Four Ideas for Improving Customer Retention

Getting a customer in the door for the first time can be tough — but getting them to come back is actually an easier task. It’s well worth the extra effort required to hook a loyal customer: Attracting a new customer requires five times more money than keeping an existing one, according to research by TARP. And when you treat your returning customers well, they’re likely to spread the word to their friends, expanding your customer base through word-of-mouth.

Here are a few ideas on how to score a customer for life:

1)   Make your customer service worth bragging about. Customer service will make or break your business: 60 percent of customers are willing to pay more for a better customer service experience, according to a Harris Interactive report. Providing helpful information and stellar service — even when there’s no extra profit in it for you — will encourage them to choose your business even when lower-priced alternatives abound.

2)   Introduce a customer loyalty card. Give your customers extra incentive to buy from you by handing out punch cards, in which customers can receive a discount or free product after a certain number of visits. For instance, if you own a coffee shop, offer a free latté after ten full-priced visits.

3)   Offer a discount for prepaid packages. If you own a service that customers are likely to use frequently, consider offering a “season pass” deal, in which customers receive a discount for purchasing a set service arrangement in advance. This works well for service-based industries like tutoring or personal training. If the customer doesn’t use the full package within a predefined time limit, your profit margin goes up.

4)   Address customer complaints or issues immediately. Even if the customer’s problem doesn’t seem like a big deal, it can quickly blow up if not handled properly. 84 percent of patrons say they would tell their friends about a negative experience, and may even blog about it — so you can kiss all those new potential customers goodbye. In contrast, if you apologize for your faux pas and make it up to the customer, he’s likely to remain loyal and tell his friends about the fix. That can give your business a big boost, too: 42 percent of customers who hear about a positive product experience from a friend will then purchase the same product, according to TARP.

Source: Intuit

How to Get Free Publicity for Your Business

HOW TO GET FREE PUBLICITY FOR YOUR BUSINESS

 By Susan Ward, About.Com Guide

Positive free publicity translates into more customers and increased sales; it's truly money in the bank.

It used to be said that a lady's name should only appear in the newspaper three times during her lifetime; when she was born, when she was married, and when she died.  This isn't the case with business - the more times your small business is mentioned in the newspapers (or in business blogs), the better, as long as the free publicity is positive.

But to get this kind of publicity, your business has to be newsworthy, and you have to blow your own horn.

Editors, reporters and bloggers are looking for stories.  That's what they do.  If you want free publicity, you have to capitalize on events or actually create events that editors, reporters and bloggers will find newsworthy.

For instance, the fact that you've relocated your business isn't a story; it's an event.  If you want free business publicity, you have to come up with the angles that make it a story.  Capitalize on the event by tying your business' move into increased economic development for the community, or by holding a grand re-opening party for the public, and you've got a story that the newspaper or blog might be interested in - and possible free publicity for your business.

However, reporters and bloggers are busy people.  They may not have or take the time to discover your story themselves.  You have to blow your own horn by letting them know about it.  Give the newspaper's business editor a call, or send the appropriate reporter or blogger a press release.  Make sure that you give plenty of lead time if your story is relevant to a particular date or time frame.

If you're operating a service business, events such as grand reopenings and special sales may not work well for getting free publicity for your business.  But you can benefit from increasing your profile in the community. 

May businesses, for example, sponsor charity events, or contribute to non-profit, charitable organizations in their communities.  I've seen stories featuring business involvement in everything from cleaning up a salmon stream through working toward improving literacy.

Other businesses generate free publicity by offering the public free seminars or giving demonstrations.  There a lot of do-it-yourselfers out there who are interested in everything from working with stained glass through winterizing their vehicles.  If you have the appropriate facilities, this can be a great way of drawing new business and getting your business featured in the newspaper or online.

Management Tips

Management Tips

Tell people what you want, not how to do it.

You will find people more responsive and less defensive if you can give them guidance not instructions. You will also see more initiative, more innovation, and more of an ownership attitude from them develop over time.

Don't DO Anything.

Your job as a manager is to "plan, organize, control and direct." Don't let yourself waste valuable time by falling back on what you did before you became a manager. We know you enjoy it and you are good at it. That's why you were promoted. Now you need to concentrate your efforts on managing, not on "doing".

Delegate the easy stuff.

The things you do well are the things to delegate. Hold on to those that are challenging and difficult. That is how you will grow.

Learn from the mistakes of others.

You can't live long enough to make them all yourself.

Set S.M.A.R.T. Goals.

Goals you set for yourself, or others, should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-based.

Set an example.

"One of the most significant parts of a manger's job is for them to become a positive role model that can pull a team together and deliver the level of service expected from their customers."

Know Your GPM.

In engineering, gpm is gallons per minute, a design criterion. In Management GPM is an acronym for Goals, Plans, and Metrics. To achieve your goals, you must first determine what your Goals are. Then you have to develop a Plan that gets you to your goal. Finally you need Metrics (measurements) to know if you are moving toward your goal according to your plan.

You Can't Listen With Your Mouth Open.

Your associates, your employees, your suppliers, your customers all have something of value in what they have to say. Listen to the people around you. You will never learn what it is if you drown them out by talking all the time. Remember, the only thing that can come out of your mouth is something you already know. Shut up and learn.

Practice what you preach.

To lead, you have to lead by example. Don't expect your people to work unpaid overtime if you leave early every day. Don't book yourself into a four star hotel on business trips and expect your employees to stay in the motel off the freeway.

Don't Limit Yourself.

The difference between leaders and managers is that leaders do not set limits on themselves. There are enough people trying to limit what you can do. Don't be one of them.

Anyone can steer the ship in calm waters.

What will set you apart in your career is how you perform during the tough times. Don't become complacent and relax just because things are going well. Plan ahead for the downturn.