Patricia Kennedy’s blog titled, “‘Bad’ Behavior Doesn’t Always Violate The Realtors’ Code Of Ethics” struck a note with me.
Customers make an interesting study. It seems that they always want the very most for the very least they’ll have to pay. They are ruthless, selfish, demanding and disloyal.
You know the story. You’ve done business with someone for several years and they’ve been a good customer. You’ve given them the best service possible and you think they are your customer for life. But then some little thing possibly out of your control goes wrong, or they see an ad or get a call from a competitor, someone they’ve never met before, with a slightly lower price, and the next thing you know, they are gone, oftentimes without a single word to you.
At first you don’t notice it. But one day you realize that it’s been a while since you’ve seen or heard from that customer. When you find out what happened, you feel badly, because if they would have just called you, you might have been able to make a couple of changes and save the business. But it’s too late, they’re gone.
This scenario is repeated time and again with business owners from every company who sell every type of product or service. It is going to happen. To pretend that it doesn’t, or won’t happen, is simply deceiving yourself.
It’s incredible how many business owners just write off the loss of a good customer. But that’s not the thing you should do. Instead, now is the time to become even more proactive and go after that “lost” customer.
One of the best ways to minimize or cut down on the frequency of losing your good customers is to resell them on the reasons they bought from you in the first place. Regularly scheduled meetings or conversations with your customers to remind them of their motives can go a long way in helping insulate your business from the competition.
Remember that your competition has similar products, services and prices. Also remember that your customers’ reasons for buying are only 35 percent based on those products, services, and prices – the other 65 percent is for what you can do for them.
Spend the time with them. Review their needs, wants and concerns. Remind them why they bought from you in the first place. Reinforce their motives and their decisions for buying, and you will reduce your customer defection rate and develop not only loyal customers, but friends as well.
