In today’s competitive environment, if you are not servicing your customers somebody else will! Do you have customers that are not being looked after? Do you have quotations that are not being followed up on? How about customers who are taking their money elsewhere? Maybe it’s time to implement a Customer Retention Strategy? As business becomes more technologically driven, its crucial that you embrace technology and implement systems that provide you with information at your finger tips.

Systems do not need to be complex. A simple system could involve an excel spreadsheet capturing quotations that you review on a weekly basis and follow up with your customers. 

Or a more complex system such as Zendesk that captures customer communication from different sources, creates a ticket and allows you to monitor and manage communication between you and your customer, plus your internal teams and suppliers..

CRM systems allow you to manage your customer database, related quotations and communication, as well as create sales funnels and pipelines. These systems can also provide shared calendars that can allow you to keep a track of your sales forces movements.

There are a number of systems available on the market such as Zoho or Sugar CRM. Many offer free plans for small business. Sugar CRM offers a free community edition but you will need some techie help to set up including PHP, a database and a web server. Often those free plans are not very comprehensive and don’t offer the functionality that a paid plan can. Its a worthwhile exercise to investigate all plans of offer and make a decision based on how valuable your client base is and what functionality you really need.

Social media and an online presence also play a huge role in customer communication. Although not a necessity for every business, tools such as a business Facebook page, external web site, google reviews, product reviews and various other methods that allow your customers to rate your service are an important way to create transparency in your customer dealings. Transparency creates trust

Quick checklist

* Do you have a customer retention strategy?

* Do you have a system to keep track of customer communication and requests?

* Do you have a system to store quotes, that triggers you to follow up with your client?

* Do you need a social media strategy and do you need to communicate with your customers via social media?

* Do you need help? Email me now!