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The second step to making this work is to communicate frequently. So many business owners worry about too much communication (regardless of the media, email, direct mail, social media, etc.). The fact of the matter is that most small businesses aren’t even communicating at bare minimum levels and frequencies to even build a relationship. You need to show up in greater volume, in greater frequency, and in more places. If you’re worried about over-communicating, don’t. People don’t have to subscribe to your emails or social channels. If they don’t want your newsletter, they will call or email you. The communication people don’t want, which causes them to want less from you, is the boring, solely self- serving, generic communication that doesn’t add value. Avoid those, and you’ll be miles ahead of most. Recognizing and Rewarding Loyalty: Recognizing and rewarding loyal customers and employees will have a very positive impact on your retention rates. This doesn’t have to be complicated. Here are a few ideas that have worked well for us. Provide exclusive offers, events, or access. Personal communication. Send out handwritten notes or cards. Send personal emails. Recognize a major life milestone or personal/professional accomplishment.
Send gifts for birthdays or just because. Create a formal rewards program and provide valuable gifts or prizes. This doesn’t have to be complicated. Think about and treat customers like friends, or how you wish companies treated you, and implement those ideas. Enhance the Customer Experience: We’ve all heard the saying “under promise and over deliver.” The problem is how can you do that on a consistent basis with every customer? The only sure- fire way to make that happen is to plan to under promise and over deliver. Years ago, my team and I stopped talking about some of the extra things we do for customers on sales calls or even during onboarding calls. We did this with a few specific items many years ago just so we are always able to deliver a wow experience. We also have mechanisms in place so that when one of my employees sees an opportunity to deliver a wow experience to a customer, we can. The key to winning the customer retention game is planning and execution. Once you start to implement your plan, just be aware, this isn’t a lead generation campaign. It takes time to build relationships and trust. Don’t get discouraged if things don’t turn around overnight. Stick with the plan and I promise in short order you’ll be a true believer and your bank account will be significantly larger. –Shaun
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