client retention driving customer retention

CLIENT RETENTION—Driving Customer Retention 9v1.2 Copyright 2014—Jeff Hastings Agency | Updated

Client Retention

Driving Customer Retention

Jeff Hastings Agency, Inc.

www.JeffHastingsAgency.com

281-752-6565

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Client Retention Driving Customer Retention

Many companies pour substantial time and resources into efforts to find and gain new clients, but neglect

the ones they have. When their clients then leave them for the next big thing, companies are confronted

with needed to find more clients. It’s a vicious cycle of throwing one’s resources away.

To make matters worse, obtaining new customers can cost anywhere from five to seven times more

than retaining existing customers.

The three main reasons your current clients will leave you are:

1) They are unhappy with your customer service

2) They are unhappy with your product or service they are paying for.

3) They are wooed away by a competitor.

Even though, retaining customers may seem like an obvious choice for most companies, here is

something else to consider. As we’ve mentioned before you, want your company or business to work for

you and satisfied clients is one way to make that happen. “How?” You might ask. Simple. Word of Mouth.

Happy clients that you’ve worked hard to retain will gladly market and acquire new clients for you.

Customers often have a preconceived notion

about your industry and possibly even your busi-

ness. Insurance agents are considered pushy,

lawyers are thought of as liars, home contractors

are thought of as unfair negotiators, etc. You get

the picture. Many industries or businesses have

stereotypes associated with them. Some of these

stereotypes are born out of past experience and

some are born out of cultural or social mandates.

Regardless, you already know the obstacle is

there in their mind. How do you overcome these

mountains? By going above and beyond. By not

settling for what they already expect. The best

way to do this is to over deliver on your promises.

You know what you can do as a company, so un-

der promise, but when the time comes, over deliv-

er. Your customers won’t be expecting you to go

above and beyond, but when you do, will be huge-

ly impressed.

A good example of how this could work, within

reason, is with returning messages. For instance,

perhaps you say on your FAQ page that emails

received by customers will get a response by your

team within the hour. That’s not unreasonable and

most people will be accepting of that timeframe.

However, how impressed will they be when you

actually respond within five or ten minutes? They

weren’t expecting that, and it will stick in their

minds.

Another aspect of this situation that you will have

to keep in mind is the fact that one negative expe-

rience will completely wipe out the memory of ten

good experiences. You can go above and beyond

all you want, but one slip up will have your cus-

tomer looking elsewhere. Many of you may be

thinking that the scenario is an impossible one to

control, but it’s not as hard as you think. You know

your industry and product inside and out. What

could possibly go wrong? Think big picture, look

ahead and be proactive. Try to address problems

before they see the light of day.

If you want to show your customers that you can

go above and beyond, then it is imperative to get

your employees involved. One way of doing this is

to set standards that need to be met and tie them

to their salary. For instance, you can tie anywhere

from 10-15% of your employees’ salary to reach-

ing a specific sales and customer satisfaction

goal. Encourage both individual and team work by

implementing a bonus program as

well. Now your employees have a

financial incentive for going above

and beyond.

Don’t Settle for Preconceptions

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Another way to retain customers is by being your customer’s trusted resource for your product or brand.

This builds customer loyalty because they know who can go to for information and advice on the latest

news, upgrades, or changes within the industry. Give them unbiased advice, even if it is clear you won’t

make any profit off of it, and they will appreciate your integrity even more.

The best way to do this is to stay abreast of industry or product specific issues and addressing them with

what you have to offer. It is important to give your customers personal feedback on these issues so that they

won’t feel as though every contact with you is a way for you to sell to them. Your customers want to feel that

you see and respect them for the individuals they are, not just a “customer.”


You’re the Expert

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Relationships Build Trust


How do you build relationships with a group of people? It’s never an easy task because it can be hard to

please everyone. However, one easy way to form a connection and unit a community is through shared

values. You have to know your market in order to define a value you can share. If you build your brand

across that value and show that you take an interest in what is important to your customers, they are more

likely to stick around. As with many of these suggestions on client retention, personalization is key. Your

clients don’t want to be perceived as clients. They want to be perceived as unique individuals and they

want to know that you value them as such and care.

If your client is another business, ask them what they feel defines them differently from their com-

petitors. Pay attention to that and show them how you can help them achieve that goal with the services

you provide.

How can you reach your clients and carry on a conversation about these shared values? Here are

just a few of many ideas.

-Email marketing campaign: Probably the best way to go about this, is to create a newsletter that is

emailed out quarterly or every two weeks. You don’t want to flood their inboxes, and you don’t want every

email to be a sale announcement---even if you are providing a discount. You want these newsletters to be

informative. Sure, you can have a small section on offers or new products/services your company has to

offer, but that should be at a minimum. The rest of the information should cover changes and updates to

the industry. Concerns others may have about the industry or the type of service/product you provide and

how your company is addressing those concerns. Advice on the latest products/services available, and

any other news you can give on the shared value of your company. For instance, perhaps your company

sells organic foods. A shared value with your customer can be on the integrity of farming and the federal

regulations on the term “organic.” You can discuss updates and changes to the food and farming industry

and address concerns affecting those involved, both workers and consumers.

-Blog: If you want to disseminate information on a more regular basis than email will allow, a blog can be

another option. The advantage of a blog is that you can post something new every day, you can share it

across your social media, your clients can comment on what you have to say, and they can also share

your information. When they comment, it builds community. When they share, that’s free marketing.

-Social media: This is an important tool but is often misunderstood or mishandled by businesses. First,

look at your market. Depending on their age group, they may prefer one avenue of social media over the

other. However, it is a great way to build community and keep things personal.

-Book: Having a book that discusses your shared value and the ins and outs of your industry is a great

way to connect with your clients. This isn’t necessarily another product to push onto your customers.

While you can add a book to your product line, you can also have one written that you can use as busi-

ness card or marketing tool. Give the book to your clients, but make sure it is customized to your business.

Have your company story of what inspired its creation and have your company’s staff list and contact info.

Chart House Press offers a book leasing option where you can customize an informative

book, based on your industry, but with your company information edited in. Check with

them to see if they have one for your industry, and if not, request that one be written. It’s

an innovative marketing idea that will set you apart from the competitor.

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The concept of setting service standards that go above and beyond, harken back to our earlier statement of

seeing the big picture and acting upon it before it becomes an issue. It’s important that you anticipate prob-

lems that could occur and do what you can to prevent them. You know your product or service better than

anyone and you should be an expert in your industry. Therefore, you already know what can go wrong, or

what issues can crop up. Make sure you have measures in place to prevent your customers from being side-

swiped by them. I’m not talking about putting these on a FAQ page on your website. You have to go further

than that. For instance, some airlines will send out text alerts to passengers when their flight is delayed. This

gives people more time to plan. Some companies will send notices out that a bill is coming up and will be

due soon. Maybe your website will be down for maintenance or your office closed for a staff meeting. Let

your clients know ahead of time so that they can get any requests or problems taken care of beforehand. Al-

so, offer them an alternative if they need to get in touch with you.

If you can anticipate problems, then you can set your standards of service high and even outperform

your competitor. Remember, most clients are not use to companies going above and beyond. If you want

your clients to stay with you, you have to give them a reason to.

It’s not enough for companies to talk at their clients, they must establish a dialogue because every

contact point they make with their clients is another piece of the retention puzzle. The further you grow and

build that relationship, the more emotion becomes involved and it’s much harder to leave when it gets to that.

Another way you can prevent customer complaints from happening is to check in with them regularly.

Make sure that they are satisfied, up to date, and that they are happy with the product or service you’ve pro-

vided. Because we live in a fast paced, busy world, many people will wait until the last minute to complain

about a situation. By that point, the molehill has become a mountain and tempers flare. However, if you are

checking in with them on a regular basis, you’ll give your clients the opportunity to tell you about smaller is-

sues that may be bothering them before they get out of control.


Set Service Standards

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Automated systems for your business can either be a necessary evil or an asset. How many

times have you called a business or company just to make a payment or ask a simple question

and got the run around on automated menus? While these systems, from a business standpoint,

can be necessary to ensure that you are speaking to the right department they can also be a ma-

jor hassle if not easy to navigate.

However, phone menus are not the only way to use automated systems. Perhaps you have a

system for sending alerts to your customers about delays, system updates or technical difficul-

ties. Perhaps your automation centers around billing, shipping, or plan renewals. Whatever the

case, a helpful automated process that provides convenience to your customers will encourage

loyalty and retention.

Customer Service is another important feature of client retention. This may seem obvious, yet there are

still many businesses that suffer from poor customer service skills that lose clients. One way to ensure that

customer service standard are maintained across the board at your company is to link a percentage of

your employee’s compensation to customer service satisfaction. That way, if standards aren’t meet, the

situation becomes personal.


Automation Can be an Asset

Don’t Discount Online Relationships

Social media is another great source for client retention if you play the game right. And yes, it is a game.

You need to gauge which network your market is most inclined to. Pay attention to the best times of day to

post and what hashtags (if any) are popular. Each platform has its own rules and regulations. Find out what

they are and make sure you stay in the guidelines. There may even be some tips and tricks that you don’t

even know about. For instance, on Facebook, if you pay for an ad, you want to add the link to your Face-

book page in the ad. Most people don’t think to do this. Why? Because when those ads show up on the

sidebar of someone’s feed, they can like the ad, but it won’t direct them to your page. You are, in essence,

paying for minimum contact with your clients. When it comes to Linked In, members prefer to see useful in-

formation in their feeds. They don’t want to be sold to, but they do want to network. Take advantage of this

resource and post helpful articles and messages about your shared values and your industry. It is also im-

perative that you are actively engaged on these platforms. Like, follow and even comment on your followers’

posts. When someone makes a comment on your post, reply. Show them your personal side and build that

relationship.

Social media is also often used by customers to file an informal complaint against your industry or even

your business. Have you ever seen those snarky tweets by customers after they’ve left an establishment

where they had an unsatisfactory experience? What is the best way to handle this? Because

social media is very public and not easily forgotten, it is a great opportunity to show your

business’ ability to go above and beyond. If you handle the situation with professionalism

and grace, not only have you achieved client retention, but you’ve also achieved free market-

ing recognition.

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The best way to find areas to improve upon is to go directly to the source—your customers. Not

the new ones, the ones you’ve already built those trusting relationships with. One way to do that

is through customer feedback surveys. The surveys should be quick and easy, and yes, you

may need to tie some incentive to them in order to actually get that feedback. Provide a dis-

count or gift-card to the customer.

There are three factors that you need to take into consideration when you are sending

out these customer surveys.

It’s not enough to send out a general survey that reaches your entire market. That could be too broad

for you to actually get the answers you need. Narrow your target down a bit further to a specific cus-

tomer group. Find out what their core interests and needs are and how you can improve service to

them. Then, you can move on to another segment.

Once you do get the survey back, you have to keep tabs on what your clients have said, and then

what progress was made after. If the overall consensus shows that you need to focus on improving a

certain area of your business and you do it, what then? Does that mean you can forget about the

problem and move on? Of course not! Keep track of how that change effected your customer’s per-

ception. Continue to give out feedback surveys and see what is working and what isn’t. Track the

changes over a long period of time, because it could take several months before the positive effects

can be seen.

The information you receive from these surveys needs to be hard and fast data. Whatever program

you use to offer these survey’s through should be able to calculate the necessary percentages of the

information you receive. This will make it easier to track progress over time.


Find Ways to Improve

Win Them Back & Keep Them

For the customers that have left your company, or maybe the ones whom you haven’t heard from in a

while, reach out to them. Remind them that you are there, find out why they left or why they are no longer

buying from you. Whatever their objections are, work at overcoming them and show them you still value

and respect them. Get personal with them. If you can show them your “above and beyond” take on the

business, they will appreciate your thoughtfulness and are more likely to give you another chance.

Loyalty Programs can be another great resource for retaining existing clients. Once again, the bet-

ter you know your market, the better program you can create that will entice and serve their needs. Be

smart about what you offer in terms of levels and incentives. Look at what your competitors

offer, and learn from them about what works and what doesn’t. However, don’t follow di-

rectly in their footsteps. That’s not why you’re in business, after all, is it? You are here to

go above and beyond and to innovate.

client retention driving customer retention

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