The long standing phrase we have all used more than once, “No pain, no gain,” is not a good idea when it comes to our businesses and our customers. Thinking there has to be pain before we see the gain should not be the case when we are talking about our customers. Unfortunately, most companies don’t heed this lifelong quote and end up experiencing a great deal of pain before they end up with the gain.
A great quote that fits this example so well is from Mike Tyson, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” I don’t want anyone to get punched in the mouth from their customers and then realize they need to do something about their customer experience or their business.
Or as my grandma used to say, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” I like this one a lot better than Mike Tyson’s…just feels more positive to me to try and fix a problem before it gets so bit it hits you in the face!
Let me put this in business terms that might make more sense. When it comes to your business, your customers are the primary revenue generating engine. If something happens, either caused by you or caused by the competition, where you either suddenly or gradually lose customers, this is PAIN. Losing customers, unless of course they are the wrong ones for your business, is never a good thing…never!
So how do we avoid the pain and just focus on the GAIN? BE PROACTIVE…reduce your risk.
Two reasons customers leave…
- If your product/service is “viewed as a commodity” by your customers, they leave because they found a cheaper price, better terms, quicker delivery, or some other commodity feature your competition can deliver better than you.
- Customers defect (leave) because of the “experience” they got (or didn’t get) from you and your business.
If you fall into the first category, you have two choices…
- Become the best commodity in your industry and differentiate by consistently beating out the competition with lower prices, better terms, or better delivery.
- Stop being a commodity to your customers and adopt a “customer centric” strategy as a business where everything is going to be about your customer and the experience you offer…create your differentiation based around your incredible and consistent experience, not commodity features.
If you fall into the second category of reasons why customers leave, you have two choices…
- Find new segments (and personas) of customers that fit the experience you are delivering and would enjoy it.
- Invest in creating an awesome experience for the desired segments (and personas) that is so incredible and remarkable that your customers love buying from you…and will tell others about you.
Referring back to the quotes I started with, you can wait to get punched in the face as a wakeup call that your customers aren’t happy or you can invest in an ounce of prevention and take a different course toward differentiation. NOTE: It’s also considerably less expensive to become customer centric today and invest the time and resources to create totally awesome customer experiences than to lose a bunch of customers. It’s also a lot more painful and harder to recover when you realize you lost them because of your experience and they went to your competitors.
It costs a lot more money to get customers back once you lose them…if you ever do. Simple math tells us that if we lose half our customers (50%), we need to double our new customers (increase by 100%) just to get back to where we were before they left. This is both time and money to the organization. This is why if leadership recognizes they are at risk of customers defecting, investing today in turning this around is considerably more rewarding and much less expensive than waiting for the pain of seeing your customers leave.
You don’t need to go through this PAIN to get the GAIN when it comes to customers…you just need a Customer Centric strategy AND the ability to execute this strategy. It works…every time.
