Being a business is not just about finding a customer, selling something and moving on to the next. It's all about making sure your customers always come back to you ... and spending more money!
But how can you ensure that your customers remain customers for the rest of your life? What strategies can you use to keep them coming back for more? A planned customer retention plan is something every small business should have. That sounds great, but what is a maintenance plan, and what should it include?
Make a Foundation
Before you can start a maintenance plan, you need to understand your business's current position on its storage record. Ask yourself these 3 questions:
1. Do you know how many customers you have lost in the last 12 months?
2. If you know how many, do you know why they stopped dealing with you?
3. Have you mentioned the impact this loss has had on your main line?
Before you can set up an effective last resort, you should answer these questions. They are the key to understanding and applying the ultimate effective strategy. Let's look at each of them in turn.
How Many Have Lost?
It is important to know how many people stop doing business with you at any one time. Keep a database of all your customers regularly; how often they buy; what they buy and for what price. Monthly review the information and see if you can identify any disturbing trends. Has the order total rate been declining over the past 3 months? Is the standard single customer order completely dry? If someone is ordering a large list of items each month but suddenly stops buying certain types, why not?
If you can't track the customers you release, how can you keep them or try them again?
Why Did He Turn His Back on You?
Armed with the knowledge of who is throwing you out, the fight can start honestly! Sometimes there are good reasons why a business should stop - the owner could die, move, or close. There is not much you can do about that! But what about the further reasons for concern? The quality of your product is very low; the customer feels that he is no longer receiving the amount of money; your normal service levels declined. These are the areas you need to be aware of, so that you can get your business back on track.
If you see a business venture, and you can see who is contributing to it, pick up the phone and talk! Find out what the problem is. If you can get yourself back on track, it's fine, but if it's too late, at least you have gathered some useful information about where the business is going.
What did it cost you?
You may think that an unusual customer here and there will not be a major factor in your lifestyle. Think again! Remember, it’s not just one sale, it’s the whole sales life you release. Suppose a customer spends $1,000 a month with you. He goes to the sunset and never sees her again. Imagine if you could do business with them for the next 20 years - that's $240,000!
Interested now? Well, you should have! Finding the financial impact of losing one customer can really make a difference in a home business. This should motivate you to action and make you work on a maintenance plan.
Your Final Plan
Now that we have confirmed that you need the Customer Service Plan, what exactly should you include?
1. Have an action plan that allows you to answer all the questions we have just reviewed. Understand what is going on in the business, so that you can identify and fix things. Make sure you know who lost it, why you lost it and how much it costs and will cost you
2. Gather your staff regularly and remind them of the importance of keeping your customers safe. If you do not find them on the board, you have no hope
3. During your staff meetings, hold consultations so that everyone can come up with ideas on how to stick to your customers.
4. Use good ideas and weigh the results to find out what works and what doesn't
A good storage system can work just as well as a good marketing plan; they achieve the same results - a benefit contribution. So, sit down and think about the steps you can take to keep your customers safe.
I saw a sign in the store the other day, it said, "It's not how many come in, how many come back is important." That doesn't mean all that!
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