Customer Retention: Looking "In" From Your Customer's Point of View

After we've been in business for a while, we can tend to fall into a groove where we focus more on "how we've always done things" than on how our customers perceive us.

An example of this might be a successful firm that once generated a lot of new business from yellow page ads but ignored the trend of consumers who today refuse to do business with companies that don't have websites. If that company doesn't beef up its online presence, what will happen?

The company will find it increasingly more difficult to stay competetive. (The perception of a company's legitimacy with new prospects has changed drastically in recent years due to this one item.)

But from a non-technological perspective, businesses also get into trouble when they don't really know who their customers or best target prospects are. The more you know, the more you can provide what they really want and need - and the more profits you can bring home. Here are some tips to help you find out:

1. SURVEY YOUR CUSTOMERS. What are their interests? Which associations or community groups do they belong to? What magazines do they read? How do they use or benefit from the products and services that you provide? What aspects of your products and/or services are most important to them? What would they like to do if they could afford it?

Make up a questionnaire and offer an incentive for completing it (such as a discount on their next service call, or a free product, or a service upgrade on your next visit). Your goal should be to identify what matters most to your customers. Armed with that information, you can develop strategies for helping them attain it.

2. FIND OUT WHAT YOUR CUSTOMER REALLY WANTS OR NEEDS. Spotting problems and fixing them is one of the best ways to retain your customers and upgrade your profits. Find out what your existing clients' want that they can't get, or what isn't being done that could improve their situations.

Also, find out what they've tried in the past that HASN'T worked for them. People like to talk about things they put money into. Usually, they'll tell you exactly what you need to know ... if you ask!

3. LISTEN CLOSELY. Also along the lines of becoming entrenched in how we do things, we can also lapse into believing that what we think about ourselves is the same as what our customers perceive. We might think that our most important task is to produce the latest and greatest thing, but the customer may be focused on what he would like to do with what he or she knows and trusts.

So, along with asking your customers to tell you what's important to them, it's vital to listen closely to what they say. They may mean something different from what you believe they mean. Make sure to stick with the conversation until you're clear about what really matters.

4. PUT YOURSELF IN THE ROLE OF CUSTOMER. Think about what affects you when you purchase products and services. Next time you're in the market, pay attention to your own processes: what goes through your mind and how you feel about certain things (like how a vendor talks to you, whether they really listen to know what you're saying, and whether or not they assure you that they'll meet your needs).

The bottom line for increasing your value: Know Thy Customer!

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