Four Critical Customer Facts

Customer Fact 1

An average company loses 50% of its customers every 5 years. The other fact that goes with that one is that the cost of replacing them can typically be 6-7 times more expensive! And what this really means is that you get a whopping 600% to 700% bigger bang for your buck by investing in retaining and marketing to your existing customers than to acquiring new customers.

Question – How much are you investing right now in keeping your current customers in proportion to how much you are investing in acquiring new customers?

Customer Fact 2

For every month that you don’t contact or communicate with your client, you lose 10% of your influence with that client. That means that you have to communicate with your clients every month, no matter what.

Question – How much are you willing to invest to NOT lose 10% of your influence with your clients every month?

Customer Fact 3

82% of all homeowners can’t tell you the name of their real estate agent if they bought their home more than two years ago. Imagine the sales that are lost! That’s because they never maintained a personal relationship with their clients. And I’m sure you’ll agree that this applies to many businesses, not just real estate.

So… What strategies do you have in place to ensure that you maintain a PERSONAL relationship with your clients? (normal marketing just doesn’t cut it here!)

Here’s a great story, told by the equally great Zig Ziglar. It’s the story of Joe Girard, who I reckon has to be one of the greatest salespeople of all time. He sold cars. And boy, did he sell cars! In fact, he holds all global records for selling cars.

This is what he achieved:

Year     Sales

1963     267 cars/ trucks

1964     307 cars/trucks

1965     343 cars/trucks

1966     614 cars

1967     667 cars

1968     708 cars

1969     764 cars

1970     843 cars

1971     980 cars

1972     1,208 cars

1973     1,425 cars

1974     1,376 cars

1975     1,360 cars

1976     Over 1,200 cars

1977     Over 1,200 cars

That’s well over an automobile a day for over a decade! In fact, for many years, he sold FIVE CARS EVERY SINGLE DAY! There were no fleet sales in these achievements – they were all individual sales. And there were no “giveaways” -– they were all genuine sales.

The magnitude of this feat defies description. Joe was the number one automobile salesperson in America every year from 1967 to 1977.

What was his secret? Well, there are many reasons for his success, but here is one that you may wish to ponder.

Every month Joe sent a greeting card in the mail to EVERY ONE of his customers. His customers could not help considering him as part of the family.

This leads to the question: Do your clients think of you like a close friend or family member?

Customer Fact 4

Just saying thank you to your clients, even with only a phone call to do nothing more than say “thank you,” will increase your business by 17%.

Just do some mental arithmetic…. what’s 17% of your current profit?

Now ask yourself whether or not it is worth saying thank you?

The important thing here is that in this kind of contact, you should never “sell.”

It is not about selling. It is about the relationship.

So… some more questions –

How often do you say “thanks?”

How often should you say “thanks?”

Customer Fact 5

An oldie but a goodie… A 5% increase in customer loyalty will yield 20%-80% to your bottom line profit

There’s lots of research behind this one!

One final question –

What could you do with a 20% – 80% increase in your bottom-line profit?

About ActionCOACH

Brad Sugars founded the brand Action International in 1993 when he realized there was a disconnect between business advice and implementation. The answer was Action! Brad Sugars created a business coaching company so that business owners throughout the world can realize their goals in business. Today the company is known as ActionCOACH. To learn more about business, visit Brad Sugars Review blog!