IT’S MORE THAN THE BAIT AND HOOK
Fishing for prospects can be expensive and time consuming. While we always want to grow our customer base, retaining our current customers needs the same attention as recruiting new ones. After all, the sole purpose of a business is to get and keep customers. Fact: it costs 5 times as much to replace a typical customer as it does to keep that customer in the first place.
Even if you only reduce lost customers by 5%, you can see a massive growth in profits. Studies show that a high percentage of ads are read or followed by people who are already affiliated with that particular brand or service, i.e. car owners read ads about their cars, investors read ads about their brokerage. Why is this?
Because we all want reassurance that we’ve done the right thing, made the right choice. Can you imagine how your customer would feel if you called them, after you’ve made the sale, to say, “Just checking to see how that new system is treating you! Here’s my number if there’s anything I can do in the future.” As we referenced earlier, you’d have that customer for life! Customers are used to the “wine and dine” to reel them in, and they’re all too familiar with getting thrown back in the water. Why not do something different? Why not exceed their expectations with a little follow up? Note: in an instance like this, we recommend a phone call or handwritten letter as opposed to an email—but an email is better than no communication at all.
Sending “reinforcing” information to your customer or maintaining even a little bit of contact can ensure that you keep the customer that you fought so hard to get. The surest way to lose them? Do nothing. Don’t write, don’t call, don’t mail, and don’t contact. After this, you’ll look worse than your competition—your competition that also did nothing. The difference? Your competitors weren’t expected to do anything. You—on the other hand—were.
