{"id":827597,"date":"2017-10-05T12:14:10","date_gmt":"2017-10-05T19:14:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/customerthink.com\/?p=827597"},"modified":"2017-10-05T12:14:10","modified_gmt":"2017-10-05T19:14:10","slug":"how-to-prevent-your-customers-from-leaving-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/customerthink.com\/how-to-prevent-your-customers-from-leaving-you\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Prevent Your Customers From Leaving You"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Customers\"
\nPhoto<\/a> by\u00a0Kaboompics \/\/ Karolina,\u00a0CC0 1.0<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

We all know that customers make or break our business. Yet, a lot of companies are still in the \u201cI am more important than customers\u201d mindset. Which is pure hogwash? I\u2019ll prove it to you: the next time you develop a marketing or advertising campaign, track the results. In a few months time, spend the time developing a \u201cbuild goodwill\u201d campaign. Focus only <\/em>on improving customers\u2019 experience. Then <\/em>run another marketing campaign. Again, track the results and compare them with the first campaign.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll bet eight to five that the second campaign\u2019s results are better than the first run. We both know I\u2019ll win that bet every time, too. Because customer bases do business with companies they know \u2013 companies they trust. Here are several ways to build that trust and make your clients\/customers feel more appreciated.<\/p>\n

1. Be Transparent<\/h2>\n

By encouraging feedback from your customers (whether it\u2019s negative or positive feedback), you\u2019re being transparent. By being open about all the ins and outs of your business \u2013 even those when you make a mistake, you\u2019re being transparent. By willingly talking to paying customers as people <\/em>and not statistics, numbers or the reason your business is doing well\u2026 you\u2019re being transparent.<\/p>\n

In business, transparency is platinum<\/a>. All of the instances I described make people feel welcome. Largely because of this form of transparency, and open honesty is largely lacking from many businesses. You know: the type of \u201csuit and tie\u201d business vibes who\u2019s primary concern is making money. Without considering the reasons why <\/em>they\u2019re making money.<\/p>\n

When you show your transparency, you show your humanity. People respond to human-ness. Human-ness builds trust. Transparency builds trust.<\/p>\n

However, this means being upfront about your business\/product\/service\u2019s shortcomings and pitfalls. Be upfront about your business\u2019 flaws; in a world where every single business is \u201cthe best\u201d at something, people come to expect a load of hot air blown up them. By admitting your shortcomings, people will feel a breath of fresh honesty and feel confident about doing business with you. Because you aren\u2019t putting on a mask or hiding anything from people. We are an increasingly suspicious generation \u2013 almost everyone is wary of doing business. Since they\u2019ve been screwed in the past. By being upfront and transparent with your customers, you\u2019re effectively lowering their defense shields. This is good.<\/p>\n

By being honest with customers, they\u2019ll keep returning. This is important (especially if you\u2019re a Latino businessperson), as a new study<\/a> reports that Latino businesses have an uphill battle when it comes to acquiring capital. The trust of customers is one way to put the odds in your favor of overcoming those hurdles.<\/p>\n

2. Be There<\/h2>\n

Have you ever been on a date? Of course, you have. Now, have you ever been on a date with someone who checked their phone every 15 minutes? (Or worse, were you <\/em>the phone-checker?) There\u2019s almost nothing more irritating than someone who\u2019s on the phone while you\u2019re talking with them. (When people do that to me, it makes me feel that they don\u2019t value my time. In those instances, I\u2019ve walked away from them while they were yapping on the phone. Rude? Perhaps. But so is answering your phone, mid-conversation, to have another conversation.)<\/p>\n

If you find out that your employees are doing the same to customers, stop them. Or else customers will grow increasingly frustrated with your business. I\u2019ve taken my money from one tax accountant to another because the receptionist was busy emailing. For 10 minutes. Now, whether he was emailing a friend, a co-worker, or his boss is beside the point. As a receptionist, you\u2019re supposed to receive customers. <\/em>I respect my time too much to put up with \u201cI\u2019m sorry for the wait, I\u2019ll be with you shortly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like it or not: neither you nor your employees are more important than your customers. Customers are and always will be more important<\/a> than the companies they give their money to. (This goes for Virgin Group, Microsoft, Apple, etc. We, as consumers, are the reason these companies are in business.) Without those customers, companies are out of business. So why not be more sensitive to your paying customers\u2019 time, and respect them?<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve spoken with many managers who forgot the golden rule: no customer is obligated to do business with you. If you\u2019ve been around the block for a few years, and have had repeat business from a customer – great! That\u2019s wonderful. You\u2019re really piling on that lifetime customer value. The best way to ensure they do go somewhere else is to multi-task with half a dozen tasks while you\u2019re talking with them. Don\u2019t do that.<\/p>\n

3. Treat Customers Right<\/h2>\n

Starbucks\u2019 mission statement<\/a> could be \u201cWe\u2019re in the people business serving coffee.\u201d Because they\u2019ve implemented many savvy strategies that focus entirely on their customers. (Which explains why there\u2019s a thousand Starbucks in each American city. There\u2019s even one in my Canadian <\/em>hometown. It sits smack dab right across the street from a Tim Horton\u2019s coffee chain.)<\/p>\n

A smart way Starbucks makes people feel appreciated is by writing down names. Does McDonald\u2019s ask for your name? No, they print out a receipt with a number on it. You wait for your number to be called on a giant screen. When it does, you go pick up your food. Take a page out of Starbucks\u2019 industry-standard \u201cpeople service\u201d and make your interactions with customers as personable as possible. (Tim Hortons doesn\u2019t ask for my name either. Maybe I should start going to Starbucks.)<\/p>\n

Because it\u2019s important to remember: the internet is at our fingertips. People talk \u2013 and all we need is one good reason not <\/em>to do business with a company. On the other side of the coin, businesses that are personable and spread goodwill are the businesses people recommend. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Yelp, etc. There are many <\/em>platforms for people to express themselves. When it comes to your business, this can be a hindrance or a blessing. Effectively outsourcing<\/a> various sectors of your office to handle customer complaints is one way of making sure you receive more blessings than hindrances.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h2>\n

At day\u2019s end, everybody on Earth <\/em>enjoys feeling appreciated. We enjoy feeling welcomed and valued for our time, money and presence. If you, your executives, employees or coworkers make a behavioral habit of subtly making people feel like they\u2019re bothersome or a burden, change that. An effective way for you to do that, starting today, is to send out surveys to your list of customers. Invite them to send in brutal, honest and transparent opinions regarding your company. You just may get an advantage over your competition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photo by\u00a0Kaboompics \/\/ Karolina,\u00a0CC0 1.0 We all know that customers make or break our business. Yet, a lot of companies are still in the \u201cI am more important than customers\u201d mindset. Which is pure hogwash? I\u2019ll prove it to you: the next time you develop a marketing or advertising campaign, track the results. In a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11437,"featured_media":886210,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[128,95],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/customerthink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/827597"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/customerthink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/customerthink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/customerthink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11437"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/customerthink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=827597"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/customerthink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/827597\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/customerthink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/886210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/customerthink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=827597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/customerthink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=827597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/customerthink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=827597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}