Never loose a customer again – Tips for retaining customers & driving loyalty

Hey there, it’s Nikki! I just finished reading “Never Lose a Customer Again: Turn Any Sale into Lifelong Loyalty in 100 Days” by Joey Coleman, and I’m excited to share some fantastic insights I gained about customer experience, loyalty, and their impact on sales. I love jotting down key takeaways from books I read, and this one is no exception. So, I thought I’d pass along my notes to you!

Here are my key takeaways for this book:

Why you lose customers

• The difference between B2B and B2C is insignificant as its boils down to humans dealing with humans so H2H. To never lose a customer again, you must meet your customers (whoever they are) where they are in their emotional journey. P5
• Retention epidemic – While most companies are unwilling to share rates publicly, defection rates of greater than 30% during the first few months are not uncommon. P18
• You lose customers because they feel neglected after the sale is made. P19
• They may say it’s the price but they were happy to pay that much at the start of the relationship. P19
• The typical business does a great job of getting the attention of the customer and persuading them to buy, but then does very little to create a meaningful and remarkable experience for them after the sale. P19
• Customers no longer feel special because more and more the operations and structures are designed to keep the ‘personal’ out of the ‘business’. Emotions and experience are an afterthought. Need to ensure satisfactory, garnering loyalty and driving advocacy. P20Science teaches that even if a prospect knows, loves and believes in a company’s offerings, after they become a customer, fear, doubt and uncertainty will plague their thoughts. P21
• Businesses are structured around customer acquisition, not customer experience and in fact companies reward acquisition over retention. P25
• When selling to a new prospect there is a 5 to 20 % chance of making the sale. When selling to an existing customer, that probability goes to 60-70%
• It is six to seven times more expensive to acquire a new customer than it is to keep a current one. P29

History of differentiating business 

• In 70s and 80s a business could differentiate itself by having zero defects – Kaizen, TQM, Six Sigma
• In the 90s differentiation was attainable via customisation
• In 2000’s and 2010’s being accessible 24/7/365 was a way to differentiate but that quickly went away as every business came ‘online’
• So what now? A business should differentiate itself from the competition through the customer experience

Customer Experience

• Customer service is reactive, customer experience is proactive
• Can be defined as “How Customers perceive their interactions with your company”
• Customer experience will drives referrals
• If you want to influence customers perceptions about your business in this ever accelerating world, you need to become more nimble and responsive with each passing year. P42
• The first 100 days are critical to form a relationship, impress the customer several times and deliver consistently so they like and trust you.
• Everyone in your team is part of the customer experience.

Eight Phases of the Customer Experience

1. Assess – Customer deciding if they want to do business with you. Need to ensure you position yourself as fulfilling their needs while wrapping them in a great customer experience.
2. Admit – Customer admits they have a problem or need and think you can solve it. Customer feeling joy and excitement the search is over. If you fail to acknowledge this, you miss a great opportunity to associate this emotional high with your product or service.
3. Affirm – Customer is beginning to doubt decision they made to work with you. You must quickly affirm the new customers decision to do business with you.
4. Activate – First major post-sale interaction. Business is beginning to deliver on the promises made during the Assess phase. Need to ensure you activate the new relationship in a significant and meaningful way.
5. Acclimate – Customer learning about the way you do business. If you don’t properly onboard the customer and get them bought in to your approach, they will never become a long-standing loyal customer. Slow down and help them acclimate at their pace – don’t bombard with information early and continue to reinforce the onboarding steps, don’t assume they saw and understood all the early steps in the first email. Goal is to get early buy in and habit formation before the novelty wears off.
6. Accomplish – Customer achieves the result they were seeking when they engaged with you in the first place. Need to ensure customer accomplishes their original goal. Few companies pay attention to this important milestone and ignore the opportunity to strengthen the relationship by celebrating when they achieve the results they have been seeking. It also shows you were paying attention and reminds the customer of your contribution to their success.
7. Adopt – Customer proudly showing their support and affinity for your brand and are thrilled to be associated with your reputation. If you don’t make them feel like they are part of an exclusive tribe you will never have their complete loyalty. Make it easy for your best customers to express their loyalty.
8. Advocate – Customer is now a raving fan and promoter. The ultimate customer is one who becomes an advocate for your business or brand. Make your referral program easy to understand.

The journey from a single purchase to lifelong customer loyalty is both an art and a science, as Joey Coleman skilfully illustrates in his book. By implementing the strategies discussed, businesses can enhance customer experiences, foster lasting relationships, and ultimately drive sales growth. Remember, the goal is not just to win a sale but to win a customer for life.