Companies that churn and burn customers and clients generally don’t hang around for too long. While churning and burning continues to exist, it is hardly a long term strategy for success. However, there are times in a company’s life when customers and clients are being churned and no one seems to know why. Some recent research done at Call Miner, a speech analytics software company, points to some stark reasons that customers may be fleeing. The reasons are there but can remain unknown because the customer or client rarely explains why they are leaving.
- The secret to keeping customers is, of course, trust and value. They must be able to trust you and they must feel as if your company truly values them. While around 70% of customers and clients leave over high prices and fees, around 30% actually leave because of a poor customer service experience. Training your customer service people properly and expressing to them the absolute truth that the company, or their jobs, would not exist save for your customers and/or clients.
- Close to 80% of the customers surveyed in the research have changes suppliers and vendors at least once in the last five years. That is a huge percentage of customers leaving a company that could have somehow been retained. While phone contact remains the top way for customers to communicate, live chat has been making some serious inroads of late. Customers want to feel the love and they want the customer service reps to truly understand them and their needs.
- In the end, your company, and your customers service teams, as well as everyone else in the company, must realize that your customers are an asset and not a cost. They are precious and must be cultivated and taken care of. In the end, loyal customers are happy customers who feel understood and valued.
-Written by Kevin Sawyer
