Often times you wonder why your customers leave as soon as they’ve had their first encounters with your business. You got even more distressed because the few you’ve overtime managed to acquire are leaving without notice. A few of them who cared to send their notifications didn’t stay too long before mixing with the air.
They aren’t just staying. Your competitors are hijacking them. You are tired and close to being frustrated.
Loads of prescriptions have been thrown at you from numberless self-acclaimed business experts. Majority advised you to invest heavily in marketing. They went as far as showing you an Hubspot report on how Facebook is the best when it comes to reaching your target audience.
You’re now ready reclaim your customers and attracting new ones. You are willing to go all out for this.
Please don’t do it!
Listen again, you will return to square 1 if you go ahead.
Here is why:
- It is 6-7 times more expensive to acquire a new customer than it is to keep a current one.
You see, spending to acquiring new sets of customers isn’t just unwise but also suicidal to your business if you don’t first stop the current ones from leaving.
Still in doubt?
See more:
- On average, loyal customers are worth up to 10 times as much as their first purchase.
- You have just 20% Probability of selling to a new prospect but 80% of selling to an existing customer.
You see those remaining 3 out of the 50 you used to have? Focus on them like a mother would her only surviving child.
You’d like to read: Seven Top Secrets To Grow Your Small Business
So can you now return that money intended for a new advert back to your vault? The time isn’t ripe. Doing so will be similar to putting up a signpost at the market square inviting guests to a wedding ceremony where Jollof won’t be served. Suicidal right?
How do you now ensure your bucket (customer base) isn’t leaking while refilling it (marketing)? Block the hole(s) of course!
Focus on Customer Retention! (3x)
Though a bit slower, focusing on customer retention rather than digital or traditional marketing has proven to be the best way of getting, maintaining and growing traction.
5 Quick Tips On How To Retain Customers
- Promote their businesses: They’d be very glad you are being altruistic. For some of them who don’t have businesses, celebrate them in person. A tweet at them appreciating their patronage will go a long way.
- Increase the rate of your responsiveness: reply mails within reasonable time frame, did you promise to call back? please don’t forget, it’s not enough to reply messages in DMs, reply them as soon as they land. Doing this makes them feel valued.
- Create special privileges/bonuses/treatment for the most loyal: dig into your records for those customers who come most frequently. Design a special treatment package for them. It could be a party (depending on your capacity), a juicy coupon or even tickets to their favorite shows.
- Get feedback: customers (like every woman) want to be heard, and they’d be more than excited to see you work on their suggestions and/or criticisms.
- Customer service isn’t just a departmental job, it’s every damn person’s duty: rethink your company’s orientation such that everyone from the most superior to the lowly ranked inhibit the culture of customer service.
Though the list is endless, the conclusion is that you need to simply understand that your current customers need be delighted before you go in search of more. When happy, you’d be amazed at how far they’d be willing to evangelize your business.
