Peady’s Selling Engagement sponsored by IRD Prospector

Increasing customer or client retention rates by 5% increases profits by 25% to 95% according to a study by Harvard Business School and Bain & Company. They analysed the potential revenue derived from working with clients over the long term and the clear evidence across many industry verticals demonstrated strong relationships generate big returns.

How does that apply to you?

Keeping or retaining and then growing your clients isn’t easy although we all know it simply makes good business sense. It makes even more sense when you realise less than 15% of clients stay loyal to one company – the rest move from provider to provider. Always looking for the best deal, best service, best results.

Wouldn’t it be great if you had more loyal clients?

It’s actually easier than you thought. There are six ways to keep a loyal customer. Once you drive loyalty you can leverage them to become your advocates. Then they’ll start to refer new business to you and help fuel future growth.

Let’s begin

1.Communication is everything – it’s hard to create loyal clients if they aren’t even paying attention. To use an old phrase, you can’t over-communicate. Use all the available touchpoints to drive your relationship and ensure those touchpoints are relevant. Even more make sure you communicate horizontally and vertically. 

2. Use the words they love to hear – not all words are created equal. Some words are highly persuasive and encourage clients to buy more than others. Words like free, you, results, easy, new and guaranteed. When customers hear these words (and the promises they imply) they’ll enjoy the relationship. 

3. Clients love to do business with those that know them – learn all you can about the client personally and professionally as well as their business. The more you learn, the more you’ll know and that information is pure gold. Numerous behavioural studies have shown that everybody views their service experience as more positive when they’re not ignored. 

4.  Quality is everything – when it comes to service research shows that amazingly quality matters more than speed. Some media companies often equate fast service with great service but it’s not the case. Loyalty is driven by the response, the results and the outcome of the agreed solution. 

5. Utilise the power of reciprocity – giving back to your clients can appear costly or even a time waster but it’s not. By embracing the “wow factor” you can drive a strong relationship with small gestures. A small gift, a thank-you card, a business referral. Remember it’s the thought that counts! 

6. Stand for something, anything – in a highly competitive world find ways to stand out by standing for something.  If you want loyal clients who’ll stick with you its vital for them to care about you. So what do YOU stand for? 

So what are the customer and client retention strategies that you use? If you need some ideas maybe it’s a great topic for your next sales meeting?

Until next week good selling!