I have you noticed something over the last several years and I wonder if you have too. Things just work. Your car starts in the morning, even if it is below zero. Your roof lasts 20 years. Even your $15 hair dryer will last a solid 5 years. And when’s the last time you called a TV repairman?

The truth is, whether you buy it at Nordstrom or Target. It works. There is, however, a big difference in the customer “experience” between Nordstrom and Target and that is reflected in their prices. Your competitor’s products also “work”. They may not be as pretty or have a low total cost of ownership like your products, but on the surface… they work. And if you add a cool new feature to yours, within 6 months, everyone else will have it too. So who is the real winner here? The one who can not only get the sale, but also keep the customer!

I think I’ll cover getting the sale in my next blog. But the issue today is: how do you hang on to your customers for life?

Here are some statistics that I dug up from various sources including the SBA, US Chamber, Gartner Group, the National Sales Assn., and The Harvard Business Review.

Did you know that the average business loses 50% of their customers every 5 years?

Why do customers quit?

1% die (I guess you kept those for life)

3% move

5% develop other relationships

9% seek out your competition

14% are dissatisfied

69% quit because they feel your indifference

Wow, a whopping 69% will buy somewhere else because YOU didn’t pay enough attention to them!

So with all that being said, what percent of “unhappy” customers will tell you directly that they feel your indifference? 4%…yes, you heard me correctly, just 4% will admit to being unhappy rather than “quit” you and move on to your competitor. How many other people will an unhappy customer tell while he is NOT telling you? …9. An unhappy customer will tell an average of 9 people that he did not get good products or services from you. What if you have 100 unhappy customers? Bad news travels fast!

It is estimated that it takes 3-13 times, more time, to acquire a new customer over selling to an existing one. An average of 94% of your marketing budget is spent on persuading a customer to call or interact with you, while only 6% is spent on how to properly handle the call or customer. So what good is that shiny new piece of marketing material that you spent your hard earned cash to produce if it results in a customer feeling that you are indifferent.

Know your customer! Remember your last few conversations. Remember the little details. Prove to them that you are not indifferent and they are important to you. Research shows that a CRM system like Sage SalesLogix can reduce customer service costs and increase customer retention by as much as 70%.  Imagine being able to, with the click of a mouse, know the entire history of your customer’s account. You know what he purchased last and what his concerns were. You might even know that he adopted a brand new little dog named Spot last month ….. even if you have never spoken to him personally. Sage SalesLogix is a collaborative tool that can give you a true 360 degree view of each and every customer.

It is said that long-term loyal customers buy more often, spend more money, buy higher priced products, provide more referrals, are less expensive to serve, have higher retention rates and higher lifetime values.

How happy are your customers? Are you indifferent? Do you act indifferent? Are you keeping track of your calls, emails, invoices and overall touches with your customer in one central place? If not………you might be indifferent.

If you would like to learn more about Sage SalesLogix or you would like to discuss Customer Service Training that is tailored to your business,  please contact Simplesoft Solutions, Inc. in one of our Cincinnati, OH or Chicago, IL surrounding area office locations:

Dayton, Ohio Office:
Simplesoft Solutions, Inc.
550 N. Main St. Suite A
Springboro, OH 45066
Phone: (937) 885-1204 x 3204
Fax: (937) 885-3580
sales@simplesoft.net

Chicago, Illinois Office:
Simplesoft Solutions, Inc.
950 N. Rand Rd. #123
Wauconda, IL 60084