A constant challenge an entrepreneur will always have to provide solutions to or find ways to improve on is sustaining a market for his product.
I mean, you can only call yourself a CEO for as long as your products are still in demand. That is, you are only an entrepreneur when you have customers.
Customer is key, king, queen and crucial especially when your business is no longer in “testing”.
You know all analysis about profit or your projections on possible expansion is zero if there is no purchase.
This is it: if there is no revenue, then there is no future for the business. Sorry that sounds harsh.
It is accurate that customers can be acquired using different techniques. You can get new customers by advertising in the media, exploring different price mechanisms, introduction of referrals and also by listing your product on multiple platforms.
These days, thanks to social media, you can showcase your goods to an un-numbered audience. Advertising and marketing are great but over time, they have proven to be more effective for driving first-time purchase.
However, if your product is probably the type that doesn’t fall under the one-off purchase category, you will need more than just advertising.
Imagine an extreme case of services that fall under industries where advertising is not allowed. How do you think they survive over time?
For advisory, legal and consulting firms in global markets that have survived hundreds of years without advert or marketing, do you know their secret? Customer Retention!
Customer retention comes with a plus. If you excel at it, there’s usually a bonus attached and that is referrals. Yes, if you please the Kings and Queens, they’ll recommend your business to their whole town!
Customer retention is one of the cheapest ways of ensuring continuous patronage of your products. Doing it right means your business becomes a going concern.
How to do CR right? Treat them like a GOAT! I mean Greatest of All Times) if you don’t want things to get MESSY.
First on the list will be to get your onions right.
Offer quality services, never compromise the quality of your products.
Secondly, act right. Attend to all complaints even the most illogical of them all.
Thirdly, clean your face.
Train your representatives to be courteous and efficient.
A big influence in customer retention is the power of value added services. Value Adding Services are not just limited to offering support after purchase is made. In fact, they include that plus follow-ups.
Essentially Value added services is making the life of your customers easier. The simplest example is how Ewa agoyin sellers (beans) and bread sellers always work hand in hand.
The beans seller is not obligated to collaborate with the bread seller but it is advantageous to her because a lazy customer who wouldn’t have patronized her because of bread but would now have been incentivised by having bread close by that is value adding.
Value-adding also involves providing after sales support. You can also call to check in once in a while to know how they are enjoying the product.
It also involves selling complementary goods.
Customer retention is essential for every business as it maintains growth and stability.
Take G = K+ Xp, for instance.
As illustrated in the above formula, your constant value in growth is the value of customers you have been able to retain and you are sure of their patronage while X is the additional customers you might get based on other conditions such as price, taste, advertising reach and others.
Establishing a culture of providing quality experience for your customers will boost your CR which will in turn keep you in business.
