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Courting Customers For Long-Term Success

By Jeff and Marc Slutsky, Consumers’ Choice Awards

As a business owner, you’re motivated to find new customers because you see an immediate payoff in sales and profits. Yet, what you do for your customers after the sale has even more impact on your long-term success.

Studies by Harvard University and others show it costs five times as much to win new customers as to keep existing customers engaged with your business. Savvy businesses put building relationships with customers at the top of their priority list.

Cheryl Claypoole, a communications manager with GREENCREST, a Columbus-based marketing, advertising and public relations agency, says that the customer relationship life cycle is like any other relationship. It begins in the courtship phase. She gives these tips for forming lasting, committed relationships with your customers.

Start off by wowing new customers. You are inspired to enter a relationship because your partner makes you feel special and appreciated. Impress your new customers by delivering more than they expect. Include a free sample of a related product. Upgrade to overnight delivery at no charge. Make sure your customers aren’t just satisfied – they are delighted!

Follow up. A first sale is like a first date. Make a follow-up call to make sure the customer was pleased and to offer complementary products or services. Send a thank-you card with a discount offer on future orders. Keep the love alive.

Get feedback. Maintaining any relationship requires open, honest communication to build trust and respect. Ask your customers about their experience with your company. Were all their expectations met? If not, find out why, and make sure it doesn’t happen again. Typical businesses lose half their customers in fewer than five years, but few customers leave when they are truly receiving superior value.

Don’t take your customer for granted. If feeling ignored or unappreciated, one partner will leave a relationship as soon as someone better comes along. You can’t assume that customers who continue to buy from you are loyal. They may simply not have had a better offer – yet.

Stay connected. Do the little things that keep relationships alive. In lieu of love notes to customers, you can reach out via newsletters, emails, direct-mail pieces, telephone calls, letters and surveys.

Offer special promotions. If you want your customers to do something, you have to do something for them. To make customers feel special, advertise an exclusive offer only for your best customers. Promotions can range from coupons and volume discounts to customer-only sales events.

Be choosy. Relationships are a two-way street. Some customers require so much maintenance that you lose money by serving them. Others buy so infrequently that it costs more to stay connected than it’s worth. Develop a tracking system that identifies your most profitable customers, and concentrate on keeping these relationships healthy.

BisSmart Action Plan

  • Wow new customers
  • Follow up
  • Get feedback
  • Don’t take customers for granted
  • Stay connected
  • Offer special promotions
  • Be choosy
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