You have a nagging feeling that your post sale teams really own customer retention. However, you do not want to rock the boat, go against the grain and do things differently.
Well, I have 3 questions to get you to stop procrastinating and start moving forward from legacy processes, practices and mindset. Here goes.
- What is the rate of post sale customer abandonment in your organization. When stuff falls through the cracks and things get lost in translation.
- How well does your organization “stick close to the customer”? For real.
- And, whose responsibility is it, anyway: his, hers, theirs? You get the picture.
When post sale teams are disconnected from customer retention, here’s what really happens.
You know the drill. After the sales folks close the deal, they go off to hunt up their next sale. After all, that is what sales people are compensated to do: bring in new customers.
And then what happens?
Once that bright, shiny, newly-signed contract comes in house for execution: “it” happens. Sellers leave customer experience, customer success and customer retention in the hands of basically everyone else in the organization. Everyone else who is not involved in that initial sale.
Hmmmmm…….
During that hand-off is when post sale customer abandonment happens, over and over again, doesn’t it? Customers fall through the cracks and are abandoned. Because employees either are too busy or do not know that the customer is “there” and “waiting for what’s next” from you and your organization.
You know the saying: It costs 5x as much to acquire a new customer as it does to retain an existing one.
So, why continue to be part of the status quo?
Looking for a dynamic speaker and workshops for your next program, meeting or event? My customer retention programs are tailor-made to get everyone unstuck from what is holding your organization back from moving forward, productively and profitably. Contact me. Let’s discuss your needs!
Where are your post sale teams, anyway? And what do they do?
It just could be that you continue to hire – and compensate – sales people to compete and sell. But never collaborate. And, it just could be that you continue to hire, and compensate, post sale teams, the ones “handling customers,” to execute – but not necessarily collaborate across the organization.
Isn’t it time to challenge your current professional comfort level? Why? To collaborate, innovate and differentiate your organization, competitively.
My professional mantra is: “Depending on where we sit around the business table, we all ‘see’ the same things, differently. Shouldn’t our differences become strengths and opportunities, instead of impediments to collaboration and innovation on behalf of our customers?”
Yesterday’s customer acquisition and customer retention models are changing, Today, Tomorrow and in the Future.
It just could be that everyone “sees” customer experience, customer success and customer retention – differently. Including your customers!
And your customers just may evaluate whether they continue to do business with you, or not, based on the total value delivered by your often behind-the-scenes, post sale teams.
Which means that these post sale teams own customer retention. Does that concept make you the least bit uncomfortable? Because it should.
My One Millimeter Mindset Customer Retention Workshops and Speaking Programs show you how to make post sale customer abandonment a thing of the past. Instead, learn how to identify and leverage your most valuable customer retention assets. Now, through August 31, I’m offering a mini program at a ridiculously affordable price point. So, stop procrastinating and start collaborating and innovating! Contact me and let’s get started.
Have I piqued your interest? Good. Start moving one millimeter beyond your professional comfort level. Today.
Babette Ten Haken, Founder & President of One Millimeter Mindset™, is an innovative speaker, strategist, and storyteller. Babette’s One Millimeter Mindset™ Workshops and Speaking programs leverage collaboration to catalyze professional innovation, workforce engagement and customer retention. Babette’s playbook of collaboration tools, Do YOU Mean Business?, is available on Amazon. She is a member of SME, ASQ, SHRM and the National Speakers Association.
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