CUSTOMER RETENTION AND EARNING LOYALTY NOTES
Questioning structure;
- the structure of a question,
- the role and value of questions in difficult situations,
- how to avoid the pitfall of a poor question aggravating a situation,
- Questioning style.
Earning Customer Loyalty
It is said in business that customer acquisition is an investment but profitability is built on
customer retention. In other words, it typically costs you more to sell
to a new customer than it does to a current one. As a result, your
profits are higher when you sell to those who have already purchased
from you.
Customer retention is essential to business growth.
So how do you earn customer loyalty and retain their business? Like any
successful relationship, If you want customers to be loyal to you, you
must be loyal to them. Your product must deliver on its promise as
advertised—but that is just the beginning.
Here are some tips to help you keep your current customers coming back
for more:
Provide Exceptional Customer Service
Often times, customer service can be a key differentiator for companies
that sell similar products. In today’s digital age it is all too common
for companies to hide behind “digital walls”. Often times this elusive
nature can lead to lost sales not to mention decreasing customer
confidence. When customers have questions or problems they want them
addressed—by a real human with real answers, not just a scripted list of
FAQs or automated phone system. Two ways to accomplish this are through
posting customer service phone numbers on your site and considering Live
Chat type systems.
Stay in Front of Your Customers
You can’t foster customer loyalty if your customers forget you
exist. You must stay in contact with them on a regular basis preferably
with information that ultimately benefits them in the end (remember it
about the customer not you.) Two ways of staying in front of them are
through email and RSS feeds. The key here is to feed them information
that helps them. Promotions on products, sales etc… all work and should
be a part of your communication but doesn’t neglect the need to provide
them with valuable content that helps better their position. This could
be showing them new ways to use your product, complimentary products
that may work well with
the one they already have etc…
Develop Customer Friendly Policies
If you want to keep customers happy you must offer flexible policies.
Don’t make it hard for them to return an item, get support for current,
broken, or discontinued products, etc… Be flexible and understanding of
their needs and above all else, make it right for them. Put these
policies in place and honor them. If you don’t, your customers will run
to the competitors that do never to return again.
Consider Implementing a Rewards Program
Loyalty or rewards programs are a great way to foster long term
relationships and repeat sales. Rewards can be managed in just about
anyway you can dream up from earning discounts on future purchases to
earning products at various levels. Just make sure your internal systems
can handle the route you adopt. Just about anybody can sell on the
internet. Selling profitably and doing it for sustained durations is
what separates real businesses from short run fly-by-night operations.
If given the chance, I’d rather build a sustained business that lasts
many years than build a business that is here today gone the next.
Profitability is a key element in this equation.
Truly caring about your customers is the real key to earning customer
loyalty.
I thought his list was pretty good for earning customer loyalty:
- following-up before they can
- calling to ask how things went after an event
- sending a note of appreciation
- telling them how much you value their business
- asking for input before it’s offered
- predicting their next need
- admitting guilt when you’re guilty
- delivering bad news before they even notice it
