6 Mistakes that drive customers away

Posted in Customer Service | 11 comments

Do you find it hard to keep your loyal customers faithful to your business? Are they walking away and not coming back?

Even if most customers are unpredictable and finding their interests can be a challenge, no business owner wants to see their customers leave. In fact, a vital aspect of business growth is to make customers feel satisfied and happy.

Losing clients is very easy and they will walk away to find better business relationships elsewhere.

In order to prevent it from happening, check if you are making one of these common mistakes unknowingly and learn to avoid them!

1. Making customers wait too long.

There are instances when you or your staff can only serve one customer at a time. This is reasonable and most customers will understand. However, they won’t accept waiting longer than expected for whatever reasons. Not recognizing their presence or serving those who arrived after them are situations that annoy customers.

When customers enter your store, acknowledge them, even if you’re busy handling other clients. Let them know that you’ll cater to their needs as soon as possible. For instance, salon     owners can offer their waiting clients drinks, magazines to read or anything that would compensate for the waiting time.

2. Being unavailable and too difficult to reach out.

Customers want their calls, emails or questions answered. Ignoring them will certainly drive them away.

It is important to communicate with your customers when they reach out. Have a good communication system in place. Check customer posts and messages on your website, emails and social media pages regularly. Your customers deserve to receive a prompt and informative response from you. Having a live person they can talk to is also better than making them contact you through a contact form or answering machine.

3. Selling to them constantly.

Customers hate being pushed into buying something. You need to make a sale, but     being too pushy and overselling will backfire, especially if you know that customers aren’t really interested in the upsale.

It is always better to understand what the customer needs before making any suggestion, as they probably already know what they want from you

Instead of trying to upsell clients, find ways on how you can solve their problem.     Help the customer see the value of what you offer and make your products attractive – just like a magnet sticks to a metal surface.

4. Failing to check in with customers.

Staying in touch with your customers leads to long-term business relationships. Try to be proactive and take the initiative to keep in touch with them.

Most customers won’t tell you what needs to be improved in your business unless you ask them. Get their feedback and ensure that they are satisfied with your products or happy with the previous services     they received.

5. Neglecting existing customers.

All customers, new or old, deserve to be treated     equally.

However, business owners might get too busy seeking new prospects or generating leads at the expense of their existing loyal customers.

The moment when customers realize that they are being neglected or treated differently, they are bound to walk away. While there are instances where offering incentives to get new customers are necessary, it’s a good practice to continue to reward your old customer’s loyalty as     they contribute to a big impact in your growth. For     instance, you can have VIP events that will make your current customers feel appreciated.

6. Failing to deliver your promise.

Customers who had a bad experience with your product or service will share it with almost everyone in their networks. This bad word-of-mouth will make you lose more customers. Among the top complaints based on a survey done by Consumer Federation of America (CFA) are “misinterpretations, false advertising and other deceptive practices.”

Always make sure that your promises are realistic. Give customers exactly what you advertise and deliver your promise. Walk the talk. If you say that your product or service does something, deliver your claim.

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