iDEA | Integrated Development of Existing Accounts

How do you retain your current customers today?

We know it’s much easier to keep good customers than to try and replace them. The issue is “what are we doing about it?”

It has been proven that acquiring new customers can cost five to seven times more than retaining current customers.

• A 2% increase in customer retention has the same effect on profits as cutting costs by 10%

• The average company loses 10% of its customers each year.
The customer profitability rate tends to increase over the life of a retained customer.


• A 5% reduction in customer defection rate can increase profits by 25-125%, depending on the industry.


The Struggle to Differentiate  

More than ever, companies struggle to differentiate themselves in a market place that bombards customers with the latest and greatest incentives. Countering this onslaught puts additional emphasis on reaching out to your customers with the right message at the right time in order to reduce churn. This focus also results in maintaining proactive communication at the most critical times to keep your company top of mind. These types of communications can also be used for win-back programs, service/contract renewals, loyalty rewards incentives, new service offers, and much more.

Retaining Customers Through the Downturn

Focusing on how you sell instead of just relying on product, brand, and service excellence can increase customer retention by up to 20% and shorten the sales cycle by 30%.

How do you deepen relationships and drive growth when customers pull back? 

A group of more than 5,000 individuals within U.S. Corporations were recently surveyed to find out what makes them willing to: 

• keep buying from that supplier. 

• Buy even more over time.

• Advocate on that supplier's behalf across their organization. 

The results revealed clear, if somewhat unexpected, strategies for winning that kind of loyalty in a down economy.

It's Not What You Sell, but How You Sell It

Contrary to conventional wisdom, customer loyalty is not necessarily tied to just product quality, brand recognition, and service excellence. While those things matter, customers place significantly greater emphasis on satisfaction with the sales experience itself when committing to a particular supplier (accounting for 53% of a customer’s overall loyalty).

It's Not About Discovering Needs, but Sharing Insights

Within the sales experience, customers place far higher value on suppliers who teach them something new about how to succeed—for example, new ways to reduce operating expenses, penetrate new markets or mitigate risk. Alternatively, customers place significantly less value on suppliers who simply identify the needs they already know they have.

Don't Lead with Your Differentiators, Lead to Them

Creating a value-added, educational interaction with a customer means rewiring the sales pitch to deliver insight, not extract it. The value of a supplier's insights and unique capabilities must be conveyed within a story that first reframes how customers see their world, and then lays out a compelling reason for change. Only then is a supplier's solution viewed as truly meaningful and perceived as a solution to a problem worth solving.

Ignore Advocates at Your Own Risk

While small business owners have many concerns in 2010, finding ways to attract and retain customers is by far their top priority. 50 percent of small businesses place attracting and retaining customers at the top of their list of business challenges. The closely related "growing revenue" was second on the list. Improving cash flow, maintaining profitability and achieving better lead generation were also among the list of challenges.

Customers are always important, but in difficult economic times every customer relationship becomes even more precious. Small businesses want to avoid churning customers, since it can cost as much as five to seven times more to attract new customers than retain existing ones. The best strategy is to build a stable customer base and then work on attracting new customers from there. Maintaining quality communications is a critical part of that strategy.

Operating a small business can be challenging under any circumstances, but in the current economy of scarce credit, soft spending and decreased cash flow it is particularly difficult to compete with the bigger companies, online communications tools help small businesses weather the current storm by attracting and retaining customers today. They also position those organizations for growth and success when the economy does turn around.

Have questions about retention programs?

   What do I do?

   What is best?

   When do I do it?

   What will it cost?

   Why should I do it?

   How do I measure it?

   How do I find the time?

   How do I maintain what I start?

   Is it the same for all customers?

   What happens if I don't do anything?

How many options are there?

 Contest for customers      Find the right customers 

 Keep your employees send email reminders 

Telemarket to your customers  Social media

Anniversary offers            Send out cards            Listen and exceed 

Privileged website access            Under promise

         Keep customers informed   Sale previews  

 Do the unexpected   Follow Through 

Send email reminders Send newsletters  Over deliver

      Thank you letters    Remember your customers 

Send email reminders Send newsletters  Over deliver

    Stay in touch...but not too much!        

We can help you work through the maze of options.

   We can help you today!

   We can help you to be more competitive!

   We can develop a plan that's right for your business.

   We can help you measure, manage and monitor these programs.

   We can help you keep the customers you have.

   We can help you grow the revenues from your existing customers.

Doing nothing is a going out of business strategy!