6 things your business should do when you lose a customer
Has your business lost a customer lately? Well, I am sure that you spend time and effort ensuring that your customers are happy! You are always trying to put your customer at the center of your business. You focus on marketing strategies and you are constantly trying to find new ideas to keep customers satisfied and help them come back.
And, yet, inevitably, no matter how much effort you have made especially in the customer care department of your business, sometimes you will lose a customer, and even though that hurts it is normal as well.
The million-dollar question here is:
“What you can do when you lose a customer?”
Well, there are several things you may do to soften the fact of a losing customer and turn it into a positive learning experience for your business. Below you can find 6 things you should do when you lose a customer and make the most out of it!
1. Don’t focus your efforts on trying to selling to them again
If a customer is gone, they are gone. Something happened, and they do not wish to use your product/ service anymore. The wise thing to do at this moment is not to push them to buy one of your sales as you most probably going to make the relationship worse in the long run. The moment a customer decides to leave, your main concern will be to maintain a good image with this customer.
2. Ask them the reason they left
When losing a customer, you are losing the opportunity to have profit. However, there is space to benefit from a lost customer by asking them the reason why they left. Dissatisfied, angry and disappointed customers are a huge customer knowledge tool for your business and for any further strategic actions.
The most important thing in this process is to make lost customers view this process as an honest attempt to make your product/ service and business better for them and not as a sales pitch or an annoying email asking more and more from them.
3. Listen to their feedback
In order to take advantage of the customer feedback you have collected, you should be receptive to the answers you get. There will always be customers whose feedback is biased, overly emotional or even irrational. However, this is not an excuse. Want to know why? A customer is someone who chose to trust your product/ service and invested in your business. What they have to say is of great importance and relevant to your business, no matter what.
4. Alert all customers if you have made a change according to their feedback
If customers gave you their feedback about something specific in your business and you changed it, send out an update and let those customers know that you have made this change in your business for the better because of their feedback and also, thank them.
The above is a great thing to do to maintain a good company image and make the customer feel heard. However, you should not see it as an opportunity to try and win them back or sell something to them. Make it from the beginning clear that you appreciate their feedback and that your efforts to improve your business are honest.
5. Give your current customers something extra
Losing a customer might be a great reminder of how important and how much your current customers mean to your business. A good practice is to implement a new strategy for making your current customers feel appreciated and loved, every time your churn rate raises.
We can assure you that you will never regret investing in customers who have already decided to invest in you.
6. Get feedback from current customers
One last thing you might do is to not let customers have a chance to slip away. Define the touchpoints with your customers and ask them in every step of their buying journey about their satisfaction and their experience. Willing doing this, your customer care department will have the chance to resolve any issues, concerns or disappointments before any customer decides to leave.
If you do not ask your customers, they won’t tell you anything about their experience.
Also published on Medium.