The easiest way to grow your customers is not to lose them The average business loses around 20 percent of its customers annually simply by failing to attend to customer relationships.

CUSTOMER   SATISFACTION   is 

SUPERB  RETENTION   STRATEGY

People want to buy from places that make them feel good. Creating an experience that is memorable and enjoyable for the customer will help to keep them coming back for more and not churning away. No longer can marketeers compete on price, customers want more, and they want emotional connections with the companies they deal with. Create that experience that keeps them coming back for more. This will create a point of differentiation that you can use as a competitive advantage

When a customer is overawed by the service experience and has their expectations exceeded, it increases customer retention.. Their argument ... It eases customer acquisition, drives customer loyalty and improves customer retention  . Yet research report of Indian companies found that  just 20% of companies have a well-developed customer experience strategy.

THE EASIEST WAY TO GROW YOUR CUSTOMERS IS NOT TO LOSE THEM

The average business loses around 20 percent of its customers annually simply by failing to attend to customer relationships. In some industries this leakage is as high as 80 percent. The cost, in either case, is staggering, but few businesses truly understand the implications. Imagine two businesses, one that retains 90 percent of its customers, the other retaining 80 percent. If both add new customers at the rate of 20 percent per year, the first will have a 10 percent net growth in customers per year, while the other will have none. Over seven years, the first firm will virtually double, while the second will have no real growth. Everything else being equal, that 10-percent advantage in customer retention will result in a doubling of customers every seven years without doing anything else.The consequences of customer retention also compound over time, and in sometimes unexpected ways. Even a tiny change in customer retention can cascade through a business system and multiply over time. The resulting effect on long-term profit and growth shouldn’t be underestimated.

WHAT DO COMPANIES WITH A SUPERIOR CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE DO?

SOME ACTION POINTS FOR INCREASING CUSTOMER LOYALTY.   

Big opportunity for companies who are willing to invest in the customer experience. In order to help you increase your own retention rates, we've compiled a list of thrust areas for increasing customer loyalty. 

1. CUSTOMERS ENJOY BUSINESSES WHO KNOW THEM.

Telling your employees to spend more time with customers might seem like folly, but smart entrepreneurs know that isn't the case. Numerous studies have shown that everybody views their service experience as more positive when they don't feel rushed or ignored. Don't spend time idly, though; have employees attempt to find out key customer traits. When it comes to customer service that keeps people coming back, the research shows that quality matters more than speed. According to a study by the Gallup Group, customers were nine times more likely to be engaged with a brand when they evaluated the service as "courteous, willing, and helpful," versus the "speedy" evaluation, which only made customers six times more likely to be engaged

2.REALIZE THAT BUDGET IS NEGLIGIBLE.

Giving back to customers can appear incredibly costly, but it doesn't have to be. Instead, reciprocity is built even with small gestures. The premise is simple: Go above and beyond for customers and get rewarded with repeat business. The execution, however, can be trickier, so below is a compilation of interesting research on how to improve reciprocity with your customers. Although reciprocity works incredibly well on it's own, research shows that it is even more powerful when started by surprise. Everyone knows it costs 4 -5 times to acquire a new customer than to retain one. Higher customer referral rates and customer satisfaction were reported by a study of  companies who increased their investment in customer experience; inspite of the relentless war of cost saving marketing chiefs could convince their CEO for a higher budget allocation

3. WIN THE HEART OF THE CUSTOMER TIME AND AGAIN

So many people do an excellent job of making the initial sale, then drop the ball and get complacent, ignoring the customer, while they chase more business. Your selling has actually only just begun when someone makes that initial purchase decision because virtually everyone is susceptible to buyer’s remorse. To lock in that sale, and all of the referrals and repeat business that will flow from it, you need to strike while the iron is hot to allay your customers’ fears and demonstrate by your actions that you really care. You should thank them and remind them again why they’ve made the right decision to deal with you … and put a system in place to sell to them again, and again, constantly proving that they made the right decision.

4. CREATE TOUCH-POINTS AFTER THE FIRST SALE

Avoid losing your customers by building relationships and keeping in touch using a rolling calendar of communications. This is a programmed sequence of letters, events, phone calls, “thank you’s”, special offers, follow-ups, magic moments, and cards or notes with a personal touch etc. that occur constantly and automatically at defined points in the pre-sales, sales and post-sales process. People not only respond to this positively, they really appreciate it because they feel valued and important. It acknowledges them, keeps them informed, offsets post-purchase doubts, reinforces the reason they’re doing business with you and makes them feel part of your business so that they want to come back again and again.

5. AIM FOR CONTINOUS PURSUIT OF EXCLLENCE IN SERVICE

The never-ending pursuit of excellence to keep customers so satisfied that they tell others how well they were treated when doing business with you. Moving the product or service you deliver into the realm of the extraordinary by delivering higher than expected levels of service to each and every customer. Key facets include: dedication to customer satisfaction by every employee; providing immediate response; no buck passing; going above and beyond the call of duty; consistent on-time delivery; delivering what you promise before AND after the sale; a zero-defects and error-free-delivery process and recruiting outstanding people to deliver your customer service. Extraordinary service builds fortunes in repeat customers, whereas poor service will drive your customers to your competition..

6. A COMPLAINT IS A TREASURE CHEST FOR LEARNING

96 percent of dissatisfied customers don’t complain. They just walk away, and you’ll never know why. That’s because they often don’t know how to complain, or can’t be bothered, or are too frightened, or don’t believe it’ll make any difference. Whilst they may not tell you what’s wrong, they will certainly tell plenty of others. A system for unearthing complaints can therefore be the lifeblood of your business, because customers who complain are giving you a gift, they’re still talking to you, they’re giving you another opportunity to return them to a state of satisfaction and delight them and the manner in which you respond gives you another chance to show what you’re made of and create even greater customer loyalty.

7. GIVE HIGHEST PRIORITY TO THE LOST CUSTOMERS

There’s little point in dedicating massive resources to generating new customers when 25-60% of your dormant customers will be receptive to your attempts to regenerate their business if you approach them the right way, with the right offer. Reactivating customers who already know you and your product is one of the easiest, quickest ways to increase your revenues. Re-contacting and reminding them of your existence, finding out why they’re no longer buying, overcoming their objections and demonstrating that you still value and respect them will usually result in a tremendous bounty of sales and drastically increased revenues in a matter of days … and will lead to some of your best and most loyal customers.

8. MAINTAIN PRODUCT OR SERVICE INTEGRITY AT ALL TIMES

Long-term success and customer retention belongs to those who do not take ethical shortcuts. There must always be total consistency between what you say and do and what your customers experience. The design, build quality, reliability and serviceability of your product or service must be of the standard your customers want, need and expect. Service integrity is also demonstrated by the way you handle the small things, as well as the large. Customers will be attracted to you if you are open and honest with them, care for them, take a genuine interest in them, don’t let them down and practice what you preach … and they will avoid you if you don’t.

I am trying since a decade to build a compendium of authentic Customer Delight Practices... I found some in Kingfisher Airline but the airline closed down! I need some more of such golden practices in small but flourishing companies which can be a lesson for others to emulate.Did your Customer Service Department innovate by design or circumstance a new business practice ...please share it with me.

With best wishes

                                                        Dr Wilfred Monteiro