Seizing Golden Opportunities with Your Existing Customers
by Leeia Ladipoh on January 10th, 2008
Perhaps you have heard an expression that goes something like “New friends are like silver, but old ones are like gold”. The idea is that it’s always nice to make new friends, but it is the old ones that are likely to have the most value.
The same concept can be applied to businesses. There are lots of reasons for putting a special emphasis on retaining customers or clients – let’s take a look at a few of them.
* They will help keep you going in slow times. There are times in every business where everything seems to slow down and new clients stop coming through the “doors” (virtual or otherwise). It is during these times that the bridges you have built with old clients will keep you going.
* Repeat clients lead to further business. In almost every case, a client who is happy with the services you provide will give you some kind of referral, and will certainly do so if a need for the services you provide are mentioned by a friend. In these cases, just one client can lead to several more.
* It is a lot easier to keep a client than find a new one. When it comes to retaining your clients, you have an edge: they know exactly what you provide and can do. There are no questions about your abilities or the level of service you provide, and that means that they are likely to give you a bit more leeway should you need it.
What this means for you as a business owner is that you need to decide how to balance your customer retention with your new customer acquisition. In some businesses, you may find that all your time is taken up with repeat clients, and this is probably an ideal situation, particularly if you are keeping to your budgeted bottom line.
In fact, if this is the case in your business, you can probably change your strategy a bit and start charging more for new clients, just to test out the waters.
How Do You Retain Customers?
Retaining your customers is probably one of the easiest things there is to do, because all you really have to focus on is keeping them happy. Here are a few ideas:
* Listen to what they say about the prices you charge for your products. It won’t hurt to give them a deal now and then.
* Make sure that they are the first to know about any specials or sales that you have planned.
* Always do your very best to make sure that you meet their expectations.
Remember, repeat customers are more than just money. They also serve as advertisements and surety when things slow down a bit. Their worth really can’t be stressed enough!