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While it’s never a good idea to stop looking for new business, in a year like this—where new customers are hard to come by—your current customer base is your saving grace. Existing customers give you repeat business, referral business and numerous opportunities for upsales. That’s why customer retention is more important than ever this year, as is solidifying your relationships with vendors and even your competitors.
Why your vendors and competitors, you wonder? They both can be the source of new leads, and vendors can also help you with your marketing efforts. More on this later.

TIPS FOR BETTER CUSTOMER RETENTION

Still, your primary focus should be on strengthening your relationships with your existing customer base. You can’t control many things, including weather, economy and your local job market. “One thing you can control, though, is your relationships with your customers,” says consultant and contractor Jeffrey Scott.

“Consumers switch contractors over many things, not just price,” Scott goes on to say. “I find that customer loyalty often comes down to communication and follow-through. Do you do what you promise? Do you communicate with the client when you can’t meet a promise? Do you stay in touch with customers so you can adapt to meet their constantly evolving needs?”

Quality is important, but most customers will let you make a mistake if you admit it and fix it quickly. In fact, they will be thrilled if you do this. If you are loyal to them, they will be loyal to you.

“There is an expression that employees never quit a company, they quit their boss,” Scott says. “The same goes with your customers. They will fire you based on their personal relationships with their contact person in your company. The way to decrease the chances of losing a customer is to have a capable employee maintain personal relationships with them.”

Maintaining a relationship means asking questions, staying in touch, walking the property together, doing small extra things for your customer to show you care, identifying problems before the customer does, and taking care of them so their life is easier and more enjoyable because of you.

On the commercial side, you also want to approach your contact with a “return on investment” slant to your sales message. For instance, educating the customer on how a certain service could help them save money and headaches down the road may not only keep the customer, but also open the door to an upsale.