How to Lose a Client in 10 Days

This is a shout out to all my fellow sales people.  You know that feeling of bliss and utter excitement when after weeks, months or in some cases even years you finally nailed it – You landed a new customer – Right now nothing else in the world matters, you are soaring high. . .

I urge you to come back down to reality for a couple of minutes and face the harsh reality of a little thing called CUSTOMER RETENTION & AFTER SALE SERVICE.

Ever hear the saying it costs seven times more to find a new client that it is to retain them?  I can hear a lot of you go – blah, blah, blah – Wake up! This is true.  Dissatisfied clients will tell twice as many people, as satisfied clients about their experience, and do correct me if I’m wrong, but don’t many of us rely on referrals and word-of-mouth?

On a weekly basis I hear of what a war zone it is out there in the recruitment world, how people take swords out of their backs, how the recession has had a devastating impact on their business, this is where I go – blah, blah, blah – no offense, but is it just me, or has poor customer service become increasingly more acceptable to South Africans both from a receiving and handing out point of view.

You would think that all the work we have to put into landing a new client, we would hang onto them for dear life.  Most try and many succeed, but a lot of clients are still lost every day, by Companies who didn’t think too hard and long about what they needed to do to keep them.  One of the biggest challenges facing any business is maintaining a balance.  More often than not, more emphasis is put on getting new business than serving existing clients.

Many of you may think that your clients are loyal and that you have such a great relationship, perhaps even a personal one, again, if you want loyalty, buy a dog.

The only thing that will set you apart from your competitor is good, no, Excellent Customer Service.

Here are a few things to keep in mind:

• Strive for zero defect
• 68% of customers are lost due to the attitude of people, only 9% because of price
• Customers expect a product or service to measure up to their demands, make sure you exceed expectation
• Treat your customer as a person of value every time
• Should anything go wrong, correct it in an open friendly manner – no need to be hostile or shift blame
• Don’t make false promises – behavior breeds behavior –
• Make sure your staff are adequately trained and motivated
• Do unto others, as you would like done unto you
• A customer retention policy, should be driven from the top down with consistency across the board
• Combine high tech with high touch – your customer is NOT a number

Remember this one thing; a commitment to quality and service pays.

You don’t want to find yourself losing your customers quicker than you can say – EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE-!

Written by Cathy Gillmer – Jobs.co.za

Monday, November 9th, 2009 at 11:55 am and is filed under General Jobs.co.za, Recruiter Recommendations, Recruiter's Sphere. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.