Momentum - Business to Business Online Magazine October 2018 | Page 10

Biz Tips By Mike Hilderbrand, MBA, CBC, CSSC ActionCOACH of Galveston [email protected] www.actioncoach/mikehilderbrand T here is a lot of discussion on customer retention. This month let's take the opposite approach - "five sure-fire ways to lose your customers." 4. Respond slowly - a great way to lose customers. I responded to an ad for a marketing company a couple of weeks ago -- it took them a week to call me back. How could a company that focuses on marketing be that slow in responding? Obviously, I will not be using them. Around the same time, I made an inquiry on a local sign maker’s website about making a sign for my business, and within two minutes received a phone call from them. I bought two signs, and they are hanging on my office building at 21 st and Mechanic in Galveston. 1. Try to sell them something they already buy from you (as if it were something new). It never fails, each week we all get offers from companies trying to sell us something that we already buy from them. Wasted marketing $. 2. Be inconsistent in your delivery. Have you ever gone to a restaurant that was great, only to be disappointed when you went back with family and friends? We brought our son and his girlfriend to our favorite restaurant on Seawall a few weeks ago because of the great food and fantastic view of the Gulf from the outside eating area. It was a fine day, and there were plenty of empty tables outside, but they wouldn’t seat us because there were “not enough servers on duty”. We haven’t been back, and in fact that day found a great gourmet hamburger place on the West End with outside seating that we now visit regularly. Inconsistency breeds a lack of confidence in your ability to deliver. 3. Raising prices may drive off some of your customer base - especially those that are price shoppers. This one has an upside and a downside. The upside is that if your product or service is fantastic, raising prices will allow you to increase your profit. The customers that you will drive away are the price shoppers that make up the lions' share of your headaches. 9 MOMENTUM / October 2018 5. Perceived indifference is the most important of the five.  You have invested good money in acquiring your customers. Treat your "A" clients as gold by staying in front of them and reminding them how much they mean to you. The key to retaining clients is to make them feel special. Once we have a solid understanding of our "A" customers, we can develop the strategies to ensure that the lion's share of our customers fall into that category. So, what will you do with your customers that have no hopes of becoming "A's" or "B's?" The 80/20 Rule applies. Right now, you are giving your C & D customers attention that should be going to you're A and B customers. Don’t force your best customers to go looking for a better burger. Make the commitment to your business today that you will start giving the people who deserve it your undivided attention.