SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR RETAINING VALUED CUSTOMER.

Byline: Kenneth Keller Guest Column

It's estimated that it costs between five and eight times more to find a new customer than to keep a current one. In this day and age, when consumers and organizations appear to change where they spend money at the first hint of better (meaning lower) prices, it's time to look at how to retain customers.

Here are some suggestions for keeping customers:

Be proactive

Prioritize your activities so you have time and energy to focus on customers. We often lose sight of who got us to where we are today: the customer.

You must be visible and available to your customers. Visit with customers regularly. The customers will be flattered and you will be amazed at what you will learn from listening to the people who ``vote'' by spending their money at your place of business.

Customers often change where they spend money because routine complaints aren't heard or acted on. Take each complaint you hear seriously and explain candidly what you can and will do to resolve the problem. Then do it.

Be on the lookout

A great new revenue source for any organization is in new product or service offerings. Be looking out for new ideas; you can find them literally anywhere, including from your competition.

If something looks like it might be a suitable item, talk to customers; ask for their opinion. If it makes sense to test it, go ahead. Contact your loyal customers and let them know what you're doing. To keep customers, you should always be on the lookout for something you think customers will benefit from.

Offer value

Value is often used in these days of intense competition. Webster's defines it as ``to consider with respect to worth, excellence, usefulness or importance.'' The question is this: What do your customers value from you?

Do you know? Have you asked? Value can be many things to many people. At my dry cleaners I am always asked if I want my shirt in a box in the event I have a trip coming up. I value the fact that they remember to ask me this.

The key is that you, by talking with a customer, are offering value. You are, in essence, saying: ``I want to make your life easier. What can I do?''

Not many people in business today have this type of discussion with customers. If you do, you'll be way ahead of the game, and certainly your competition.

Think long-term 

One of the great mistakes American business has made is the focus on short-term profits at the expense of long-term customer relations. Don't lose your focus on taking care of the customer. Enter into a relationship with a customer with the attitude that you are in it for the long term, not the quick buck.

Along the way, you will lose customers. Make a point of contacting these former customers to find out why they have ended the relationship. When a person has a bad experience with an establishment, they never stop talking about it. When they have a good, positive experience, they tell at least 10 other people. Turn the negatives into positives and help build long-term relationships.

Communicate

You must make it easy for your customers to reach you. Call your own business and see how your telephone gets answered. How are customers greeted when they enter your facility? Your employees should follow the ``10-foot rule,'' which means that every customer they see within a 10-foot radius should be greeted with a smile and a friendly ``hello.''

After hours, do your customers know how to reach you? Remember you are in the service business, no matter what business you think you are in. You can't serve customers who can't reach you.

Do your customers know who you are? How many do you know by name? Even though we may live in a high-tech world, business is still conducted on the basis of relationships.

Make it easy to be in a positive relationship with the customers.

If you follow these five suggestions, you'll be getting more business out of your current customers and spending less time worrying about having to get new ones.