Your business will not last if you are not effective in retaining customers. In addition to using solid customer retention programs, you need to establish an overarching company spirit of retaining customers.
Deliver What You Promise
The most basic customer expectation is that you provide the product or service that was purchased. The first step in retaining customers is built on this foundation. When all goes well with the exchange of goods, your duties shift to the next step. Unfortunately, if there are problems in this phase, you don’t get to proceed anywhere until the problem is resolved.
How do you deliver what you promise?
Set yourself up for a good outcome by under-promising and over-delivering. This gives you a buffer in case you have any trouble and will pleasantly surpise the customer in your favor when you are early or provide more than they were expecting.
Give customers their money’s worth and deliver the value they are expecting. When you break the norms of what is expected on your part, your customers will be unhappy.
Support the Customer
Your job is not done when the customer completes the purchase. Make sure you support the customer and help them get started with your product or service.
When your customers are successful with using your product, they will be more likely to purchase again. If a customer runs into problems in this stage, and you help them through the issues, the tides turn in your favor.
Ask for More
You’ll never get a repeat purchase unless you ask for it. Successfully retaining customers requires that you give them the opportunity to purchase from you again. Build the repurchase prompt into your product. Give customers a call when it is time to repurchase. Remind customers of the benefits they have received.
Retaining Customers Doesn’t Have to Be Hard
If you keep the mindset of the three steps outlined above, you will excel at retaining customers.
The customer experience doesn’t end after the sale is made; it’s really just beginning. You want to make sure you’re there every step of the way.
@Saurabh – Absolutely. Customers will be more likely to return if they have a great “getting started” experience backed up by a company’s quality support.
Hi Joe, I couldn’t agree more. In fact, I’d say that in principle customers expect 3 things from their vendors:
– that the project is completed on time/product delivered on time
– it’s done on the budget / agreed price and,
– there is the after sale support.
To me, these are the principles of a good customer service.
@Pawel thanks for highlighting those points. Customer’s expectations need to be met and the story definitely doesn’t end at the point of sale.
Great post! And the comments thus far are on point. A sale opens the door to a mutually beneficial relationship that must be nurtured.
@Rachel – nurturing is a great way to describe it. The point of sales if only just the beginning.
Great Post here! I couldn’t agree more with every point you discussed in this post. You have to be sure that you are not only able to deliver the product that you promise the customer, but you also have to give them the service that goes along with the product. You also want to be sure that your customer will leave the feeling that they will get the same service on their next visit. Providing the customer with the proper service will allow them to feel comfortable and it will get them to want to return for a future visit. Not only gaining the customers trust is important, however in doing this you will be able to spread the word of how great your business is. This spread of information will allow you to build your business and ultimately this is every business owners dream. Don’t forget that the customer is the one that pays your bills and you should always support them and deliver everything they are paying for when they enter your business.
@Ricky – thanks for outlining the domino effect of great customer service on future business and customer loyalty. It is always important to remember just how meaningful our efforts can be to the business’ bottom line.