“It takes months to find a customer and only seconds to lose one.” – Anonymous
The above statement is an apt summation of one of the most critical aspects of modern business: retaining customers in the service of growing the enterprise. The customer is central to every enterprise and therefore, it is the duty of every commercial enterprise to attract customers, retain their custom, and then work to expand the list of customers. However, it has been observed that certain companies may be inadvertently losing customers and therefore creating hurdles in the path of business growth. The company’s management must identify the core issue and find a remedy. Bleeding customers is never a value proposition – whether in small businesses or a large, publicly listed firms.
Building a brand and building an image are important objectives in any enterprise. A careless approach to such activities can spoil corporate reputations irrevocably and so the company may start losing customers. The call centre is a modern phenomenon and is one of the most common public interfaces between a company and its customers. The quality of service at the call centre is an important marker of a company’s commitment to its customers. Irresponsible telephone-based customer service may often create a negative impression of a company, to the detriment of its corporate reputation. Therefore, it is critical that companies put in place systematic rules and methods to deal with customers that communicate with its call centres.
A lack of regular and proper communications from company management can also set the stage for losing customers. The management of a corporate organization should be fully responsible for communicating with all stakeholders: investors, customers, suppliers, regulators, and employees. Such communications will always be valued because these indicate the state of the health of the company. Customer loyalty has to be cultivated over time and this should take precedence over other activities and corporate pursuits. Losing customers is bad for business, according to a popular adage, but we have to bear in mind that such unsavoury trends indicate a deeper malaise that must be addressed at a war footing, failing which the corporate organization can lose its very existence.
Most customers that seek fresh avenues leave a company or a service provider owing to inadequate levels of treatment. This has been proved ad infinitum by instances in the world of business. The shame of losing customers is made infinitely worse by the fact that departing customers take their business to competitors, and this impacts the bottom lines of the losing company. Such a scenario is a small disaster for the brand that is losing customers and may raise calls for a change in company management from interested stakeholders. Making a client or a regular customer feel special is part of the duties of company management and its employees. Observers note that it may be unwise to think otherwise!
Customer dissatisfaction with products and services also fares very high in scenarios where a company is losing customers. This situation has its crux in customers that think they are not getting what they are entitled to: business value. Such lines of thought in the customer’s mind invariably create turbulence in business relationships and may erode corporate reputations. Inferior products and services may kill a corporate brand image and the outcome of such situation usually lies in the company losing customers. Such outcomes reflect negatively on the enterprise and may perpetuate an impression that the company / organization does not care to do enough to secure its reputation through quality products and services.
Long-term customers should be specially handled so that they stay with the business enterprise. These customers can bestow glittering tributes to long-term business partners in what can be said to be the culmination of years of carefully tending to special customers. Such scenarios boost business reputations and can lay the foundations of large business empires. Conversely, a callous treatment regime is the first step toward losing customers. Such business owners should review their commitment to customers and stakeholders alike. The intent to succeed in business should be kept upright under all circumstances; clients and customers alike should be treated to the best of corporate ability. Such practices should become second nature to the corporate organism and this alone can help the enterprise to succeed.
Keeping employees motivated is important for a business. Happy employees can perform miracles in the workplace and therefore should be cultivated and encouraged. Suitable carrots, such as awards and promotions, can be handed to deserving candidates. These actions have beneficial effects down the ranks of the organization. Motivated employees can be expected to engage competently with customers at all levels and this can help to keep the spectre of losing customers at bay. Interested employees can also make significant contributions to the company’s progress in terms of new product development and by withholding company secrets from the market competition.
A careless approach to market research and a lack of awareness regarding current market trends represent laziness and ineptitude on the part of a company’s management. Any momentum in such trends is a sure indicator that a company is losing customers. These pitfalls have to be avoided if a company is to stay abreast of the competition and if the company is serious about presenting an emphatic value proposition to clients and other stakeholders. The corporate organization also has a responsibility to stay informed about the latest thinking and developments in its domain of operations and the activities of its competitors. Losing customers to the competition should be kept on a tight leash and all the energies of the corporate organization have to be focused on keeping that metric under strict control.
Service delivery is an important aspect of the corporate and business world. These delivery mechanisms must be flawless if companies seek to retain business instead of losing customers. Decrepit service delivery mechanisms and obsolete modes of operation cannot exist in the modern business world. Any organization that boasts such flawed credentials should be advised to wind up its business and go to seed. History is replete with such examples, wherein, companies lost sight of their stated goals and ended up in a fatal state of confusion. The only way forward for such entities is to cede their customers to the competition and apply for corporate reorganization, if not an outright sale of business assets.
Corporate expansion and product diversification is a must in a competitive business world. Such efforts have to be pervasive and relentless, and only then can a company make its mark in its chosen domain of operations. Such activities have the potential to offer heavy returns on investments and this can keep all stakeholders happy. These activities also offer solid assurances to customers that the company is headed in the right direction. Such signals are essential to preserve corporate integrity and fulfil corporate missions and values. These signals gain special significance because they prevent the corporate enterprise from losing customers.
The above passages offer depth of view and insights into what makes a corporate body operate at its optimum levels. They also underline most of the reasons why certain companies lose their customers and subsequently, lose their way. The best way forward for any enterprise is to service each customer separately and to make every customer feel special.
