This is really a no-brainer and every organisation worth its salt knows it, has deep insights into retention, has processes devoted to it and is committed to retaining its customers.

So I (almost) passed this over as a topic for a blog. Then I decided to do some research and
the results… well, here they are:

– Poor customer service cost the U.S economy $82 Billion(fonolo.com)
– 50% of customer churn is caused by the way their complaints were handled (resolver.co.uk)
– In 1983, a vocal customer influenced 10 people
– In 2002, a vocal customer influenced 100 people
– In 2012, a vocal customer influenced 1375 people
– In 2017, this is up to 3700 people (on an average)
– 64% of customers stopped doing business with a company after poor customer experience and 91% of them went to  a competing brand (worldpgl.com)
– 44% of customers have a greater focus on new customers Vs. only 18% that focus on retention

Clearly, the message has not been internalized.
While Marketing strives to engage the customer community and Sales is crushed under the pressure to close on targets; the huge opportunities that existing customers can unleash is clearly gone unappreciated. There is a world of opportunity here as the aforementioned data shows.

• 58% of satisfied customers recommend a company to friends
• 73% of customers would expand their purchase if they felt that they were receiving a superior customer experience
• 80% of future profits are forecasted to come from just 20% of your existing customers
• Repeat customers spend 33% more than first-timers
• 10% increase in customer retention results in 30% rise in the value of the company
• The probability of converting existing customers to buy is 60% – 70% vs. 5% – 20% of a new prospect
• 2% increase in customer retention = 10% decrease in cost
  (Extracted from articles in Forbes, Fortune, WSJ, Bloomberg and The Economic Times)

In an age of rapidly transforming customer behaviour and therefore, market dynamics; we would do well to look to our existing customers. It would be well worthwhile to mine relationships and assiduously explore how we could continuously provide them with greater value.

Most proactive companies are constantly evaluating the context of their services and products. This enables them to suggest transformational customizations and changes that would continue bring greater value to their customers. This also helps them stay relevant and ahead of the churn.

Customers are the only resource that matters… need I say more.

Photo by Clem Onojeghuo on Unsplash