FLORIDA SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER AT IRSC
WHEN DEALING WITH CUSTOMER RETENTION
28
CONSTANT COMMUNICATION IS VITAL
TCBusiness.com
In the best of times, customer retention
is critical to small business success. But
these days, with marketing dollars being
slashed and customer acquisition budgets
going down the drain, it is more important
than ever to hold onto your customers.
Acquiring a new customer is five times
more expensive than retaining one. Consider
the well known 80/20 rule, which states
that 80% of your company sales comes
from 20% of your customers. Especially during
this pandemic, customer happiness and
retention is more vital than ever.
“Talking and listening to existing customers
is even more important during this
pandemic crisis,” said Leanna Haag, owner
of See Level Marketing and CARES Act
consultant for the Florida Small Business
Development Center at Indian River State
College. Haag advises that small business
owners should be making regular and
consistent contact with existing clients and
customers to ask how they are doing and
what they need. This regular contact can
help inform customers about ways they
can pivot their products or services to be
more essential in our new normal.
CUSTOMER INTERVIEWS
Getting feedback from your customer is
crucial. Getting your customers to record
that digitally is even more helpful. When
interviewing your customers, ask if you
can record it on your phone. You can use
this customer feedback on YouTube, in testimonials
or snippets in marketing videos.
Don’t call it a survey. Explain to your
customers this is part of your company’s
process to ensure your company is meeting
their changing needs.
Think of the most important things you
need to know about your business. This
could be the impacts of COVID-19 your
customers are experiencing; feedback
on user experience with your website; or
how happy they are with your customer
service. Think of all touchpoints customers
have with your business and get feedback
on those touchpoints, Haag suggested.
To business owners she suggests making
a list of customers you want to reach
and commit to do one a week, if not more.
Identify a person on your team with this
dedicated task to make sure it gets done,
Haag said. Start with the questions that
will likely solicit the most positive responses
first.
A few of the questions she suggests
includes: Why did you originally select
our business to do business with? What
do you like best about doing business
with us? How easy is it to do business
with us? What feedback do you hear from
your team about our product or service?
Do you use any other suppliers that have
similar products and services? If so, is there
an opportunity to increase our business?
What is the best way we can help you
achieve your goals? How has COVID-19
impacted how you do business with us?
“Socially distanced from normal business
interactions with clients and customers,
many business owners are seeking and
searching for a return to normal face-toface
engagements,” Haag said. “For a business
owner to make contact with a client
or customer through a personal phone call
could serve to create a level of loyalty that
will long serve the business.”
WELCOMING WEBSITE
In this new era the pandemic has created,
prospects and customers are interacting
with your website more than ever. The
messaging on your website needs to be
clear, concise and to the point. More time
on the internet doing simple things like
ordering food means less time to spend
trying to figure out what your business
can do to solve their problems. Your offer
or solution needs to be front and center
on your website with a clear call to action,
Haag said.
Another consideration is your website
needs to be easy for Google to understand,
not just humans. With more search
traffic than ever, it is very important to
consider an investment in search engine
optimization. Search engine optimization
allows your website to be structured and
coded in such a way that helps Google
find you when users type a query into
the search engine. If you have been on
the fence about search engine optimization,
now is the time to invest in it for the
future. As more and more people turn to
Leanna Haag earned a bachelor’s degree
in science and administration with an
emphasis in marketing at the University
of Central Florida. Her professional
experience includes corporate marketing
positions with Jeppesen and Allstate Insurance,
where she developed and executed
regional and national tactical marketing
plans. Haag founded and launched See
Level Marketing in 2009 to support Treasure
Coast businesses in developing and
managing their online presence and digital
media strategies. Since 2010, she has been
teaching internet marketing workshops
to local businesses through the Corporate
and Community Training Center at IRSC
in conjunction with her role at See Level
Marketing. Go to www.seelevelmarketing.
com for more information.
the internet to solve their problems, your
website needs to be in the top 10 search
results as the solution.
MORE TIPS
These tips can be summarized by one
word: measurement. Measuring is the only
way to see what is working.
• Utilize free services like Google Analytics.
Google Analytics is a snippet of code
that you or your web developer can put
into your website. This code tracks a huge
variety of data in your website… everything
from what city your website visitors
BY NANCY DAHLBERG
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