Customer Service Information |
|
Renewing Customer Loyalty
Every business loses customers, but not many do much about getting them back. And that is a big mistake. Studies show that the average business looses 20 percent of its customer base each year. Here's what that means in practical terms: For example, let's say your business has 700 customers that buy repeatedly from you during the year and each customer spends an average of $300 a year. If you loose 20 percent of them ( one hundred and forty), you'll loose $42,000 a year. That's a lot of money to make up with new customers. The longer you keep a customer the more he or she is worth to you. In part, because it takes a lot more money to acquire a new customer than it does to keep an existing one. In fact, businesses that are able to consistently keep the majority of their customer base are usually the ones that have increased profits year after year. Loyal customers spend more, they refer new customers, and it costs less to do business with them. Before you can effectively put a plan in place to provide the highest in quality service and market to your existing customers, you first have to know the lifetime value of your customers. When you know the lifetime value of your customers it helps you budget more effectively. You know better how and where to best use your marketing dollars. This is valuable information that every business needs to know if it is going to be successful. And the only way to get this information is by knowing the lifetime value of your customer. Once you know how much each customer contributes to your bottom line, you will begin to understand the value of hanging on to them. To do a better job of keeping your customers, you need a system to gather information about them and how they feel about your product and services. One of the best ways to do this is through using questionnaires on a regular basis. Ask questions such as:Why do you buy from us?How well do we meet your needs?How can we improve what we're doing?What are we not doing that you'd like us to do?What do you find valuable about us?What's valuable about our competition? You can ask these questions through a mailed questionnaire, e-mail, or by having one of your employees call them. Beside the obvious value in knowing the answers, you get a few bonuses as well. First, your customers will be happy the you bothered to find out what they want. Second, you'll learn about specific problems that could cause you to loose them. You'll get ideas for your products or services, and you'll find out some valuable information about your competition. When you know you've lost a customer, try to bring them back through an interview. If you don't get them back, at least you can get valuable information that will help prevent you from losing additional customers. But, you first have to find out why they have stopped doing business with you. And the way you do this is by asking questions such as; Was it a question of price or quality? Was a better offer made by our competition? Was it inadequate responsiveness? Were promises not kept? Were complaints not resolved? Was it overall dissatisfaction? Whether you are sending a questionnaire, using e-mail, or interviewing them by phone always use open ended questions that require an active response. Use questions that start with What? When? Where? Who? Which? How? You'll find that open ended questions help narrow down and specify their reasons for leaving. Businesses loose customers due to poor service more than for any other reason. When you make a service mistake and a customer complains, you have an opportunity to win back that customer and gain long-term loyalty. Here is a five step plan you could implement when a customer complains. Apologize and acknowledge the error. Take urgent action. Quick effort shows you have the customer's interest at heart. Show empathy. Customers want to know you care about their feelings. Compensate them in some way. (It doesn't have to be monetary) Follow-up. Make sure you've satisfied the customer. To transform your business into one that is committed to retaining as many customers as possible, you need support at every level. Provide customer service training for all your managers, frontline customer-service people, and everyone else in the organization. Teach your lower-level employees how important it is to keep customers, and show them how to be on the alert for unhappy customers. Give them a system for identifying unhappy customers, and reward them for using it. Make it easy for customers to bring their problems to you so you can see where you need to improve. Make sure you have an 800 number that is designated solely for customers. Have a special section of your Web site designated for customer comments. You could even offer a modest gift of some kind for customers who alert you to a problem. And always offer some type of satisfaction guarantee on your product or service. Most businesses can do a much better job keeping their customers. Write down your goals for keeping all your customers. Make sure everyone in your organization is aware of them and is working to achieve them. Identify the customers who have left you or are about to. Then, bring those customers back by working to solve their problems and satisfy their needs. And finally, use the feedback you get from both former and current customers to put customer-friendly policies and procedures in place. Copyright(c)2004 by Joe Love and JLM & Associates, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Joe Love draws on his 25 years of experience helping both individuals and companies build their businesses, increase profits, and achieve total success. A former ad agency executive and marketing consultant, Joe's work in personal development foucuses on helping his clients identify hidden marketable assets that create windfall opportunities and profits, as well as sound personal happiness and peace. Reach Joe at: joe@jlmandassociates.com Read more articles and newsletters at: http://www.jlmandassociates.com
MORE RESOURCES: NTTA customer service, Tarrant County district clerk spar over mistaken charge The Dallas Morning News No, GPT-4o isn't going to kill teaching or customer service Business Insider How did customer service get so bad? Financial Times Senate passes bill improving air safety and service for travelers, a day before FAA law expires The Associated Press Verizon sharpens GenAI tools to improve customer experience Mobile World Live Cognigy Named a Leader in 2024 “Conversational AI For Customer Service” Report The Bakersfield Californian What Consumers are Saying About AI and Customer Service Customer Think For 13th Consecutive Year, Wolters Kluwer Customer Service Wins NorthFace ScoreBoard Awards Business Wire CommBox Launches Connect Partner Programme, Offering Market-Leading Automation and AI Capabilities to ... Business Wire Frequently asked questions and customer service CSPI Newsroom Top Banks Offering 24/7 Customer Service in 2024 Business Insider Customer Service & Support Hillsborough County (.gov) Senate Passes FAA Bill on Air Safety and Customer Service – The Presidential Prayer Team The Presidential Prayer Team Playvox Brings New Integrated Workforce Management Solutions to Freshworks Customer Service Applications PR Newswire Customer Service Rep Confronts Customer Committing Fraud With The Consequences Of Her Actions. – 'It's okay to do ... Twisted Sifter How to contact Amazon UK Customer Service About Amazon.co.uk Citizen First Customer Service City of Lynchburg Lee Michaels’ Scott Berg: How to make unhappy customers happy Greater Baton Rouge Business Report Welcome to Riverside Public Utilities City of Riverside (.gov) Customer Assistance Programs DC Water Verizon Down? Users Report Service Outage, Call Dropping | Ways To Troubleshoot And Customer Support Times Now Textron Aviation Unveils Expanded Global Parts Distribution Facility, Elevating Customer Service Yahoo Finance Genesys & ServiceNow join forces to revolutionise customer service ChannelLife Australia Senate passes bill improving air safety and service for travelers, a day before FAA law expires Chicago Tribune Contact SEA Customer Care portseattle.org Britons Spend 800 Years Waiting to Speak to HMRC Business MattersBusiness Matters Buccaneers Continue to Excel in Season Pass Member Customer Service Experience, Voted No. 1 for Sixth ... Buccaneers.com At some point, construction gave up on customer service – but it's far from a lost cause New Civil Engineer Air India rolls out iPad app for on board customer service Live From A Lounge AI is replacing customer service jobs across the globe The Washington Post Customer Service Center - Recreation & Wellbeing University of California, Berkeley Delayed On Southwest? You Can Now Skip The Customer Service Line And Request A $75 Credit Online Forbes Social media customer service statistics to know in 2024 Sprout Social What Your Business Can Learn From Southwest Airlines Business.com Elefante Music and School for the Performing Arts Seeking Customer Service Representative - School Services TAPinto.net Ministry of Immigration aims to improve customer service following altercation at Western Border Breaking Belize News Best Customer Service 2024 Forbes CFPB Issues Guidance to Halt Large Banks from Charging Illegal Junk Fees for Basic Customer Service Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Klarna says its AI assistant does the work of 700 people after it laid off 700 people - Fast Company Utility Billing The City of Vancouver, WA New report lays bare HMRC customer service failings Politics.co.uk Top Customer Service Programs for Small Businesses Business News Daily |
RELATED ARTICLES
Transforming Disgruntled Customers into Your Biggest Advocates "I am writing to complain about the widget I bought from your site the other day."Sell anything and eventually you will be on the receiving end of a sentence like this. What Every Manager Should Know About How to Win the Loyalty of Customers Dr. Michael LeBoeuf, in his cassette album entitled, Win Customers and Keep Them for Life presents twelve principles that will transform the workplace into a customer-driven, highly motivational team. Develop Loyal Customers for a Lifetime - part 1 (1 - 10) Traditional marketing strategies encourage business owners to continually grow their businesses by adding new customers. In today's competitive world of business, it is more important than ever to aim for more transactions with existing customers by using the power of customer follow-up and attention to good service. Making Your Contacts Work For You The best way to explain this concept is to tell you a story. While calling for lease purchasing property, I spoke with an older widowed woman. What Exactly is Customer Relationship Management? The defintion of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) that I favor is "CRM is the business strategy that aims to understand, anticipate, manage and personalize the needs of an organization's current and potential customers"From this we can learn that CRM is more than just a piece of software; CRM is a business strategy, one that puts the customer at the heart of the business."That's nothing new" I hear you say, and you would be right. Customer Service - How Good Are YOU? At 8.30 am a wealthy client (on his way to make a presentation to the local council at 9 am) walked into a store that sells photocopiers. Complaints Are Actually A Good Thing! Nobody likes to get complaints. They make you question your judgment, they can ruin your day, and they almost always leave you in a bad mood. Post Office, Incredible Lady Postmaster There are two Post Offices that I routinely visit. One is the office that delivers my mail and the other is frequently on the path of some daily errands. Customer Service For Huge Profits Customer service is the most vital asset for Businesseither it is online or offline. It's the critical factorwhich determines if your business has a future or not. Customer Service - A Sweet Essence First let us specifically define customer service. It is the performance of a duty or responsibility due to a customer as a result of selling them a product or service. Customer First Customer Service The world of customer service is rapidly changing. Thirty years ago, telephones and mail services were the norm for most companies. If Everyone Thinks They Give Good Service, Why Do We As Customers Think Its Poor! First of all let's look at what customer service is all about.If you go into a shop and talk to anyone who works there you expect to be treated with respect, not sold to and to have en enjoyable experience. Hit The Jackpot With Customer Complaints Our most powerful instinct is to avoid customer complaints, but they may be the best thing that happens to your business. Here's why. Mastering Challenging Service Situations During the course of everyday business, many of you encounter unsatisfied customers. How you and your staff handle these situations, will shape your service image and ultimately your bottom line. Setting Up a Customer of the Week Program for a Mobile Car Wash In a mobile detail or mobile car wash business you are on a first name basis with your customers. You sink or swim with your ability to please your customer and rely on them to build your business by referring their friends, associates and neighbors. Are You Putting Technology Before Your Customers? Which is more important the technology or the customer?The one thing about the online world you can be sure of is change.It seems like every day there is a new technology being addedwhich will make the internet more accessible. Customer Satisfaction Is Your Business Regardless of what business you are in - you are really in the business of satisfying customers. The degree of customer satisfaction you deliver determines the level of long-term success you will achieve in business. It Is All About Customer Service! In this day of terrible customer service, it should come as no surprise that serving your customers, also known as visitors to your web site, must be a top priority. Forget about return on your investment, how your site looks, keywords, meta tags, and the like. One Critical Question to Ask Yourself Every Day What happened to the old saying, the customer is always right? I'll bet every one of you reading this article has a "customer service nightmare" story to tell. My most recent nightmare experience took place recently when my business partner and I went in to a wireless phone store to purchase two new pda wireless phones. Tips for Curing Bad Customer Service Bad customer service is everywhere these days - unmanned front desks, surly servers, clueless staff, employees talking on the phone, and managers who refuse to acknowledge a customer. It's no longer an exception . |
home | site map |
© 2006 |