No B.S. Maximum Referrals and Customer Retention Part 3
No B.S. Guide to Maximum Referrals AND Customer Retention:
Part Three in this series explains the key details to Securing
New Customers through REFERRALS and Maximum Profits Through RETENTION.
In the first article in the series, I introduced this book which EVERY business owner and manager needs to read and employ. YOUR business needs to have INTENTIONAL SYSTEMS in place to:
1. Retain expensive, hard-earned customers.
2. Multiply the customer base through referrals - that is, a friend brings a friend.
The No B.S. Guide to Maximum Referrals & Customer Retention makes the inarguable case that REPEAT customers and REFERRED customers deliver the highest profits - and ultimately determine the value of a business.
Dan Kennedy's No B.S. Maximum Referrals
You know it's TRUE: businesses spend 99% of their marketing budgets to attract new customers.
But new customers are the MOST expensive and LEAST profitable!
The No B.S. Guide to Maximum Referrals and Customer Retention: The Ultimate No Holds Barred Plan to Securing New Customers and Maximum Profits is focused on the harsh reality that NOTHING IS COSTLIER OR MORE DIFFICULT THAN GETTING A NEW CUSTOMER - plus, HOW to turn this into a competitive advantage!
Here are the No B.S. FACTS:
Loyal customers buy more, and more often.
The referred customer is far superior (buys more readily, buys more often, and remains a customer longer) than other first-time buyers.
Lifetime Customer Value is the measurement that REALLY counts - NOT acquisition or conversion.
No B.S. Direct Marketing is grounded in cold, hard facts.
Loyal, REPEAT customers are worth MORE than new customers.
I started my direct marketing career in the age of catalogs. Back then, a TWO-percent response rate was considered a success! My catalog merchant clients mailed MILLIONS of pieces per year. (Printing and postage were a fraction of the current costs.)
Today, the numbers are WORSE. We have access (online and TV) to TENS of millions of prospects. Wide audience, blanket advertising yields a FRACTION of ONE-percent response - NOT sales, only clicks, views, or "likes".
In contrast, you can make offers to your LOYAL CUSTOMERS that earn a 25%, 35% or GREATER response rate! They already know, like, and trust you.
But don't pat yourself on the back if you have "satisfied" customers. "Satisfied" customers (that is, proven BUYERS) are the BEST prospects for your competitors!
Are your competitors working harder to ATTRACT your satisfied customers than you are to RETAIN them?
"Satisfied" only means they aren't dissatisfied. They are ACTIVELY looking for someone - anyone, locally or online - to WOW them, show some UNEXPECTED appreciation! If they are lost, they take their FUTURE sales and referrals with them!
Customer Loyalty is PRICELESS!
You've been LIED to! Advertising does not create LOYAL customers.
You know in your GUT that repeat customers are the key to profits, growth, and long term stability.
Your goal must NOT be first time customers but the SECOND sale!
Then a "Five-Star" review.
Then the THIRD sale.
Then another sale.
Then an endless chain of referrals of new customers just like them!
Here is a short list of tactics that you can employ. I will follow-up this series with more details in upcoming articles:
Diagnosis: MOST customers don't leave because of a lower price or a service error. SIXTY-EIGHT percent of customers leave for "greener pastures" due to a sense of indifference or poor service. They simply don't feel appreciated!
You didn't pay attention to your customers. (Maybe you advertised Special Offers for new customers!) Like sheep without fences, they just wandered away...
Prescription: You can't say "Thank you" too much! Many merchants place colorful Thank You stickers on each package. Starbucks staff draw smiley faces on coffee cups. When was the last time you received a Thank You card in the mail? Do you emphasize to your employees that the CUSTOMERS pay their salaries?
Diagnosis: Most businesses consider lost customers an inevitable cost. But did you know that 82% of these "lost" customers can be recovered if you establish and promote a true "customer service" department? We are all TOO familiar with the recording, "Your call is important to us. Please stay on the line for the next representative..."
Customer service should be renamed the "HELP Department"! They have a problem and need a solution.
Prescription: Solicit suggestions. Welcome customer concerns and then solve the issue so it is not repeated. Make customers aware that YOU are available if they haven't received the service they demand. When you correct an issue, you may have created the most loyal customer!
Diagnosis: Most businesses accumulate few 5-star reviews simply because they don't ASK! On the other hand, dissatisfied customers are the MOST likely to leave bad reviews when their problem wasn't handled properly.
Did you know that 97% of shoppers compare reviews BEFORE they visit your store or website?
Prescription: ASK for reviews repeatedly! Insert a business card with the Google review link in outgoing packages. Instruct each server to sign their name on the back of a card and include with each bill. Post the QR code on a card on display at the checkout, on each table, and in your email signature.
QR code linked to your Google reviews
Google reviews are a MAJOR factor in ranking your business. Google provides your business with the blank Google Business Profile (GBP). This profile includes the link to submit reviews, and the GBP tabulates these reviews.
But the GBP is more than a review counter. The GBP is designed to accumulate and display EVERYTHING about your business. And I mean EVERYTHING: reviews, photos, articles, FAQs, business categories, areas of operation, plus the all-important name, address, and contact information.
Future articles will prescribe EXACTLY how to maximize the content on your Google Business Profile. For now, just know that Google - which controls over 90% of online search traffic - will PENALIZE your business for inaccurate and incomplete GBP data!
If you don't already have and display your Google review link - contact me IMMEDIATELY!!! I can generate a QR code and email it back to you!!!
In addition, also know that you can't reward customers for 5-star reviews. BUT - you can reward every customer when they submit a review, regardless of the result. AND - we now have the software to direct good reviews directly to your GBP. At the same time, poor reviews can first be redirected to YOU (or your designated manager) to offer an immediate resolution, ideally before the customer leaves your store!
Diagnosis: Most businesses like to believe that they get business from "word of mouth", that referrals are automatic. In reality, few customers voluntarily refer their friends unless they are asked! Why? You haven't exceeded their expectations. Afterall, they EXPECT to get what they paid for.
Make referrals an EXPECTATION. The ROI is unmatched and deserves an intentional program.
Prescription: Intentionally seek to exceed their expectations! You might spend 5X or 10X to replace a lost (unappreciated) customer. Why not INVEST as little as 5% to thank, recognize, and reward your prized repeat customers? It is so rare - but so easy! You can send regular helpful emails (NOT sales offers.) You can send birthday and Christmas cards. Give repeat customers a calendar or coffee mug. Treat them like the VIPs that they are!
When I had my mail-order business, we were totally anonymous to our distant clients. But we answered each phone call with our name and our repeat customers got to "know" us. We inserted a refrigerator magnet, colorful pen, wrapped mint, or small calendar - with our logo - into every outgoing package.
Some customers ordered EVERY day - and they received a small gift EVERY day! You need to stay "top of mind". NEVER let your customers forget about you. NEVER assume their loyalty - but EARN it. Fence them in!
Now - Here is the GOOD NEWS!
So few businesses (your competitors, locally or online) take ANY steps to retain customers and generate referrals that your SMALL efforts will be noticed, appreciated, and rewarded!
Your FIRST priority: Plug the holes in your "bucket"!!!
Lost customers are killing your business!
This is a totally AVOIDABLE, UNNECESSARY cost! Above all else, NEVER let your customers forget about you. NEVER permit your customers to feel unappreciated! NEVER let your CUSTOMERS wander away and become the prime prospects for your comptition!
When you employ INTENTIONAL tactics to generate reviews, encourage and reward repeat purchases, then expect referrals you are automatically catering to and attracting the BEST customers. Many of these tactics are FREE - they only require your effort and commitment. Many more tactics cost pennies to protect customer Lifetime Values in the $$$ Thousands!
Your Choice: spend MORE to continually replace LOST customers
with unprofitable new customers,
OR spend LESS to RETAIN customers and generate profitable REFERRALS.
Stay tuned for more specific strategies to maximize customer referrals and retention. In upcoming articles I will discuss your Google Business Profile in more depth, including how to "optimize" the GBP to increase your ranking in search results. We will also cover Google reviews in detail, including how to use the latest tech to automate both the request for reviews and posting timely responses to your reviews!
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