How To Retain Customers, Make Them Love Your Company
Customer Retention
Customer retention is incredibly important for growing a sustainable business. Customer retention is the activity that a selling organization undertakes in order to reduce customer defections. Successful customer retention starts with the first contact an organization has with a customer and continues. Businesses are not self-sustaining organizations: they rely on their consumers in order to generate a profit and keep afloat into the next year, and the next, and the next. No matter how efficiently a company is run, how talented its staff may be, or how innovative its products and ideas are, if your customers aren’t happy, your business is dead in the water. Not only are dissatisfied customers unlikely to bring back repeat business, they’re also unlikely to recommend you to their friends – they may even recommend against you, if they have a poor enough experience. So to help keep your business thriving, we’ve compiled a list of our favorite tips on how to dazzle your customers and make them love your company weather your a gas station, a restaurant or a Criminal Attorney,.
1. Make them feel special.
No one wants to feel like a number, a file, or a lead. No one wants to feel like an anonymous ant in some company’s money-making machine. On the flipside, everyone likes to feel respected and valued. Fortunately, making a customer know that your company respects and values them is easy. Be personable. Be polite. Try to make a personal connection. Smile. It’s the little human touches that give customers positive feelings about how a business treats its customers. Which memory would you rather give your customers: the rep who plodded apathetically through troubleshooting, or the cheerful rep who seemed to really care? If you wow your customers, they’ll tell their friends.
2. Maintain a respectful distance.
How many times have you been driven away from a product or service by overly aggressive marketing? It’s irritating when a stranger is constantly haranguing you to buy, review, or try out their wares, plain and simple. There’s a reason that commercials are despised by the general public: by their very nature, they’re pushy and invasive. If you maintain a respectful distance, customers are far less likely to feel overwhelmed by (or even angry at) your company’s tactics.
3. Open up communication.
While you should take care not to bombard customers with ads or survey requests to the extent that they become annoyed, you also need to make sure your customers know you’re available if and when they do need you. Nothing is more alienating than trying to find someone who can help you with a problem or request, only to be met with endless automated messages, web forms that won’t load or submit properly, or a perpetually busy phone line. Make sure that your customers know you’re available by clearly posting contact information on your website, offering multiple venues of contact (i.e. a web form, an email address, a phone number, and a mailing address), and by using language that welcomes and promotes feedback.
4. Be clear
This tip has two connotations: transparency, and honesty. People like transparency because it instills a sense of trust. Don’t use vague, meaningless language: treat your customers like intelligent beings by supplying them with the information they crave. Be clear about the ingredients you use, the reason you need that credit card number, the logic behind that policy they don’t understand the need for. You should also be honest, because if you make a promise, you’ll be expected to fulfill it. Sure, “guaranteed overnight delivery” sounds better than “delivery guaranteed in 3-5 business days,” but if a customer expects a service you can’t actually provide, they’re going to be angry when you let them down, and rightfully so. Avoid the temptation to fudge your capabilities, because it’s only going to come back to haunt you. Customers hate smoke and mirrors, and will appreciate a clear and candid approach.
