Another year has come and gone and your sales aren’t improving. Your company hasn’t grown as fast as you had expected. Your market share is slowly weathering out. Could it be that your customers are neglecting you? Are you retaining your customers or losing them out to your competitors?
There must be some reasons why customers are leaving you, so it is time to take active steps to understand why your customers expect to receive from you so that you can revise your strategy accordingly.
#1:Your Price, Service & Product Are Chasing Them Away
There are three major reasons why customers defect. These are Price, Service and Product. Customers are very sensitive to pricing and the moment the price is increased and they find a better price somewhere else, they defect.
Also, customers tend to be choosy about customer service and will defect at the slightest hint that service is not meeting their expectation. A bad product is another major turnoff and will lead to customer dissatisfaction and desertion.
Tip: You need to be extra careful analyze these three parameters (Price, Service and Product) and improve on points of weakness.
Related article: Is your sales team ruining your marketing strategies and leads?
#2:You are focusing too much on making money and forgetting your customer interest
If your business focuses totally on customers and is truly customer centric, the question you live by would be – “What can I do for my customers”? You have to realize that customers are the sole reason why your business exists and brings you profits.
But lots of companies seem to gloss over this fact by paying mere lip service. There is no real commitment. If the focus is on you and your company’s needs alone and you don’t bother to put customers first, at the heart of your business, you’re going to lose them one by one.
#3. Your Customer Service is Poor
Customers can be terribly upset with poor customer service and decide never to come to you again, The many hundreds of consumers who are switching to other stores, companies or businesses providers, due to poor customer service experiences is growing year by year.
So customer service can never be ignored. In fact it is more important than it ever was, today. You are in the age of the customer and hence the quality of your customer service in a sure determinant of whether customers will stay with you or not. So if it’s less than satisfactory, you have trouble brewing.
Related article: Online customer support – are you doing it right?
# 4.You don’t keep your promises
Keeping your promises is an important component in keeping your customers. Customers are intensely disappointed if you commit something to them and fail to deliver it. This may be one of the worst mistakes you can make in business.
Never expect the customer to run around you, sorting out issues and trying to get what you assured them you would deliver in the first place. Stick to your promise and do not deviate, or you risk losing the customer for good.
#5. You don’t pay attention to negative feedback
Perhaps the customer wants to be with you and is telling you something that will improve your services or product. Your customers are surely your best critics so why not listen to their feedback.
When customers are unhappy with your product they will complain to you and if this falls on deaf ears, they will most certainly turn to your competitors. Lost them didn’t you? All because you were not prepared to listen and take action.
#6 You haven’t given customers any reason to stay with you
Your customers have been loyal and faithful to you and you took it for granted. You have never thought of rewarding them in some way which they would appreciate. Don’t ignore their continued trust in you and give them that little extra which will make a huge difference to your business.
Special offers, discounts, you can think of so many ways to retain the loyal clientele. This way, you may attract new customers too.
Maintain the fine balance and you will maintain a flourishing business.
