Being is business isnt just about getting a customer, selling him something and moving onto the next one. Its all about making sure that your customers keep coming back to you and spend more money!
But how can you make sure that your customers stay customers for life? What strategies can you put into practice to keep bringing them back for more? A planned customer retention programme is something every established small business should have in place. That sounds great, but what is a retention plan and what should it include?
Do the Groundwork
Before starting a retention programme, you need to understand where your business stands now as regards its retention track record. Ask yourself these 3 questions:
1. Do you know how many customers you have lost in the last 12 months?
2. If you do know how many, do you know why they stopped dealing with you?
3. Have you ever quantified the impact these losses have had on your bottom line?
Before you can put an effective retention plan in place, you have to answer these questions. They are the key to understanding and implementing an effective retention strategy. Lets look at each...