How Much Time Do You Spend On Customer Retention?

By Susan Oakes • 13 Comments

Much focus is on leads, conversation etc to get new customers. customer retention time

But what happens after they buy.

How much time do you spend on customer retention?

Speaking to one small business owner this week he didn’t know.

After a review, he was surprised to see they spent about 80% on marketing strategies and tactics to get new customers.

He also realised they were not getting the repeat business from past customers and growth had slowed.

It is like not maintaining your boat and all of a sudden realising it is springing leaks.

You will stay afloat a while, but in the end if more holes appear the boat could sink.

Here are a couple of things we can learn from holes in boats.

Size And Number Of Holes

Depending on the size and number, it will determine what you do to plug them and the time it takes.

If you find that the majority of your customers are not giving you profitable repeat business then this can mean taking different actions to one or two leaving.

You need to keep track so you can fix any problems before they leave forever.

Focus

If you are just focused on enjoying the time on the water and not doing any maintenance, it will catch up with you.

If you focus most of your time or money getting new customers the effect of losing current customers may not show up in the short term.

Maintaining a strong focus on strengthening relationships with current customers will help keep them buying your products or services.

Part of using simplicity in your business is to make sure you have a customer care program in place as a priority.

And ensure you get repeat sales.

Over to you, do you spend much time to keep your current customers?

photo credit: .. marta .. via photopin cc

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13 Responses to How Much Time Do You Spend On Customer Retention?

  1. Susan Cooper says:
    November 1, 2012 at 4:21 am

    There is a saying;”It’s less expense to keep a customer then it is to acquire a new one”. That said, it makes absolute sense to track what’s happening with your new and existing customers. As you said, when you do you can know where to make the necessary hole plugging where you see it’s needed to most. Hum… You have just given me another great idea for a post. I just love your analogies and how they cut to the chase. :-)
    Susan Cooper recently posted..Halloween At Our House: StoryMy Profile

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  2. Geek Girl says:
    November 1, 2012 at 11:28 am

    I am hoping to have to address this kind of problem soon! :)
    Geek Girl recently posted..Blogging For A PurposeMy Profile

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  3. Heather Stone says:
    November 1, 2012 at 3:34 pm

    Susan,
    This is a great post! I think a lot of businesses focus too much on sales and not enough on retention…even though this focus will definitely give you a more sustainable business model.
    Heather Stone recently posted..Small Biz: Retention issue? Ask your employees. Analyze customers.My Profile

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  4. Jackie says:
    November 2, 2012 at 12:06 pm

    A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush…there’s definately truth in that old saying, especially when it comes to business.

    Constantly driving to bring in new customers can be exhausting, and so futile if you do nothing to nurture them once you’ve got them.

    Spend double the effort on your existing base, as they’re the ones that have already proven themselves. Thats’s my philosophy
    Jackie recently posted..Lessons From Dissecting Your Direct MailMy Profile

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  5. Rick says:
    November 3, 2012 at 3:00 am

    That’s one thing I’ve noticed with internet marketers. They always try and retain customers. Newsletters, email lists, pop overs, “but wait there’s more”‘s :)

    What’s a good balance between customer retention and new customer acquisition? Is it better to spend more money/effort on new customers or customer retention? Just curious on your thoughts.
    Rick recently posted..The Education DifferenceMy Profile

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    • Susan Oakes says:
      November 4, 2012 at 2:30 pm

      Hi Rick,

      Love the wait there’s more.

      The balance depends on where you business is at and type of business. If you are starting out naturally you will spend more time and money getting customers. That said as soon as you get customers I think you need a process in place to retain them. It is more expensive to continually getting new customers so I would make sure the balance is always in the favour of customer retention. If you have any other questions, just let me know Rick.

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  6. Sherryl Perry says:
    November 4, 2012 at 8:54 am

    Hi Susan,
    As always, your post has got me thinking! (That’s always a good thing. :) ) For me, email and social media have made it easy to keep in touch with customers by simply sharing content that is relevant to them. Often, I’ll be reading an article and I’ll think of one or more clients who would benefit from it. All I have to do is shoot them an email with the link. It lets them know that I’m thinking of them and that I have their best interests in mind. Couple that with maintaining a presence on the social media sites where they are (LinkedIn is #1 for me in this arena) and it can be a winning game plan. It works for me. I have several clients who have reached out to me when they have new projects that they’re about to tackle. Building that top-of-mind awareness throughout the year pays off.
    Sherryl Perry recently posted..How to Change a WordPress Theme and Keep your SEO Meta Tag DataMy Profile

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    • Susan Oakes says:
      November 4, 2012 at 2:33 pm

      Hi Sherryl,

      You plan works and agree with you about maintaining awareness. Sometimes we make marketing and customer retention more difficult than it needs to be and your approach is a good example to learn from.

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