Lost a Customer or Client Recently? Reasons They Left & Where they Went!

If you have recently Lost a Customer or Client, what do you think is the most common answer to the reasons they left & went elsewhere!

Of the 5 categories below take a guess as a % what the true answers are.

1. Have a relationship at a High level Customers had a close relationship with one of your employees who moved to another company or started their own business. Your guess _ _ %?
2. Convenience Means a person chose not to deal with your business and instead went elsewhere because it was more convenient to purchase there. Your Guess _ _ %?
3. Miscellaneous A number of random reasons that can not be categorised. Your Guess _ _ %?
4. Product, Time, Price, Means a potential customer wanted a certain product or service at a certain time and or at a certain place whenever that may have been (now or in the future) and you were not able to accommodate them no matter what the price was. Your guess _ _ %?
5. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _? Take a guess at what best represents the missing reason that customers chose not to buy and leave a business. Your guess _ _ %?

While you are pondering an answer to Category 5, read the following 3 points, they may help you to generate a reason.

• Only 4% of unhappy customers will actually speak up and tell you why they are unhappy, the remaining 96% will keep their mouth shut and just leave, however 91% will never come back!

• An unhappy or disappointed customer will on average tell 10 other people how you, your company and or employees disappointed them. One in 5 of those disappointed customers will tell more than 20 people!

• A customer who has had a great and or satisfying experience with you, your employees and or your company will tell on average another 5 people.  

Answers 

No 1, Have a relationship at a high level = 4%,

No 2, Convenience = 9%,

No 3, Miscellaneous = 5%,

No 4, Product, Time, Price, = 14%, 

No 5, = Perceived Indifference = 68% This means 68% of customers felt that you and or your employees did not really care enough about them and whether they purchased from you or not. Additionally you and or your team failed to regularly contact them and or to provide them with personal individual attention. 68%! 
So how do you improve on your perceived indifference in the eyes of your current and potential new customers?

Ask yourself and your employees to answer the following questions.

• Do you answer the phone between 3 -6 rings every time?
• Does every caller get asked for permission before they are put on hold?
• Do you make sure no one is on hold for more than 30 seconds?
• Do you have an on hold message to listen to?
• Do you thank your customers or potential customers for calling?
• Do you greet your clients the moment you see them walk through the door? even when you are busy and or on the phone.
• Do you thank your customers or potential customers for visiting your business?
• Do you thank your customers for purchasing from you?
• Do you and your employees always arrive on time for meetings with customers.
• Do you deliver products and services when you say you will every time?
• Do you always let your customers know before hand if there is a problem?
• Do you always return phone calls the same day you get the message?
• Does each of your employees take responsibility for helping customers or do they hand off customer problems to one another or from department to department?
• Do you always ask for more information when you are asked about the price of a product or service?
• Do you always follow up on your customers in the days or weeks after they have purchased a product or service of you to make sure that they are happy?
• Do you stay in touch with your customers regularly?
• Do you ever surprise them by giving them a small gift?
• Do you keep them informed about new things happening in your business?
• Do you thank your internal customers your employees for being part of your business?

And Finally the "Net Promoter Score" this is one simple question asked by many large and successful corporations. 

They ask their customers the following simple question,
"On a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being least likely and 10 being most likely, How likely is it that you would recommend our company to a colleague, relative or another business?"   

The goal is an average score of 8 or above. A score of 7 or less is considered not good enough and warrants further investigation and improvement . 

Please feel free to post comments and share with us your wins or fails.