Never Lose Another Customer BUSINESS HOW-TO
Have you ever wondered what your company would look like if you’d never lost a customer since you opened? It’s an interesting, albeit slightly depressing, exercise. It’s kind of like looking at your retirement account and then saying, “What would have happened if I really had started investing at 21 years old, just a few hundred dollars per month? How much more money would I have now?” A lost customer is like a retirement account, but one that grows in reverse. Every time you lose a customer, you lose all future growth and profits from that customer. As an added bonus, you also accrue an expense to replace that customer. How much would investing suck if you had to pay your advisor extra money to work harder to make up for them losing money in your retirement account? That sounds like a special form of investment hell, but that is exactly what happens when you lose customers. If you are good at what you do — if your product or service is needed or helps your customers — then when you lose a customer, you should take it personally. I know I do. Basically, when they leave, by and large, the customer is saying you’re not that good. Before I jump into some tactical ways to keep more customers, I want to point out one thing. Many times, a customer will leave and tell you they’re leaving because they’re broke. Most of the time, that is pure BS. Money is an easy excuse for anyone to give for why they’re canceling or want to get out of a contract, and most of the time, it’s a smoke screen. No matter what reason you’re given, it is important to dig and get to the real reason. Is it possible to save a customer or fix a problem when most of them give you a BS reason for why they’re canceling? How do you keep more customers? The reality is that it all comes down to two things … No, one of the two things is not a newsletter, but newsletters are an important part of both things. As I was saying, it all comes down to relationships with your customers and customer experience. The good news is that both are interconnected.
One of the best things you can do is take inventory of your prospect and customer experience.
with you, they won’t be looking to build a new relationship with someone else. Even if your competitor hired me to do a newsletter for them, once you have your relationship in place, it is a done deal as long as you maintain that relationship. Of course, they would build a relationship with their customers and get the benefits from that, but it would be very hard for your competitor to steal customers from you; your customers would already have a relationship with you and wouldn’t be looking for a new provider of goods or services in your category. You don’t have to listen to me — frankly, many people who read this won’t because it’s hard or expensive or [insert excuse here]. The problem is that you will get left behind. The world is changing at a faster and faster pace, and relationships and experiences are where we’re headed; it’s your choice to get on the train or not. If you choose not to, you do so at your own peril. Here’s one last thought: Last week, while I was in Pennsylvania speaking, I had drinks with a good friend of mine: Chad Madden, who runs the largest physical therapy business-education company in the world. He told me the story of when his dentist literally chased after him in the parking lot at the end of his appointment to ask for some marketing advice. You see, for several decades, this dentist has prided himself on not having to market his business. Unfortunately, over the last 10 years, because he always thought he didn’t have to market and competition kept growing and technology kept changing, this dentist just sat on the sidelines, never feeling like he had to market or keep up with the changes. Now here we are. His practice has declined to the point where he is struggling. At this point, his dental practice is basically worthless. Why? You can sum it up with two simple thoughts: Change or die, and grow or die. You have a choice. You can ignore my warnings about relationship marketing and bury your head in the sand, or you can jump on board and create those customer experiences and relationships and thrive. The world of business will continue to head in a more personalized, relationship-based direction. Choose not to follow or choose not to grow, and you too will find yourself in a parking lot asking for advice and praying for your business to be saved.
• What happens when a prospect calls?
• How is someone treated when they’re on the phone?
• When they walk in for the first time, do they get a tour of the office, if appropriate?
• Do they get a customer guarantee or promise flyer if they’re not in the office?
• What happens after their first visit?
• How often do you send something physical to them that isn’t just an advertisement or bill?
• Do they get a new customer gift?
• How do you hand the prospect off from sales to operations?
• How is that first interaction with operations?
• What do your month-to-month
communications with the customers and prospects look like?
This is by no means a complete list, nor is it in any order other than what came to my mind first, but simply addressing these areas in your business will have a profound impact on your prospect and customer experience and relationships. Think about the advantage you’ll have over your competitors with the above items in place. How many more referrals will you get simply based on the experience and relationship you’ll have with customers? How many more prospects will convert to customers because you were the only one following up with them weeks and months after they first inquired? As consumers have more and more choices, you must stand out from the crowd. And creating a unique experience and relationship with your customers is how you’ll do that. As an added bonus, it will be impossible for your competitors to copy you because they can never replicate you, and once the prospects and customers have a relationship
–Shaun
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