Want Your Client to Come Back?

Keeping on the same theme as the previous blog, as a small business owner what is it that we need to keep our business going? Here are some thoughts.

What's the number one thing that your business MUST have to survive? Many might say "money". But I believe money is a by-product of the real resource, loyal customers. A company can make the best widgets in the world, but without a satisfied customer buying those widgets, you will soon be forced to close your doors. To get a loyal customer base, a business must recognize their individual clients. Call them by name; know their preferences - their likes and dislikes; things they've told you that are important in their lives. Besides a good product or service, clients want to know that they are working with knowledgeable, informed, people willing to answer their questions honestly.

We all love to be recognized for who and what we are. In order to form a loyal relationship, it behooves businesses to get to know their customers. When a business is wholly committed to the idea of creating a loyal client, customers will follow. According to John Frazer-Robinson, in Building Customer Loyalty, "Customer satisfaction is what people say; loyalty is what they do. Customer loyalty is the ultimate measure of how well your business is delivering its whole corporate promise."
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Oftentimes, the effort to get sales is through marketing to new clients; the thought is that the more clients a company has, the more profit will be generated. The larger the client list becomes, the bigger a company will grow. Yet there are really two ways in which a company can become larger: they can either grow outward (collecting more and more names of people who have bought from them), or they can grow upward (selling more to the clients the company already has). When businesses realize that there is value to a lifelong customer, they are better able to focus on maximizing that value.

If a customer is thought of as a unit of transaction (the outward growth focus) the salesperson is constantly striving to find more and more customers to make the monthly sales goals. There will come a time, eventually, when the critical mass has been realized and there is no where else to branch out to. At the same time, it is a well-known fact that it costs most companies six to ten times more to get new customers than it does to keep the ones you have happy — and loyal. And without you realizing it, customer attrition might just be YOUR SINGLE LARGEST Cost!

If the company realizes that by creating a loyal, long-term customer they will be able to add extensive value to the relationship, a whole new mindset is created. The main focus for such a program is not the "dollar off coupons" or flyers that are sent out (although these are methods within the program), but the fact that a client is given a certain level of recognition. Creating this kind of customer relationship is not easy or quick. It requires repeated and consistent, well-timed efforts. If you devote the time and effort it takes to make a loyal customer, you will see increased sales at lower costs. What ideas do you have for increased customer loyalty?