Most
companies don’t realize they are putting a significant
amount of revenue at risk by letting customers leave without
trying to save them.
A r
ecent
study by Marketing Metrics has shown that companies have a
much better chance of winning business from their lost
customers than from new prospects. On average, companies have
a 20% to 40% chance of selling to lost customers, and only a
5% to 20% probability of selling to new prospects.
Clearly, the executives at AOL have read the research and they
know it's smart to work to try to save customers who call
requesting a cancellation of service. But, there is a right
way and a wrong way to try to save a customer. The short
video below illustrates the WRONG way to try to save a
customer. Take a few minutes to watch this video to see what I
mean.
This employee's attempt at saving a
customer is shocking and appalling. You will NEVER win back a
customer by ignoring their requests, using sarcasm, or being
rude. Never. This 21 minute phone call just affirmed in
the customer's mind that he had indeed made the right decision
to cancel his account.
Here's the right way
to try to save customer...
I WILL NEVER FLY “You Know Who” AIRLINES AGAIN!
By
most people’s definition, I am a frequent flyer. Being a
frequent flyer, one becomes accustomed to the many delays:
weather, mechanical problems, last-minute refueling,
announcements stating that the flight crew is en route from
the East coast while you’re sitting at an airport in the
Midwest—you name it and it has happened. Several thousand
miles ago, getting upset about delays disappeared and an
attitude (see Chapter One) of just “deal with it” to be
proactive and productive developed. That was until I was
forced to spend 12 hours in an airport.
I was in route to D.C. for a big event, in which an electrical
lighting storm erupted while coming into the airport.
Consequently, the airport shut down for about 35 minutes. This
short shut down threw everything into total chaos. An hour and
a half later, the eight letters no traveler ever wants to see
illuminated in red next to my flight number—
C
A N C E L E D.
I got booked on the next flight out which didn’t leave for another
two hours. Two and a half hours after that flight
was scheduled to leave, it was canceled!
The next flight I got booked on also canceled. It was a full
12 hours and nine minutes after the initial arrival
that the departure for D.C. occurred. Livid, I vowed never to
fly this airline again. That is until eight days later when I
got a letter in the mail from an executive with that airline.
The letter read:
Our
manager in Dallas/Ft. Worth was concerned and asked us to
follow up with you regarding your flight with us on March 11.
We can understand how frustrating this trip must have been.
Simply, we are very sorry for the inconvenience as a result of
the delayed departure of flight 1808.
As
a frequent traveler, you know that good customer service sets
us apart from the other airlines. So, when we don’t provide
it, no excuse will do. Although we will never compromise
safety for the sake of on-time performance, we sincerely
apologize that your travel plans were disrupted while
traveling to
Washington
,
D.C.
We
don’t want to lose your confidence in us and hope you
won’t let this trip do so. Therefore, as an indication of
how important your patronage is to us, I have added 7,000
Customer Service Bonus miles to your AADVANTAGE account. You
should see this adjustment on one of your next two summaries.
Please continue to travel with us often.
It is always a privilege to welcome you aboard.
WOW!
Four things absolutely WOWed me in this letter!
First, the airline actually
monitored my flight and knew that I had experienced a
mind-boggling delay. Sure, they knew the entire airport was
shut down, but this was personal. They acknowledged my
inconvenience.
Secondly, the airline apologized
for an initial event that was completely out of their initial
control.
Next, they asked me to continue to
be their customer. The letter ends with: “Please continue
to travel with us often.”
And finally, to ensure my loyalty,
they gave me something—7,000 miles. And that’s
something to talk about. Seven thousand miles is one-third of
the miles required to earn a round-trip frequent flyer ticket!
Do you think American won back this temporarily disgruntled
customer with a letter like that? Oh yeah! In fact, I
fly American almost exclusively now, rarely even rate shopping
for competitive airline service. And my loyalty is based
entirely on this highly effective save.
In
business, it’s
not how many customers you win,
it
is how many customers you keep!
The
average company in the
U.S.
loses half of its customers every five years (Frederick
Richheld, The Loyalty Effect, 1996). Considering
it costs four to six times more to acquire a new customer than
to retain or win back an old one—and given the significantly
higher probability of successfully selling again to lost
customers than to prospects—it only makes sense to develop a
customer win back plan.
Here
are Six Easy Steps to Win Back Customers: (the right way!)
1.Track
customers who leave. The
first step of a win back program is to know exactly which
customers are leaving and how many. Tracking defection is not
just counting the lost, but it’s what those numbers are
telling you. It’s about identifying the defected
customer’s buying patterns, tenure and net worth to the
company. This tracking prepares you for step two.
2.Develop an
at-risk profile. Analyze
lost customers and look for common denominators, patterns and
trends among the defected group. For example, the bank in our
earlier example found that more than 20% of its lost customers
were over 55, had been with the bank for more than ten years
and had held multiple accounts. This valuable information must
then be disseminated to the group responsible for customer
retention so loyalty marketing efforts can focus on
communicating with current customers who match the profile of
high defectors. Those (at-risk) customers can then be
protected from defection.
3.Identify
early warning signs of defection. In
many industries, customers on the brink of defection can be
detected by one or more factors. For example, a banking
customer who has stopped her automatic drafts and direct
deposits and whose average monthly balance drops significantly
might be tying up loose ends and heading to a competitor.
Discover what factors suggest your customers are on
their way out, so you can proactively communicate with them
and entice them to stay.
American
Airline’s WinBAAck intelligence told them that frequent
flyers that experience serious delays might be on the brink of
defection. Therefore, the company quickly initiated
communication with me and offered a goodwill token (7,000
bonus miles) to entice me to stay.
NOW, I
ALWAYS FLY AMERICAN AIRLINES!
4.Choose win
back candidates. Determine
which defected (or on the brink of defection) customers the
company wants to win back. Not all defected customers will be
a love loss. There are some customers you’re not positioned
to create superior value for, and let’s be honest, some
customers you just don’t want back. By selectively choosing
win back targets, you can focus and maximize your efforts by
going after only your best-fit customers.
5.Go
get ‘em!
Develop and hold regular customer win back campaigns in order
to win back customers, and learn why customers are leaving.
Put together a team to personally call your best customers who
have left and survey. (What’s prompted you to leave us?
Where are you going? What attracts you to___?) Next,
invite the customers to come back. Overcome objections they
give you and assure them that you can and will deliver the
level of service they expect and deserve.
6.Follow-up
with all win back candidates. When
you win customers back, follow-up 30, 60, and 90 days after
reuniting to ensure you are delivering the level of service
they expect—service that will keep them for life. For the
customers you don’t win back, follow-up with a hand-written
note thanking them for their past business and for the
information they provided you after leaving.
Don't
do what AOL did, but don’t just let customers leave.
Get proactive, set up processes to analyze lost customers and
look for common denominators, patterns and trends among the
defected group. Then, strategically use this new information
for loyalty marketing efforts that will focus on communicating
with current customers who match the profile of high defectors
so those (at-risk) customers can be protected from defection.
When
“Service Leaders” combine acquisition efforts with a
strong win-back program, they can create a competitive
advantage based on the strength of their service strategy.
"Thank you for calling XXXXXXX
customer service. How may I provide you with excellent
customer service today?"
I cringe when I hear those words. Especially before I've had
my second cup of coffee (that's the rule - no one is allowed
to talk to me until I've finished that second cup. It's ugly
if that rule gets broken).
If
you’re looking for the perfect trainer for keynote speaker
to help motivate your employees to create loyal customers,
you need to give me a call at 866-873-8419 or visit my
website at http://www.MyraGolden.Com.
Since 1999 Myra Golden
has helped organizations improve customer service,
productivity and performance. Myra’s clients include
corporate giants such as McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Frito-Lay,
and Procter & Gamble, major nonprofits such as the
American Medical Association, the Society of Consumer
Affairs Professionals, and the Special Olympics, and
specialized firms such as Kubota Tractor Company, Mullin
Plumbing, and Ihloff Salon & Day Spa.
Myra gained national
attention when she helped a client slash their corporate
account defection rate by 50% by drastically reducing
complaint response time, teaching frontline employees to
truly see complaints as gifts, and equipping employees with
solid skills to completely restore customer confidence after
service mishaps – without giving away the store.
Her keynotes and
training programs are hallmarked with hard-hitting
analogies, thought-proving stories, and humor and she leaves
audiences with the inspiration to truly make their new ideas
work. Myra is lauded for consistently delivering practical
easy-to-implement strategies that result in real and
measurable organizational change. Learn more
about Myra and her corporate services by going to http://www.MyraGolden.Com.
As
one of my customers and/or subscribers, you know
by
now that I don't dance around the subject, so I'll get
If you have any serious interest at all in turning your
customer
complaints into more goodwill and loyalty than
you ever thought possible, then take a watch
this 4-minute overview videoimmediately:
Do
yourself a favor. At least take a look, and thendecide
for yourself.
Myra Golden gained national
attention when she helped a client slash their corporate
account defection rate by 50% by drastically reducing
complaint response time, teaching frontline employees to truly
see complaints as gifts, and equipping employees with solid
skills to completely restore customer confidence after service
mishaps – without giving away the store.
Her
keynotes and training programs are hallmarked with
hard-hitting analogies, thought-proving stories, and humor and
she leaves audiences with the inspiration to truly make their
new ideas work.
Myra is lauded for consistently delivering practical
easy-to-implement strategies that result in real and
measurable organizational change.
"Myra
Golden’s seminars are captivating and resourceful in
complaint resolution. Her tactics should be used throughout
the world!”
Brandy
Warrior
Coca-Cola
“It
was outstanding. I could relate to
Myra
and her strategies.”
Kristi
Collier
McDonald’s
Corporation
“Myra's program was excellent. One of the best training sessions
we have attended – well presented. The session was very
beneficial to our everyday job!”
