This post was originally written in 2016. The information contained within it, it still as relevant now as it was then. Ignore these at your peril.
In order to avoid some of the more usual messages at this time of the year I thought it would help if I outlined a couple of the things that will make a major difference to your business, not only in January 2014 but for the rest of your business life to come.
Nearly all of the mistakes I have seen in businesses and business marketing over the last ten years or so could have been avoided by some focus on a couple of areas, and these are documented below.
Provided you concentrate on getting these right you will always have a customer to talk to and a message to deliver. Importantly just play around with the figures a little, make them work in your own business and see how much you are actually missing out on. Importantly the area of cross selling is one I am focused on with two of my clients the moment. The key is it's possible to get great increases in sales by focusing on existing relationships and selling them something you have.
Once you have read through this list of facts spend a few minutes with a pad a paper, on the left hand side work out what else you could possibly sell and on the right a list of clients who may need those products. Do it now, see how many you have and then get them on the phone or email them with an offer.
You will do business and very quickly.
1. Price is not the main reason for customer churn, it is actually due to the overall poor quality of customer service – Source- Accenture global customer satisfaction report 2008.
2. A customer is 4 times more likely to defect to a competitor if the problem is service-related than price- or product-related – Source- Bain & Company.
3. The probability of selling to an existing customer is 60 – 70%. The probability of selling to a new prospect is 5-20% – Source-Marketing Metrics.
4. For every customer complaint there are 26 other unhappy customers who have remained silent –Source- Lee Resource.
5. A 2% increase in customer retention has the same effect as decreasing costs by 10% -Source- –Leading on the Edge of Chaos, Emmet Murphy & Mark Murphy.
6. 96% of unhappy customers don’t complain, however 91% of those will simply leave and never come back – Source- Financial Training services.
7. A dissatisfied customer will tell between 9-15 people about their experience. Around 13% of dissatisfied customers tell more than 20 people. Source-White House Office of Consumer Affairs.
8. Happy customers who get their issue resolved tell about 4-6 people about their experience. – Source- (USA Research) White House Office of Consumer Affair.
9. 70% of buying experiences are based on how the customer feels they are being treated –Source- McKinsey.
10. 55% of customers would pay extra to guarantee a better service – Source- Defaqto research.
11. Customers who rate you 5 on a scale from 1 to 5 are six times more likely to buy from you again, compared to ‘only’ giving you a score of 4.8. – Source-TeleFaction data research.
12. It takes 12 positive experiences to make up for one unresolved negative experience –Source- “Understanding Customers” by Ruby Newell-Legner.
13. A 5% reduction in the customer defection rate can increase profits by 5 – 95% – Source- Bain & Company.
14. It costs 6–7 times more to acquire a new customer than retain an existing one – Source- Bain & Company.
15. eCommerce spending for new customers is on average £24.50, compared to £52.50 for repeat customers – Source- McKinsey.
Everything I do for small firms revolves around one or more of these key business facts.
When you are ready to move forward and deal with these areas please get in touch.
email – admin@therichardsmith.com or use this form Contact Richard Smith
Richard Smith
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