What businesses need to understand is that this process takes a lot of time and hard work to foster that trust. What’s more, there’s really no “one size fits all” solution – it’s different for every business. So question is, where do you start? Here’s the stats:
- Loyal clients are worth up to 10 times as much as their first purchase (source)
- Lowering your client churn rate by 5% can increase your profitability by 25-125% (source)
- The average repeat client spends 67% more in their 31st to 36th months of their relationship with a business than in months zero to six (source)
- It’s 6 to 7 times more expensive to acquire a new client than it is to keep a current one (source)
Now don’t get it twisted, landing new clients is exciting – but proving to your one-time client your ability to deliver quality work and convincing them to buy again and investing in loyalty can make a larger impact over time. There’s no secret sauce, but we hope you find some of our client retention strategies helpful in your business.
- We don’t sell products; we sell experiences (while building relationships).
We’re focused on becoming a partner in improving the lives of our clients rather than just simply selling them products. When we identify a challenge for our clients, it’s our job to develop a solution and make that a positive experience; And ultimately make their lives easier.
- Get personal and be human.
We take advantage of the opportunities that allow us to get to know our client on a personal level. Developing a genuine and mutually beneficial relationship is a win/win. We pay special attention to the details. Many of our clients become friends. Whether we’re following up to the outcome of a birthday that has recently passed, allowing the convenience of texting us a request rather than emailing, or even sending a handwritten note – each of these actions are opportunities for us to build long lasting relationships.
- Be available and responsive. Always.
If a client calls, we answer the phone. If they call or email us and we are not available, we will return the call/email. Social Media is another strong outlet we leverage to communicate and serve our clients. Never leave people hanging.
- If we fail, fix it and fix it fast
We are huge advocates of the saying, “do what you say you’re going to do.” It’s our job to take full accountability for our screw ups without caveats. Some of our best relationships were built through our perseverance to get it right.
At the end of the day, we are always conscious of making the clients dollars go further and being used effectively. That means we may suggest other options for them, that sometimes may not even be something we do because we think their ROI will be better elsewhere.
We actively make sure to educate the client from the start to help their product last longer, make them understand the reasoning behind choosing a certain material or product for their project and to ensure we are truly taking care of their needs. For example, we provide cleaning products, waxes and a tutorial to the client on how to keep their wraps lasting longer. This will help their marketing/branding dollars return as large a return for them as possible.
We never go cheap to save money. Meaning we don’t use a lesser product to improve our margins. We will always look at the most cost effective product that is suited for the job, of course, but we never cut corners. Again, this speaks to our drive of wanting to make the client dollars go as far as possible.]]>
