The
key to keeping your customer is the word “YOUR”. You’ve done the work to attract them, put in
the time and effort to satisfy them and now they belong to you. At this point, in order to remain successful,
you must take ownership of your customers.
You may not be a stock holder in your customer’s company, but your
investment can still pay dividends.
Ownership
is the key to keeping your customer. Through
the concentrated efforts of your business, you have taken the responsibility of
maintaining and growing your relationship with the customer. They trust you to provide them what they need
and you need to honor their trust by continually giving them reasons to keep
doing business with you.
It
is up to every member of your company to put in the effort to retain your
customers. This is accomplished through
the concentrated efforts of each individual and an overall commitment to
excellence.
One
of the biggest causes of losing a customer is through providing an inferior
service. Each of us can look back at a
time where we have determined never to return to a business based on a negative
experience. More often than not, that
negative experience has to do with an interaction with an employee rather than
the product or location the business is in.
Businesses with high employee turnover are often the same businesses
with high levels of customer attrition.
Creating a Customer-centric environment
There
are two key components to creating a customer-centric environment: Customer satisfaction and Employee
satisfaction. Both are equally important
and cannot be achieved separately.
Any
customer retention strategy must contain a customer-centric theme. The customers, after all, are the reason your
business exists. Without them, you would
have no outlet for your product and no revenue to support your business. That being said, because you have a business,
you must have customers. Forgetting
about your employees on your way down the path to customer satisfaction will
leave you alone at the end of your journey.
Customer
and Employee Satisfaction –
Having
happy employees equates to having employees that are bound and determined to
share that happiness with their customers.
Having happy customers is the result of a positive experience they are
having with you and your employees. Happiness at work revolves around the level
of involvement, excitement and sense of belonging both the employees and
customers share.
Challenges
Employees
Giving
your employees challenges that they have control over the outcome will give
them a sense of responsibility.
Continually providing an atmosphere where each member of your team is
accountable for developing, implementing and managing creative solutions to
challenging problems keeps them thinking, involved and active in the growth of
the business.
Customers
While
customers don’t want to be challenged by your company in a way that negatively
affects your relationships, they often have their own challenges that they need
help coming up with solutions. It is
possible to continually try to challenge your customers to come up with ways
you can solve their issues, improve your own service, and collaborate on
creative solutions to potential industry wide challenges.
Ownership
Employees
While
some business go so far as allowing employees to invest their own money in a
business, we aren’t all set up like that.
However, we can all equate our time as having a value, so in essence,
our ownership of the business can be related to the amount of time we spend
working there. Employee ownership goes
beyond the shell of the business, employees need to start by having the
accountability and ownership of their position, the tasks they undertake and
the results of their decisions. Creating
an environment where the employee is not only allowed, but encouraged to take
full responsibility of these actions gives them the sense of ownership necessary
for them to invest more than just their time.
Customers
While
your customers don’t have literal ownership of your business, they do pay your
bills. They need to be treated as a
benefactor not a hindrance. One way to
accomplish this is to make sure they know where their investments are
going. Keep your customers apprised of
new equipment you are purchasing, training that is underway or has been
completed. Share your business with your
customers. In addition, make them feel
like they belong. All of your customers
know that they aren’t your only one; but they should never feel that way when
they are dealing with anyone from your company.
Training
Employee
The
biggest mistake most employers make is forgetting to continually train their
employees. Employees who receive ongoing
training are more likely to feel as though their time investment in the company
is being rewarded by the sense of trust that continual training provides. Training doesn’t have to be a scheduled event
either. Making the time to improve basic
skills such as computer programs, typing, reports and presentations or phone
etiquette are examples of things that can be taught as they come up. Formal training should be done as well. One thing we can have a tendency to take for
granted is not knowing what our employees don’t know. One of the most frustrating things for
employees can be making a decision and finding out after the fact that there
was a piece of information or a tool that they weren’t aware that would have
influenced their decision or caused a more positive outcome.
Customer
Informed
employees can provide information to customers.
The more a customer knows about your product, your employees and how you
do run your business, they more likely they are to continue to do business with
you. Product information and training
opportunities should be offered to your customers on a regular basis. Being able to provide this type of training
with the people in your company they already know and are comfortable with
gives an extra sense of satisfaction to both parties. A customer will be trained on how you do
business by two methods: communication and action. Telling them you are committed to doing
business one way and then performing you tasks in another not only confuses
them but doesn’t provide the credibility you want to retain their
business. Make sure your actions match
your words.
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