Top Ten Questions Small Business Owners Ask
#2 How Do Small Business Owners Keep the Customers They Have?
Small business owners work so hard to get customers, but when they finally have them, they don’t always focus on keeping them all. They are so busy chasing customers to come through their (virtual or real) front door, they don’t do anything to prevent them from leaving out their back one! In fact, many businesses offer low discounts to acquire new customers, but don’t offer any financial incentive to the loyal ones they already have.
This makes little sense because, with all the noise out there in the marketplace, it is so much easier to sell an existing customer again (or another product or service) than find a brand new customer.
With an existing customer, you do not have to pay the “cost of acquisition” (COA) a second time. Keeping that customer also extends your return on that investment and increases their “lifetime value” (LTV) which is so critical for every company’s success. Profitable companies are not built on getting all new customers every month; they have annuities where they sell their products and services to most of the same customers over and over again.
So how do you keep the customers I have?
This is easier than you think because most customer never want to leave your business once they buy from you. The cost of switching for most people is just too high. But at the same time, your competitors are trying to wow your customers so they do switch to them; if you are not continuing to service your current customers someone else will.
What customers want:
An outstanding experience and an authentic relationship. Most of what you sell is just a commodity; any customer could easily buy it anywhere. You need to give them a reason to continue to get it from your business. This means understanding all the touch points in the entire customer journey cycle even after they have purchased from you. Understanding where your business can excel and keep then closely tied to you is critical. Know where things can go wrong and where you can lose them to competitors.
To be listened to and shown empathy when things go wrong. Invariably, things will go wrong in the purchase or support process for some customers. It is impossible to keep every customer happy all the time. When things do go wrong, make it easy for customers to tell you what happened. Show empathy for their situation and ask them what the best solution would be. The customer is not always right, but since they are your customer, they should always be listened to.
Value for being a repeat customer. Frequent buyer programs were a stroke of genius when they started. These marketing programs rewarded and treated frequent customers differently – because they are more valuable to the company over the long term with their higher life time value. They also got the customers to be loyal to one brand because they were rewarded for it in terms of discounts, bonuses or their experience. As a small business, you don’t necessarily have to give lower prices to repeat customers, but you should treat them special; this can be with exclusive access to new offers and special phone numbers or email address to help when things go wrong.
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