The Best Advice for Building Customer Loyalty?
Do the Right Thing, Every Time.
We talk to companies everyday that spend lots of money to get new customers. But rarely give thought on how to keep them. Given that it costs five times more to win a new customer than keep an old one, it’s important to focus efforts on retention. One basic and very simple, yet overlooked, way is to focus on treating your customers with respect. That simple focus goes a long way to earning repeat business.
It’s often said that people tell three others about a good experience, but ten about a bad one. And with today’s technology, ten quickly becomes hundreds, so make sure every interaction ends well, even if it starts rocky. A bad experience can be turned into a good one with proper resolution. Do everything possible to make the customer whole.
Here are five basic tenets:
1. Never tell a customer, “I can’t help” OR “you’ll have to call back and talk to a supervisor”. Take ownership of the problem and find a way to resolve it.
2. Never blame someone else for not being able to help. Turn a bad incident into a warm memory by becoming your customer’s advocate.
3. Empower your employees to “do the right thing.” Correct problems immediately; clean up the mess later. When there’s a problem, take care of it while the customer now.
4. Be helpful – even if there’s no immediate profit in it.
5. Realize that your people will treat your customer the way they are treated.
This post was written by: Kim Mickelsen