As a business, we invest a lot of resources to find, develop and sell new customers. Once we obtain the gratification of a sale, what do we do then? Hope they come back? Maybe buy from us again? Don’t let that treasured client disappear! Follow the steps outlined below and maintain that relationship for life!
- Deliver on promises – sounds simple, but by following through with a commitment, you show your integrity, that the customer is important, and that you have their best interests in mind.
- Exceed expectations – don’t do the minimum! Take the extra step to put an exclamation at the end of their customer experience. Make them think “WOW!” when they walk out the door.
- Make the Customer #1 – don’t sacrifice a long term relationship for a short term profit gain. Do what is right for the customer and keep the door open to additional business opportunities. There is a great deal of truth in the old adage “the customer is always right”.
- Nurture your staff – they are the face of your company! Keeping a loyal, happy, empowered, long tenured staff is one of the single best steps to keeping lifelong customers. Treat your staff as well as you expect them to treat the customers….
- Choose the right lifelong customers – I know this seems crazy, but some customers are just not worth keeping around. Knowing the cost to keeping a customer long term is essential. If you are putting more resources into keeping the customer around than you can ever hope to recover in revenue, it’s necessary to cut them loose. Re-invest those resources into customers that a good fit for your business.
Monitoring your customer’s experience with your company and listening to what they say will help keep you on track in your efforts. Informal surveys, personal observation and simple conversations with clients will provide invaluable clues to how good a job you are doing. Southwest Airlines and Chick-fil-A are doing something right!!
