Five top tips to keep clients coming back for more

“It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

We have all heard the phrase ‘The customer is king’ but how many of us pay it more than lip service?

The truth is, for the average small business, it is far more cost effective to target your limited marketing resources towards your existing customers than to constantly spend a fortune trawling to attract new ones. After all, it costs seven times more to attract a new customer than to maintain an existing one.

Think of your customers a bit like a bath. Your taps are new customers arriving into your company. The bath plug – or effective customer service – prevents your customers from leaving. It takes a lot of energy and effort to constantly have new customers arriving all the time, but preventing them from leaving is a great deal simpler.

Why do my customers leave?

A whopping 75% leave because of ‘perceived indifference’. That means that they stop doing business with you because they feel that you aren’t interested in them; that you don’t make them feel special anymore. When a rival company writes to them with a special offer, they can be tempted away because you never bother keeping in touch.

So, while you may think you are treating your customers well, most of them probably think otherwise. When a customer leaves they don’t usually make a fuss or complain – they quietly slip out the door never to return.

Making them stay

Perhaps you really are going out of your way to serve your customer, but they just don’t realise it. Well perception is reality, so if 75% are leaving because of ‘perceived indifference’, here are five easy-to-implement ideas on how to change their reality:

1. Capture their details and keep in touch with them. At least once a month write to them or e-mail them with a special offer, product preview, clearance sale, new product line, open evening or whatever. This lets them know that you are thinking about them and finding new ways to serve them

2. Ask them how you are doing. Conduct a customer satisfaction survey on an annual or regular basis depending on your customer base. You can even offer an incentive if they complete the form. This will help you see where you could be better – even if it’s only down to perception.

3. Conduct regular customer forums. This allows you to tell your best customers more about what you are up to and to find out from your customers what they like about your service and products. It can also be a useful opportunity for customers to meet your staff (especially background staff) and of course, other customers. If you’re feeling brave, let them talk about you while you are out of the room for an hour and then listen to their feedback on what they like and don’t like about your company.

4. Develop more than one contact point. If a buyer leaves or your contact leaves, the relationship between your two organisations disappears overnight. But if you have more than one point of contact, the relationship is far stronger and can withstand the odd member of staff moving on. When a carefully planned company pairing system really works, your two organisations become so closely intertwined that no other company will get a look in. For example, an office supply company or printers can act as a virtual stockroom delivering items the same day they are required. This locks out the competition and makes you indispensable to the day to day running of your customer’s business.

5. Be honest. Own up to mistakes, and don’t pretend to be something that you are not. You can’t build a long-term relationship that is based on mistrust. A customer would rather you held your hands up to making a mistake than trying to shift the blame where it doesn’t belong.

So remember, whilst most companies spend their hard-earned marketing and sales effort attempting to attract elusive new customers, they probably have most of the business they will ever need sitting on their database.