Are your customers behaving themselves these days?
Have you noticed any new behaviour from some clients acting bizarrely? If so, it could be the ‘downturn factor’ affecting people in ways we all seem to ignore.
Robert Craven, a business expert (‘guru’ sounds better), has a good has made some useful suggestions for braving the recession, such as his recent webinar, entitled “The seven reasons why we get stuck in a recession and what to do about it”.
However has the recession blues made us forget what Robert Craven suggests “we always seem to forget about”?.
He says that customers leave us i.e. the ‘customer attrition rate’ but it is the statistics that are shocking.
If
5% of customers leave us because they die,
A further 5% of customers leave us because they ‘die gracefully’ (they move on, the business closes down, they go into partnerships, etc).
Another 5% of customers leave us because of our bad service.
65% of customers leave us because they feel that we don’t care, and move on to someone who does.
Craven shakes us to our senses. Have we done a customer survey recently? No, why? Don’t want to upset them, or frightened you might irritate them? Well, how do you know what your customers think?
Some may be thinking of moving on.
Craven’s warning to business is as vital IN the recession as at any other point in the business / macro economy cycle. MAKE SURE YOU STAY CLOSE TO YOUR CUSTOMERS.
One way we have done this at CarSpareFinder where our clients are established vehicle dismantlers is by introducing innovative new added-value features. Having something else to offer them does keep those communication channels open. Managing customer relationships (business to business) needs investment, but the investment almost always pays off, and handsomely.
Staying on top of your business is easier with a Management business coach. It helps you as a business manager differentiate between working in the business, and working on the business. It brings ‘power to your elbow’ to help manage and improve business performance.
Is it a question of starting with your customers? No, but you could start with it as your first question.
Julian Rowe. Business Correspondent, 13th Man in Business.