about them and respect them and their operation. This paves the way for a strong and long-term relationship. Moreover, you will be able to tailor the services and solutions to the customer's needs as well as open the door to additional business opportunities.

…and what about KFC?

Even though I am a fan of KFC, which by all aspects is considered as a junk food, the information about my customers always reminds me that they are important and absolutely not a “junk knowledge”.

On a personal level, I repeat my opening.

I always remember to know my customer, and never forget who my customer is. I will avoid positioning of Keeping my Fingers Crossed that things will be alright with my clients.