Earlier this month, I attended a small business forum and the discussion there soon turned to finding new markets for products and services. There were plenty of great ideas about finding new customers, and yet surprisingly there was little said about how taking care of your existing customer base can help boost that bottom line.
Finding and landing new business is still the most expensive kind of activity that an organization can engage, whereas reaching out to those who already know you is virtually risk-free.
How expensive is it, you might ask?
Flowtown’s infographic geniuses are all over this with some eye-popping facts about attracting and retaining your customers:
- it’s up to seven times more expensive to acquire that new customer than it is to retain an existing one
- you risk having a 50% attrition rate on dormant accounts
- even just a 5% increase in retention rates can yield substantial boosts in profits.
So what’s the best way to capitalize on that loyal base of people who are already sold on the great work that you do?
My good friend (and long-time client), Colleen Francis offers rock-solid advice on going well beyond the piecemeal approach of calling people haphazardly. The right way is to engage a client retention system. Make it a habit in how you do business.
