Keeping customers active in the buying process is the best thing you can do for your business. If your customers are leaving, they have a reason. Finding out why they stop buying is the first step to fixing your customer retention problems and improving customer relationships. Here are five reasons to consider:
- Buying from your company is too complicated.Life is crazy. New challenges and distractions appear out of nowhere. People crave easy shopping experiences. Every extra step or click between first access and completed purchase is a road block. Too many blocks and customers flee in search of less resistance.
- They can't find you on their channel of choice. Single channel marketing is rapidly becoming extinct. The only companies that can survive without expanding their presence have exclusive, high demand products or services. There will always be a few around, but if your business isn't one, you need to determine where your customers hang out and join in.
- Your products and/or services have become commodity items. It's a global economy. Someone (or many someones) is ready to offer your best products and/or services at a lower price with a quicker delivery date as soon as you release them. You can continually offer new releases in the hope of staying ahead of the competition or you can establish unbreakable relationships with your customers. Choose wisely.
- "We'll get back to you on that" is the most spoken phrase at your company. Resolving issues and inventory management aren't included in the top thousand glamour jobs, but doing them well keep customers coming back. Some rules to live by:
- Resolve 95% or more of customer issues on first contact.
- Never (yes, that is a NEVER) be out of stock on best selling items.
If you can't resolve the issue on first contact or are out of stock, reward the customer. (Sometimes the reward can be as simple as a profound apology with explanation.)
- They were just visiting. How long does it take you to recognize hit-&-run customers? The sooner you identify them, the quicker you can adapt your marketing appropriately. Investing marketing dollars in people who won't buy again is a waste that has a direct effect on the bottom line.