Customer loyalty is an interesting thing. While attracting new customers is good for business, keeping the ones that you already have is even better. At some point you will have exhausted the pool of potential new customers but if you keep them coming back that won't impact your bottom line. We covered a number of ways to keep your customers coming back in a previous post. Today we're going to talk about another important factor in customer retention, attitude.
Your attitude, and that of your employees, is critical to keeping your customers happy and loyal to your business. Each time they interact with your company, your customers are evaluating the benefit of the relationship. In effect, they are deciding whether or not they want to remain your loyal customer. If you, or your employees, act like it doesn't matter to you whether they keep coming back or not that can seriously (and negatively) impact their decision.
You don't have to treat each person as if they are your most important customer, but you do need to make them feel like it matters to you that they are there, and that they keep coming back. There are several ways to do that. Keep reading for some tips.
- Listen. Pay attention to your customers when they are talking to you. It may just seem like they are making small talk, and maybe they are, but if you listen intently it shows interest and makes them feel good. Plus, they may drop little hints that could lead to future sales opportunities for your business. If a customer is dissatisfied with a product, service, or just an interaction they had with you or another employee it is even more critical that you listen carefully and respond appropriately.
- Follow up. Listening is great, but if what you hear goes in one ear and out the other it doesn't do much good. You need to think about what you hear and follow up accordingly. If you say that you will look up information or provide more details at a later date, do it. If you need to pass the customer on to another associate let them know that you won't be able to help them but that you will put them in contact with someone who can. Check with your co-worker at a later date to be sure they contacted the customer. If you really want to go the extra mile, follow up with customer afterwards to make sure that your co-worker met all their needs and handled things in a satisfactory manner.
- Don't let them go without a fight. Okay, you don't have to beg your customers to stay, but if someone tells you they plan on leaving your business they are giving you an opportunity to convince them to stay. Unless they have a contract with you, they are under no obligation to let you know that they won't be coming back. If they were that set on leaving they would just stop coming in or contacting your business. If they care enough to announce their departure, they care enough to hear you out if you are interested in solving whatever issue has led them to consider leaving. Don't ignore this opportunity. Even if you can't convince them to stay you can still get valuable feedback that may keep you from making the same mistake and losing more customers in the future.
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Your customers are a valuable company resource. Not only do they provide much needed revenue when they patronize your business, they can also be your best marketing tool if they tell their family and friends about your business. You need to keep them happy and keep them coming back. Another great way to keep your customers coming back is to have what they need when they need it. Stockpile fast free inventory solution can help you do that. Stockpile is the inventory management solution that you need for your small business. Stockpile makes it easy to track inventory within a single location or across multiple locations. It's fully customizable so you can choose the fields that make the most sense for your business and it's mobile compatible so you can always access your data, anytime from anywhere. With Stockpile fast free inventory solution in your toolkit, you'll be making customers happy day after day. Try Stockpile now!
