On the customer satisfaction page of our website, we state the following:
“Most companies lose 45% to 50% of their customers every five years, and winning new customers can be up to 20 times more expensive than retaining existing customers. Just a 5% reduction in the customer defection rate can increase profits by 25% to 85%, depending on the industry.”
There can be very little doubt that retaining your existing customers – especially those most profitable ones – is vital under any economic conditions; never more so than when times are tough.
Indeed, as reported in CCF Online, customer service author Colin Shaw, who spoke at the recent Call Centre Expo, is adamant that a recession is the ideal opportunity to galvanise customers and create strong customer loyalty.
While competitors may allow customer service to take a back seat when times are tough, now is the opportunity for you to focus on improving the experience of your customers.
According to Shaw, some of the key questions we as companies should be asking are:
- What is the experience we are trying to deliver?
- What are the emotions we are trying to evoke in our customers?
- What do customers really want?
- What provides the most value?
Some telling stats reveal that many companies only have themselves to blame when it comes to customer churn. On average, of the customers that leave, it is because:
- 1% have died
- 3% have moved away
- 9% have been lured away
- 14% have been disappointed with the product
- 68% have felt the company to be indifferent to them
This would indicate that four out of every five customers leave because of the actions – or inactions – of the company.
Ironically it can be small things – which are more often than not easy to action – that go a long way towards making a customer feel valued, keeping a customer happy and, more importantly, encouraging their loyalty.
Don’t overlook the importance of keeping your customers satisfied. Why not read more about this subject in the following white papers:
- Customer Satisfaction Surveys
- Beyond Customer Satisfaction
- Loyalty – How to Win Devotion From Your Customers
Better still, call or e-mail us to see how our tailored customer satisfaction programmes can help you maintain customers for life.
