Proactively retaining customers is a privilege. Chances are your company works hard developing a solid core of loyal and retained clients.
Now let’s focus on proactively retaining customers.
Evaluate whether you are reacting to negative customer experiences as a viable customer retention strategy. Alternatively, consider the benefits of proactively retaining customers and avoiding those negative experiences before they happen.
The difference in strategy is the difference in your business outcome.
Hire and develop for an Attitude of Gratitude.
Has your organization already created a rock-solid, team-based strategy for retaining customers? There’s no better time than the present to get started. With your current employees.
Developing an Attitude of Gratitude is a must for both your sales team and your customer retention team. Does your organization take a holistic approach? Continuously showcase how much you care about customers. Walk that external customer-focused attitude throughout your organization.
Reap the benefits.
Developing and implementing an Attitude of Gratitude strategy for retaining customers isn’t about faking anything or fawning all over clients. Instead, successful implementation of this strategy focuses on hiring the types of employees who are engaging.
These professionals are best-suited to serve each other (internal customers) and external customers.
Proactively retaining customers starts by showcasing your Attitude of Gratitude to employees.
How much love do you give current employees? Is the workplace ecosystem compatible or contentious?
The work environments you create for current employees are communicated to your clients, sometimes subtly, sometimes overtly.
Are employees uncertain about how to resolve customer care matters, because they have not received appropriate on-boarding, internal support and continuing education? If there are weaknesses in how you develop current employees, they pass on their uncertainty when dealing with clients.
Teach employees how to make better decisions proactively on behalf of customers. Share resources, internal expertise, information and data across the organization. Treat employees like they are worth investing in.
They will return the favor and pay your Attitude of Gratitude forward to your customers.
Proactively showcase an Attitude of Gratitude to customers throughout the year.
Random acts of gratitude are a great way for retaining customers. Empower your sales and customer retention teams to create “customer exclusives”, rebates, special offers and informational seminars for clientele.
Engage customers in unique ways, “just because”, throughout the year.
Leverage random events and offers when clients are not expecting the love. Make working with your organization an enjoyable, engaging and valuable experience.
By engaging customers, your employees become more engaged – and retained – as well.
Ultimately your strategy for retaining customers creates extraordinary customer experiences. Those experiences add up over time and have a ripple effect: they enhance your clients’ vendor retention strategy as well.
What are you waiting for?
Take the next steps.
- Subscribe to the Sales Aerobics for Engineers® Blog via the red Never Miss An Article box . Receive new posts on customer retention, tech workforce hiring strategy and team collaboration.
- Download free resources, including White Papers, Study Guides, and Interviews to catalyze your organization’s strategy for retaining customers.
- Are you an Owner, CEO, VP, decision maker or manager? Book a brief consultation with Babette at info@salesaerobicsforengineers.com . What are you waiting for?
Babette Ten Haken is a management consultant, strategist, speaker and coach focused on customer success for customer retention in the industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) ecosystem. She traverses the interface between human capital strategy for hiring and developing collaborative technical and non-technical teams. She serves manufacturing, IT and engineering intensive companies. Babette’s playbook of technical / non-technical collaboration hacks, Do YOU Mean Business? is available on Amazon. Visit the Free Resources section of her website for more tools.
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