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You never want a good customer relationship to go bad, but sometimes things can get a little rocky. Here are four top reasons customer relationships turn sour and some tips on how to win those customers back.
Reason 1: They are mad at you.
Somewhere along the line, the customer had a bad experience with your company. It happens. Maybe you over-emailed, or maybe you didn’t provide what you said you would. In the end, the details of the transgression don’t matter as much as what happens next. What will be your company’s unique way of saying sorry?
The Fix:
- Monitor social media channels, and respond to both complaints and praise. Fix the problem, and communicate what you've done to improve it.
- Make feedback forms throughout your website obvious and welcoming.
- Keep an open ear to the feedback. After you've fixed the issue, invite the customer to offer input about other components of your product, or create a platform that makes customer feedback easier.
Reason 2: They forgot about you.
I know! I can’t believe it either. But life gets busy, the world is a distracting place, and sometimes, despite all good intentions, customers sign up for a free trial -- or even a subscription -- and never come back. So how do you get their attention once again?
The Fix:
- Keep the engaging content flowing. Continue to offer unique, helpful content on your blog and via social media channels to make your site unforgettable.
- Use analytics. If you're a SaaS company, for example, set up notifications to let you know when usage of your service has dropped off. Send check-ins for customers who haven't logged for quite some time.
Reason 3: They are confused by you.
Somehow, you’ve sent your customers mixed signals. They got stuck at the account setup page, or they can’t figure out where to go next within your website. Either way, it’s on you to clear the air. How do you make sure your help desk is getting back to customers quickly enough? How do you determine where you need additional documentation?
The Fix:
- Build up and improve your help desk and/or documentation. It’s the first place customers will go when they're confused or frustrated.
- Bring your efforts to scale. Use analytics to identify the most common pages or actions customers experienced before churning.
Reason 4: They found somebody else.
Think about how you behave as a customer. We all have wandering eyes sometimes. Before you go shredding your early relationship emails, try to determine what might have made them stray. Do they understand everything you offer? Could you win them back with a promotion, or do you need to reposition your messaging to better differentiate your company from the competition?
The Fix:
- Think long-term and cross channel. Gain insight into your customers' real experiences with your company, not just a slice of website traffic on a given week.
- Don’t waste a moment. Treat all interactions as marketing opportunities, not just those leading up to the first conversion.
- Make marketing humans can actually love. Stop basing your communications on an arbitrary marketing schedule and start emailing based on customer activity.
A Few More Proactive Fixes
In general, there are a few best practices you can implement to reduce the chances that your customer relationships will turn sour in the first place.
- Connect your help desk to your communications.
- Ensure that requests for help trigger an immediate response (within 24 hours).
- Keep in mind that a simple confirmation of receipt of the request is not enough. Responses should be carefully crafted and treated as a relationship building opportunity.
- Make sure secondary communications are triggered when the issue is resolved, especially if it has not been resolved within a reasonable time frame.
I hear new, great ideas all the time. What customer retention strategies have you experienced and really loved?
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