Returning to your core values and
market niche, who is the perfect person
to buy what you sell? Where does that
customer live and work? What does this
person expect in a provider? What turns
this person on, and off? Conduct some
customer intelligence by taking a look at
your existing customers—who’s a real fit?
What attributes do these winner clients
share? Now, begin to paint a picture of
your perfect prospect. This is the right
person for you—the one you want to
romance and convert into a customer.
3Hire and train a client-focused team. Give your team the experi- ence required to make decisions
that will please your customers. Case in
point: a client calls your business with
a problem. Does the person listening at
your firm have the power to make the
situation better?
“Empower people within your organi-
zation to handle customer service issues,”
says Dennis Sommer, president, Executive
Business Advisers, Cleveland. Perhaps
your company can offer the customer
a discount on services or allow them to
exchange a product—or agree to send
someone out to them immediately to fix
the issue. The faster this exchange hap-
pens, the happier the customer will be.
“You can create guidelines for employees
on what they can do when to solve a cus-
tomer service issue, but at least give them
the opportunity to offer a solution on the
spot to the customer,” Sommer says. “By
providing that world-class customer ser-
vice experience, you’ll really retain those
customers and they’ll start referring your
business to their friends.”
4Get the sale—again. How many of your customers make a one-time purchase? Ideally, the answer is
that every single one of them is a repeat
buyer—they come back to you time and
again because you give them opportunities to say “yes” often. “Make it simple
to do business with you,” Sommer says,
noting that it’s important to speak the
customer’s language and be accessible.
Depending on the length of your sales
cycle, reaching out to clients quarterly,
bi-annually or once each year might be
enough to remind them that you’re there
for them. “The No. 1 problem is not
taking care of customers or neglecting
them,” Strauss says. “People work real
hard to get our business initially, and after
a while it seems like we hear less and less
from them.”
To be sure you’re touching customers
regularly, delegate the task to others in
your organization (if you’re not the only
one running the show). Strauss suggests
that maybe the owner reaches out to “A”
clients, and an important staff person
contacts “B” customers. Perhaps an
intern or another employee contacts “C”
customers.
Every customer is important, so dividing up customers like this and assigning
accounts to people in your organization
ensures that no client is forgotten. “You
can do a really nice job of making a customer feel appreciated by saying, ‘Thanks
for the business,’ and asking, ‘What can
we do better?’” Strauss says.
5Innovate to stay on top. What’s new at your business? Hopefully, you can answer this question with
something that will excite your loyal customers. And if not, consider whether your
competitors are offering clients something
that you are not. (Then get back to the
drawing board!) “If you anticipate your
customers’ needs, then you can invest in
ways to satisfy them in the future,” Bergman says.
And if customers aren’t satisfied? Well,
that’s a fine opportunity to convert a
transactional customer into a raving fan,
Strauss says. For example, if you dined
in a restaurant and were disappointed in
the meal—then filled out a survey card
stating you were not impressed with the
experience—that establishment should
contact you personally and ask how to
make the situation better. Sure, it’s after
the fact. The meal is over, the check has
been paid.
But actually addressing a problem goes a
long way toward earning trust—and that’s
the ultimate key to retaining customers, Bergman emphasizes. “If you treat
your current customers right and make
them loyal to you, it’s a lot less expensive
than getting new business—and you get
rewarded with referrals,” he says. ●
