Salescraft Training
Learn to sell anything to anyone!
Who is your avatar?
You know what you're selling, but what is your customer buying? Hint... it may not be what you think!
I'll share tips and insights from my years of selling to B2B and B2C clients. So welcome to the Podcast!
And, find out more about my online courses at: https://www.salescraft.training
Salescraft Training
The Art of Keeping Clients for Life
Finding new clients can be hard and the cost per new client can be very high. So it makes sense to keep clients as long as possible. So, whether you are selling a service, a product, or a membership, what do you need to think about when considering client retention?
The first thing I talk about in this podcast is recognising, from the start, which clients are most likely to stay with you, and which are likely to go elsewhere regardless of what you do. Once you understand this, you can adopt the appropriate strategies to maximise client retention.
Another thing to consider is how you can stand out from your competitors. Buyer's remorse can be an issue, so the more engaging you can be from the outset, the more likely your clients are to stay with you (and refer people they know!).
Finally, there are simple things you can do every day to give yourself the best chance of keeping your clients loyal.
If you have a sales problem you'd like to hear covered in a podcast, please contact me directly. Or, my sales training programme might help!
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Graham Elliott
You can contact me at graham@salescraft.training
My website is www.salescraft.training
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Finding new customers is one of the hardest things to do and certainly for a lot of salespeople it's something that is quite difficult, whether it comes down to cold calling. If you have your own business, it might be looking at marketing and how you come up with a marketing strategy that will draw people in to buy your product service, whatever it is that you're selling, to buy your product service, whatever it is that you're selling. So, having gone through all of that and also it's generally the most expensive way of getting business is to find new clients. Keeping them is therefore a lot more important, because it's far easier to sell to somebody who already knows you, or at least knows you and has a good feeling about you, than it is to somebody who doesn't know you and you've got to go through all of the process of, I guess, ticking their boxes about and which makes them feel comfortable enough with you to go ahead and buy from you. So in this podcast, I wanted to talk a little bit about customer retention and just a few things maybe to think about, because I know, having got clients, one of the biggest fears is then losing them. So what can you do to not only keep your clients but have them continue to buy from you. So obviously, this will depend a little bit on what it is you offer, because it may be that you offer something it could be a membership, something like that where it's a case of it's normal for people to expect to continue to keep buying from you, maybe on a monthly basis or some other basis. Or it may be that you sell products, but they are products that are part of a product group and you might expect people to maybe either replace a product that they bought from you at some stage or buy additional products for whatever reason. So it comes down to what it is you're selling and the sort of post-sale strategy that you need to have in place to make sure that, first of all, you're looking after your clients, which is really the first thing, and then, as a result of that, you would hope to get repeat business from them.
Speaker 1:So there are a few things to think about. The first one I would suggest is giving them a good experience in the first place. When clients buy from you, they need to have a good experience. They need to feel looked after, they need to feel that you value them as a client, and there are different ways you can do this, depending upon what it is that you're selling. So it could be some sort of welcome gift or it may be that you offer some sort of a gift after a certain period if it's a membership. So, for example, I run, I have a Patreon membership as part of a photography business that I run, and after six months of being a Patreon paid member, members will get a photo book. It's a PDF and it just gets sent to them after six months.
Speaker 1:So one of the reasons for doing that or I guess two of the reasons for doing that the main two reasons are one of them to give them a thank you because it's a good quality PDF that they get. But secondly, it's a way of keeping them engaged with that program, and part of that program is to give people regular updates, that kind of thing. So membership's really a different subject and I'm not going to go into that in any detail in this podcast, but just to throw some ideas out there, things that you might be able to use in your own situation to keep clients engaged at least and hopefully coming back. And the other thing that's associated with that is really having them give recommendations to people they know, because if they have a good experience let's say, you sell motor cars that might be one of the things you do. So if that's your scenario, then you might reasonably expect people to come back and trade in their old car for a new one, maybe every three or four years or whatever it is at the moment. Equally, you want them to speak well of you to their friends, people they know so that you get those hot referrals. So that's another important aspect of looking after your clients when they place that first order with you, and that's to get referrals. So referrals is another aspect of it which I won't go into in this podcast.
Speaker 1:Now, all of this stuff I talk about in my online program, consultative Selling so I go into that in some detail about when the best times are to ask for certain things, how to basically get as much value as you can from clients from your perspective. But equally, you want to deliver great value to them and this is again something that comes into the value proposition, if you like, when you're making that sale. The value proposition, if you like, when you're making that sale. Another aspect of this and it's something that I go into and I've spoken about in other podcasts and it's something I go into on the course is that certain types of people are going to be more loyal to you than other types of people and, of course, that loyalty if someone is very loyal to you and it might be to your brand or it might be to you personally and that's also an important distinction, because some people will tend to look at their personal relationship with you more than they'll look at their relationship with the brand that you sell and that's one group of people. Another group of people are likely to be very unreliable when it comes to repeat business. They won't be loyal to you at all because they will often make a change just for the sake of making a change.
Speaker 1:So it's important to understand where your client sits, and I'm going to talk about this just very briefly from the perspective of DISC, and it's something that I've spoken about in a number of podcasts. It's something that I use as really one of the foundations of the course that I sell, and it's simply because, using the DISC model, there are only four types of people, and I think when you split it down to that number, you get quite a lot of information about how to approach someone, what kind of client they're likely to be for you, what you have to do specifically for them, for them to stay with you. But it's a small. There's enough information there that is relevant to the whole sales process and the whole business process and a way of keeping those people engaged and keeping those people wanting to buy from you. But, equally, there's a small enough number of categories just four that it becomes fairly easy to remember the key aspects, at least that are relevant to your business for each of those four types.
Speaker 1:And one of the things that I teach, and I've spoken about in other podcasts, is how you very quickly identify the likely type of, how likely is that your particular client is a particular one of these four characteristics, so they're going to have one of those characteristics. These four characteristics so they're going to have one of those characteristics will tend to be the more significant for them, and I teach people how to very quickly recognize which of those characteristics it's likely to be, and that's within seconds. This is something you can do within seconds. It's very, very simple, but it means that you get off to a head start when it comes to how you relate to that person, how you interact with them, the kind of questions that you ask, the kind of questions that you can expect them to ask, and it also gives you a heads up on how, first of all, how loyal to you that potential client is likely to be once you've sold to them, and also how you keep them loyal. What do you have to do to have them keep coming back to you? So these are really important aspects, and A lot of it comes down to how you handle people in the first instance, how you handle that sales process and this is going to sound familiar if you've listened to my podcast before and when you think about it, it's just common sense, because most people want to be treated in the way I'm about to describe, and I guess the question is how would you feel, how would you want to be treated by a salesperson if you have either approached or you've been approached by a business that you don't know, but they appear to have the solution that you're looking for?
Speaker 1:Whatever that might be, what are the boxes they need to tick for you personally in order for you to feel comfortable about going ahead with them and placing your first order with them? So, really, the key things in that aspect come down to just doing the basics. So it's things like not over promising and in fact I always recommend to under-promise and over-deliver so always commit to things you know you can meet. Or if it is something and I've spoken about this example before as well let's say it's a delivery that you need to meet and whoever is responsible for having that product, whatever it is available for delivery, is outside of your control. It's really important to maintain the relationship with the client because if things do slip and they will sooner or later, something is going to go wrong, and probably quite regularly in some cases, I know with companies I've worked with then you need to remember that the most important aspect, the most important relationship for you, is your relationship with the client.
Speaker 1:So just I guess, to clarify that a bit more what I'm talking about, let's say that you are a representative in a particular country so I've done this in Australia for sure and the products themselves are manufactured elsewhere, maybe the UK or somewhere in Europe or wherever it might be, and you obviously have a relationship with the manufacturer. That might be your responsibility directly or it might go through somebody else, but there is obviously that relationship with your supplier and also you have the relationship with your client. The important relationship to manage there is the relationship with your client. The important relationship to manage there is the relationship with your client, obviously, because what you don't really want to do is have them going directly to your supplier, because the obvious danger there is that you get cut out of the loop. And why shouldn't the client go direct to the manufacturer? Whether it's true or not, they may well perceive that that gives them better value for money. They might be getting a lower price, all that kind of thing. So it's really important that you manage the client relationship aspect of it and that you do that very well.
Speaker 1:And an example I've given before is a client, or rather a business I worked for, was importing equipment from Europe to Australia. And I was working with the client in Australia and we'd agreed certain days there was a project that we were having to deliver equipment for, and then it started to slip from the manufacturer's side. So what I did I just kept on top of letting that client know exactly what was going on as soon as I knew pretty much. And at the end of all of that process although we were late because the client didn't have to keep badgering me to find out what was going on because I wasn't speaking to them. I actually got a thank you from the client, even though we delivered late, because they hadn't had to chase me and because I was giving them a heads up as soon as I knew it. They could then change what they were doing at their end in order that our delay had the minimum impact on what they were trying to achieve. So I would say that, regardless of personality type, this is a really important thing to do.
Speaker 1:Now, looking at the personality types, there are really the four that are there in DISC. Some of these people are more focused on the personal side than they are with just getting things done. So if you're familiar with DISC, there's one part of it called dominant. These people tend to be the CEOs, the more leadership people. They tend to be very focused on just getting the job done. They're not really interested in you as a person so much, and I don't mean this in a nasty way. This isn't that they specifically don't like you and they're cutting you out. It's simply how they approach things. They're very task focused, like you and they're cutting you out. It's simply how they approach things. They're very task focused and your role in them getting where they want to be is to deliver on part of that task. So it's not about your personal relationship particularly. It's about you helping them to meet their goals.
Speaker 1:And really the secret with those people is not to let them down, because what they'll tend to do is, if they've got somebody to meet a certain need whether it's the supply of a product or it might be, you know, let's say, a software solution, whatever it might be provided you don't mess up, provided you don't let them down, then that person is very likely to stay with you because they've got lots of other things to do. They don't want to go around looking for other suppliers. So as long as you're doing what you need to do to keep them happy, the chances are they will be very loyal. So in terms of customer retention, you're likely to retain those people as clients. So that's really important. So just deliver on time, don't let them down, and that will be good. Or if you do have to let them down, at least be upfront about it.
Speaker 1:And something I've said previously is that a lot of people and it's quite natural, but a lot of people when they have bad news, they prefer not to say anything at all and that just makes what is potentially well certainly not a good situation. It certainly makes it a lot worse by not doing that. So you know, just step into it, bite the bullet, as as they say, and then go deliver the bad news. And, as I say, I've been thanked for that, believe it or not, because I just took that approach with in fact happened a couple of times with different in different situations, and I that's always been my approach and it's always served me very well.
Speaker 1:Now there's another kind of buyer. So in the C part of DISC, the compliant, these are sort of the technical people and they know things in a lot of detail. So the chances are when you speak to one of those, if it's a technical solution that you're offering, they will have already done a lot of research on your particular solution and they will have already ticked most of the boxes before they even speak to you. These people are very, very detail orientated and they love doing research and there's definitely ways to handle them during the sales process. All that's in the course how you would do that, but they are really into the details. So again, they're not really interested in you as a person. They might like you, they might not, but their real interest is in your ability to deliver the technical solution that they need in order to meet their goals. So, once again, provided you keep delivering that solution, the chances are they will stay loyal to you.
Speaker 1:Now the other kind of people in this model are much more people focused. So one of them we call stabilizer, so that's the S in DISC and these people you've really got to work with because they for them. These are the people where they are buying from you personally. Everything that you discuss with them, everything that you deliver for them, every aspect of that sale is between you and them personally. So they are not interested in the brand so much as you having them feel reassured, looked after, that. You're not going to let them down. They want stability, they don't like surprises, they don't like upsets, so these people can be quite high maintenance.
Speaker 1:It's only compared to the other two I've spoken about, because you often have to do a lot more on the sort of reassurance side, looking at what you would do in certain scenarios, even if those scenarios may seem to be highly unlikely. But having done that, as long as you don't let them down, they will be your personal clients for as long as you're both in business. As you know, you're both in business, and what I mean by that is, even if you were to change companies, the chances are they will go with you if you move to a similar company that will also do the job for them, that there's a very good probability that they're the kind of client that will move with you as you, if you move from one business to another. So it's important to recognize this, particularly with these people, because they can be quite a lot of work in the sales process and they may feel like it's not really worth the effort, but once you have those people on board, they will certainly stay loyal to you and there's a very good chance that they will give you good referrals as well. And then the final person I've deliberately left them till last that's the influencer. So if you've had a look at DISC, you'll know what I'm talking about. If you haven't, there are some great videos on the web, just on YouTube. If you just Google them, you'll get a breakdown of these different types of people and you'll get quite a lot of information there as well. These are the influence people.
Speaker 1:So these people are great. They're the kind of people that you can't help but like. They're very charismatic, but one of the things to remember about them is that they love variety, they love new things, they're likely to be first adopters simply because something is new. So that can be great in getting them as a client in the first place. But you just need to be. So that can be great in getting them as a client in the first place. But you just need to be aware that if you don't keep them engaged, if you don't keep them excited about what it is you're offering and let them know there are new things coming along, you know new things they can explore and have that kind of new thing, have that kind of new thing. Process that novelty value. With those people, there's a very good chance that they'll just go off and buy from somebody else. Now you can do absolutely nothing wrong. So you may have made no mistakes whatsoever in terms of what you've delivered, in terms of whatever it is you're selling, its ability to meet their needs, but these people will just go and change just for the sake of change. So these people, while they can feel kind of fun to be with, sometimes, they are high maintenance from the perspective of just keeping them engaged. They need to be really kept on the hook even after the sale is made, because if you kind of take your eye off them, there's a good chance they'll go somewhere else. So customer retention it's coming back to that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there are various detailed things you can do. I mean some things I've bought and, in fact, a printer that I use for some of the stuff I do. You'll get these nice little notes in the printer. You know from the printer. Or you'll get a message, an order acknowledgement. I remember one. It's our elves are working on your order and it will be shipping out soon. You know stuff like this. It's kind of fun, it's kind of unusual.
Speaker 1:It might not be appropriate for what you do, but have a think about what you can do. That's just a little bit different. So I've done a couple of residential courses not residential courses I should say, but they're sort of semi-online. So one's purely online, one's part residential, part online. And what I got when I signed up for that course, I got a course manual physically sent to me in the post and I remember one. There was an envelope with a tea bag in it and, um, some sweets, um and uh, the little note in there said well, we've got some things for you to read, so put the kettle on. Here's a teabag and a couple of things to just have a nibble at while you're reading and off you go. So it's just sort of silly stuff.
Speaker 1:But if it's appropriate for what you do, think of what you can do. When you make first delivery to your client, what can you do? That's a little bit different, a little bit out of the box and makes you stand out and it's just fun. If it's appropriate to what you do, then why not do something? That's a bit of fun? And obviously you can do things like birthdays, if that's you know. Again, some businesses like to make a note of people's birthdays and send them a gift or an email or whatever it might be, on their birthday.
Speaker 1:So what I would say really in this podcast because I'm going to wind it up now but one aspect of client retention is to know the kind of people you're dealing with and what their expectations are from you, and you also need to be aware of what your realistic expectations are of them in order to do the right thing, to keep them on board and also just maybe think a little bit out of the box about things you can do differently, things that your competitors aren't doing. So I personally like the little gifts that get sent, whether it's a handbook, if that's appropriate, with some extra bits and lollies, or some sort of gift with it, um, but there may be other things that this might prompt you to think about. Or just google, have a, have a, or the, the ai that we have available these days, that there's lots of um resources that we can tap into very quickly that just give us some ideas to help us. Um, you know, stand out from the crowd, have a little bit of fun. So I'm going to wind it up there. Uh, I hope that's been helpful.
Speaker 1:As I say, I do have the course, so obviously, deliberately, I'm not gonna give you everything that's in the course on the podcast, so, but there's a lot more detail in there and um, there's a lot of um things in in that that course that cover this sort of aspect and, um, obviously, with the podcast, I'm also talking about other things that are a little bit outside what's on the course, because it's just a way of um keeping it current and as I get new ideas I hadn't thought of when I was putting the course together. I shall share them with you here. Okay, so that's it, and I will speak to you on the next podcast.