Wikipedia says: “Buyer’s remorse is the sense of regret after having made a purchase. It may stem from fear of making the wrong choice or a suspicion of having been overly influenced by the seller”. Most often buyer remorse results in cancellation of the sale creating another uncomfortable situation called “salesperson remorse”!

Did you know?

The average media sales person loses around 20-30% of their client base every year.  Check your customer churn and I’ll bet its close to these percentages.
You already know why!

There are many reasons why clients or customers leave or cancel, most controllable, some not.

• Poor customer service
• The business closes
• Breakdown in sales person-client relationship
• Client changes advertising strategy
• Campaign ROI doesn’t meet expectations
• Financial issues
• Change in client management structure or ownership
• The customer or client feels neglected.

Reasons aside, the loss of business and cost in time and revenue is staggering, but few sales people truly understand the implications

Imagine this

Two salespeople, one retains 90% of customers, the other retains only 70%. If both add new customers at the rate of 20% per year, the first will have a positive 10% YoY growth, while the other will have a loss of 10% in real growth.

Even a tiny change in client or customer retention can cascade and multiply over time. The resulting effect on long-term growth should never be underestimated.

Four simple customer retention ideas

1. The first sale is the beginning. Too many sales people do an exceptional job on making the first sale but in their quest for growth then ignore that same customer while they chase other new business. When the first sale is made that’s when the work really begins. Overcome potential “buyer remorse” and protect the original sale and future opportunities. Keep in touch and look for ways to grow the relationship via upsell and cross-sell.
2. Great customer service. Like it or not customer service is never ending, however the payoff is enormous. Remember the key is not to deliver or meet their expectations, it’s to exceed their expectations and the only way to do this is to know what their expectations are in the first place. Extraordinary service builds repeat customers and raving fans. Poor service will drive them into the “churn” basket!
3. Treasure complaints. Who likes a complaint? But here’s the thing somewhere around 95% of unhappy clients don’t complain, they just walk away and of course tell others, just not you. Maintain ongoing contact, ask the hard questions, make sure your clients are happy and solve the problems that arise in the normal course of business.
4. Become the “Go To” Guy (or gal). Not just the vendor of media advertising. The most successful media sales people I know have deep, deep relationships with their clients, nothing is too much trouble and they are always looking to help the client outside of the media world.

A final thought

“Loyal customers, they don’t just come back, they don’t simply recommend you, they insist that their friends do business with you” – Chip Bell (US based author and keynote speaker).

Until next week good selling!
 

About the author 

Stephen Pead is a media industry veteran of 30 years with significant experience in direct sales, sales management and general management. He is based in Sydney and specialises in helping SME’s market their businesses more effectively and providing training for salespeople and sales managers.

He can be contacted at [email protected]