This post is brought to you by Carrie Smith, the genius behind the Careful Cents personal finance blog.  She’s a Certified Bookkeeper and Financial writer who works hard and plays hard.  She’s also a career junkie, social media addict, traveler, debt hater and food lover.  Find her on Twitter and Facebook.

According to Wikipedia the definition of customer retention is, “the activity that a selling organization undertakes in order to reduce customer defections.  A company’s ability to attract and retain new customers, is not only related to its product or services, but strongly related to the way it services its existing customers and the reputation it creates within and across the marketplace”.  I’ve encountered very few companies who actually live up to that definition.  But as a consumer it only takes a little bit of effort to make me a happy customer.  Here are 5 ways companies can improve customer retention and make me a life long fan.

Find out what a customer really wants (aka listen)

I can count on one hand the number of times a company has asked for my opinion or feedback about a product.  Normally they only care to listen once there is a problem, and by then it’s almost too late.  How can they know what I really want or need if they don’t the time to engage me as customer?  By taking 5 minutes to ask me what I’m looking for and really listening, a company can (and has) completely win me over.  A little goes a long way.

Immediately respond to a customer’s feedback and complaints

We can all spot an automated response or message to a problem, pretty easily. I’m actually pretty shocked when I get a real person to address my issue, even if it’s just to say they will get back with me soon.  An immediate response to my request or other feedback is a surefire way to make me a loyal customer for life. Take it one step further by hedging any problems in the first place.  By fixing a complaint before it even happens, a company shows they aren’t just interested in making money.

Make a personal and engaging connection

Social media isn’t going anywhere, so as a business you might as well deal with it, accept it and capitalize on it.  There’s no super tips for making money on Twitter or Facebook, all you need to do is be SOCIAL.  And I’m not talking about just spamming me with your latest product every 5 minutes.  Create social engagement and get people involved.  I’ve met several companies through social media and have really connected with the “face behind the brand”.  I feel these representatives are truly engaging and interested in my success.  In return I want to do business with them.

Admit mistakes and accept responsibility

Most of the time I don’t care who’s at fault or what happened, I just want the problem fixed. But I do not like to be blamed for an issue that was clearly not my fault.  Businesses are run by humans, and humans make mistakes.  Accept responsibility and work towards finding a solution.  With blogs, Facebook accounts and the Internet in general, consumers have multiple media platforms to express their satisfaction (or dissatisfaction).  As a company you never know who your serving, and losing that person’s business might have a bigger effect than you realize.  You can create a loyal follower or a vocal enemy.

Go above and beyond

This is a fairly simple idea but it can have profound affects.  The car company BMW, for instance, has a very special way of thanking their customers.  If you purchase one of their vehicles, you can receive the Century BMW VIP Performance Driving & Tour package, a $2,000 value!  This package includes airfare or train transportation, hotel accommodations, a personalized tour throughout the factory in Germany and manufacturing plant.  At the end of the day you can pick up your vehicle and drive a “victory lap” around the museum.  Now, THAT is some serious customer service.  After an experience like that, I’m sure all of us would become BMW driver’s for life.

The bottom line

As customers we just want to be treated with respect and that our opinions matter.  We work hard for our money and try to spend it as wisely as possible. Great customer service skills are quickly being forgotten but it doesn’t take much to keep buyers happy.  All it really takes is to act like you care, show your face behind the brand, listen and be engaging.

This article, Create Loyal Customers With These 5 Customer Retention Tips was originally published by DollarVersity, and may have been used without the owner's permission.

At a time when almost all companies, large and small, seem to be concentrating on improving the bottom line by implementing cost reduction strategies, it appears that many are neglecting perhaps the most important aspect that clients expect: customer service.  While good customer service hardly every gets recognized, poor customer service gains recognition everywhere you turn: from the person at a store asking to speak to a manager as the result of interaction with a disinterested associate, to a poor tip left at a restaurant due to slow or incorrect service, to the forum post born out of frustration from being on hold for what seems like an eternity before getting a live person, to the simple conversation between friends complaining about the lack of planning and service available at the mall on a Sunday afternoon.  The customer may not always be right, but it is the employee’s job to make every situation right.

It is no secret that happy customers are repeat customers, and that one bad experience left unresolved (or even resolved but unsatisfactorily in the customer’s eyes) can drive a customer to a competitor.  The key to retaining and even growing a customer base is superior customer service.  Yet, time and again companies seem intent on neglecting this most important component: extended hold times and difficult to navigate telephone menus, poorly trained or even incompetent representatives (every employee represents the company), outsourcing jobs to countries with poor phone line reception or poor grasp of the English language, unwritten or hidden policies, and even ignoring customers altogether.  Any one of those instances or a myriad of other will drive away business, and perhaps worse cause the customer to spread the word of such a distasteful experience. 

In an age where new can spread like wildfire, the last thing  a business needs is to be bad-mouthed.  A bad experience can be relayed before the event even has a chance to unfold in its entirety thanks to cell phones.  News of the event can be across the country or even halfway around the world via blog or forum postings.  Upper-management can receive word of a truly bad experience from the customer almost immediately through an e-mail.  There are numerous ways in which such events can be publicized by even the most “insignificant” of customers–and there are businesses that do view customers in such a manner based on amount of money spent or number of repeat purchases.  Everything can be tracked these days and can help you clean the system. 

The keys to retaining and growing a customer base are simple and do not take much effort to implement: 
 

• Train company representatives in all aspects of their duties as well as other duties they might be required to undertake 
• Instill a culture of “customer-first”, whereby each customer is treated as the most important person at that particular moment 
• Encourage company representatives to take the initiative to resolve  potential problems before they are allowed to develop 
• Empower employees to take corrective measures (within reason) in order resolve customer issues immediately 
• Make it easy for customers to contact the company in the event of an issue arising and ensure that the representatives are equipped to deal with those issues

It is not a cost-intensive or difficult process to ensure that customer service is a top priority. In fact, it may be as simple as giving the customer a warm smile and showing appreciation for their business. It shouldn’t be too hard considering one simple fact: we are all customers at times, so we know how we would expect to be treated. It only makes sense to place yourself on the other side when dealing with a disgruntled customer yourself.  And, above all, let them know that they are valued and desired, because without the customer, there simply is no business. 

What do you do as a business to prevent customers from reaching the point of walking away, possibly never to return?  Customers–what would you suggest businesses do when it comes to handling the way they treat unhappy customers, or even what they should do to prevent it from getting to that point.

This article, Great Customer Service Should Never Be Forgotten was originally published by DollarVersity, and may have been used without the owner's permission.

The other day I needed to get my oil changed, so I planned on heading to my usual Tire Kingdom location, which is right across the street from my parents, who I would then have breakfast with.  I got into the parking lot and noticed that there were an unusually high number of vehicles parked there for such an early time on a Sunday (8:15 AM to be exact), but I proceeded to drop off my keys anyway since it needed to be done, and with my discount card, not many other places would be as wallet-friendly as Tire Kingdom. In my haste, I forgot to tell them that I would like to have my tires rotated, which they gladly do at no charge if asked.  When I returned a few hours later to pick up my car and continue about my business for the day, the gentleman behind the counter (who was not the man in charge, by the way) showed me on the receipt that he had gone ahead and ordered the rotation for me even though I hadn’t specifically asked for it since he noticed that I usually get it done each time when he looked up the account.  Needless to say, I was pretty much astounded and mentioned this to everyone I spoke to throughout the day.

In this day and age, when businesses are crying about dwindling customer bases very little are willing to go out of their way to do anything real in order to draw in new customers, let alone retain their current ones.  Sure, some companies publish discount coupons and offer special sales, but how many of them come with strings, such as not applying discounts to certain groups of items (ie: the way Office Depot excludes technology items from coupons), or offering such specials to new customers only (ie: the way drugstore.com applies this practice)?  The simple fact of the matter is that not many businesses go far enough to really make consumers stop and tell people about their experiences.  In fact, I’m willing to argue that most businesses instruct their employees not to even reveal any free offers unless the customer brings it up in the first place!  But hey, I can understand that some companies would rather sell a product or service than give it away for free.  I do wonder, though, what kind of word of mouth marketing they would receive if they did just throw in a little something here and there….

All of the small business owners out there should take this as a lesson.  I’m not the type of person to be surprised very often, and am rather cynical when it comes to the quality of service from national chains, and my pessimism is tempered compared to many from what I hear and read.  For me to react the way I did, and recommend this particular store to others is a very big deal, at least to me.  So, imagine if you went above and beyond what was expected of you, and had people talking your business up to their friends, family, and in this case even complete strangers on a blog that will appear on twitter and facebook among other outlets.  How could you possibly go wrong by doing something that could possibly get you that kind of exposure and good publicity?  And what would you have to do, give something away that you would normally do anyway if asked?  Delivered earlier than promised?  Maybe did a little bit more without being asked or charging more just to provide value?

It’s a widely known fact that without customers, you could not possibly survive in a business, let alone thrive and grow.  It’s about time you started to think about ways to take care of your current customers to not only ensure that they remain your customers (and not run off to a competitor), but also to possibly gain the attention and loyalty to an entirely new customer base.  As I stated earlier, it doesn’t take much to show customers that you appreciate them and their business, but by showing even a little bit of appreciation you are both doing the right thing by them and giving them a reason to recommend you to others in the future as well.

What do you do to go the extra mile to provide value to your customers?  Do you even make an effort to give a little more to ensure customer satisfaction and the free promotion it can get your business?

This article, Try This Technique To Get People Talking About Your Business was originally published by DollarVersity, and may have been used without the owner's permission.

Back before the turn of the century, banking was simple.  Free checking accounts were everywhere, and the minimum balances were nowhere near what they are now.  ATM access was still totally free if you used your “home” institution’s cash machines, and you didn’t have to worry about monthly ATM/debit card fees.  You didn’t even have a limit to the number of times you could go into the branch and speak with a representative if you needed to.  Now, with the failures and mergers of so many banks, the landscape of personal banking has changed dramatically.  Lots of people threaten to walk away from their current financial institution in search of greener pastures, but the truth is that switching banks is not so easy anymore.

People are still of the mindset that they can get everything they want in a bank at the drop of a hat, all in one neat package: many locations & ease of access to branches; fee-free accounts with no restrictions; free bill pay & personal financial software access; return of cancelled checks.  They are used to having those amenities, so any time they lose one or all all of these features, they panic and scramble for a new source of these benefits, and that is quite understandable: change is difficult for many people.

The problem with changing banks is two-fold:

1. You would have to give up certain benefits in order to get others.  

   You would have to find another bank that offers exactly what you are looking for all under one roof.  That is very rare these days.  Let’s say that you are a long-time account holder of a totally-free checking account (ie: no minimum balance and no cap on the number of transactions you can make) and your bank no longer offers that type of account. Then they implement a monthly fee for having an ATM/debit card, which you strenuously object to paying.  You have the option to give up the card and save the monthly fee or you can leave.  If you leave because of the fee, you may be able to find the account you are looking for at, say a local credit union, but then you may be giving up the ease of access since most credit unions don’t have a large number of branches (and this is especially difficult if you travel often).  Or you may end up with a fee for online bill pay, or limited online options.
    

2. You would have to do a lot of housekeeping.  

   Each and every account that you have lined to your existing account would have to be changed manually to link to the new one.  That means online banks, brokerages, PayPal, credit cards, utility services, cell phone providers, student loan & mortgage providers, anyone to whom you pay with auto payment or online will have to be contacted in some way to be notified.  In some cases, you may have a couple of billing cycles in which you have to pay manually as not all services can be updated immediately.  And, let’s not forget your direct deposits will have to be updated with your employer so you continue to get paid! Then you have to wait until any outstanding checks clear–yes there are still a good many people who continue to write checks to pay bills–before closing out your old account. Plus ordering new checks if your new account doesn’t come with a free order.

By the time you finish factoring in all of the variables, you may end up in a worse position than you started in.  The time that it took researching institutions, then actually switching all of your linked accounts and bills, and even the time and effort it takes to get to the closest branch may each (or all) contribute to an even worse banking relationship and experience going forward.  Even if you ask for other peoples’ opinions, they would have to be taken with a grain of salt as people usually take extreme views (a bad experience will cause someone to rail against one bank while a good experience will cause someone else to rave), and not everyone may have the same needs.  But, if you’ve done your research, and are 100% sure of your decision, then there is no reason for you not to make a switch.

So what if your bank does start charging for certain things that they never did before, or changing some of their service policies, are you going to leave them?  Would you just accept the changes and stay?  Do you believe in loyalty when it comes to a banking relationship?

This article, Changing Banks Is Not So Easy was originally published by DollarVersity, and may have been used without the owner's permission.

If you read blogs, then you know that everyone loves to write how-to articles  And, to be blunt, a great many of these articles are rip-offs or compilations of the millions that came before them (yes, I’m guilty of this too).  After a while, they start failing to offer new ideas, hold your attention, and even start to look like each other.  But personally, I realized that  I’ve learned a lot from watching people do things the wrong way, so sometimes it’s easier (and more entertaining) to write about those things.  So, here it is:

The NOT Top-5 ways to make and/or keep customers!

• Make it difficult to find or get in touch with you

  Nobody likes having to work in order to give you their business and quite frankly you should be making it impossible for them to not find your info.  Not having a website or a poorly designed website lacking a contact page (or any contact info for that matter) is a great way to accomplish this.  So is having a generic free email address that has nothing to do with the business which makes it more difficult to remember or associate with you.  Not having a fax is understandable, but not having a cell phone is inexcusable.  Plus these days, every business needs a social media presence, if for nothing else, simply to make your presence known to the world and make it increasingly easier for others to find you.

• If someone does contact you, take forever to respond

  People don’t like to feel as if they don’t matter or ignored and by doing this, you are putting that very assumption into their heads.  All it takes is a minute or two to respond.  An email saying something like “Hi.  I got your message, but things are crazy right now.  I’ll get back to you by the end of the week.” shouldn’t be such a hindrance as many people make it out to be.   Simply responding even if time is short or you don’t have an answer will let them know you haven’t forgotten or aren’t neglecting them.  And remember, these are people who want to give you their money.

• Lie

  Give them some song and dance about why you didn’t take their numerous calls.  Try to sell them on the reasoning behind your inability to do something as simple as answer their e-mails.  Try to put yourself over as something you aren’t.  Just don’t take responsibility for your actions (or lack there of), be transparent, or most of all be up front.  That’s a sure way to drive away business.  In this day and age, virtually anything can be found about anybody, so keep things shady if you really want to drive people away.

• Fail to deliver

  Did you promise the world to that last potential client even though you know for a fact that you would have a hard time backing up those claims?  How about ever telling someone that you could do the job for them, but not on their timetable?  Coming up short on guarantees, overreaching on promises of service, not meeting deadlines (some people just cannot work within a timetable, and you know who you are), providing less than quality work, all of these are failures to deliver on your end.  Broken promises lead to angry customers.  Angry customers become former customers.  That should accomplish your goal nicely.

• Steal

  Waste their time.  Take their money.  Just remember to under-perform, fail to provide any value, or heck, don’t do anything at all.  No further explanation needed here!

The bottom line here is quite simple.  Follow these 5 rules of thumb, and you will be guaranteed to not only lose you current customers, but potential clients as well.  People do talk and word of mouth is a strong way to affect business, whether in a positive or a negative manner.

This article, Piss People Off and Lose Their Business in 5 Easy Steps was originally published by DollarVersity, and may have been used without the owner's permission.