I ran into an interesting study yesterday. If you have a business and have ever wondered what happened to a good customer, here’s an average of what happened. Out of 100 customers that leave:
1 died
3 moved
5 started doing business with a friend or relative
9 went for a cheaper solution
14 had unresolved complaints, and
68 left because of perceived indifference.
Of all of this, the most disappointing is the last one. It would be so easy to fix! Just say “thank you!” ·
July 24th, 2008 at 4:49 am
Thanks for pointing this study out.
This is the kind of thing that rarely gets noted in a positive climate– when business is good, most folks are taking care of the cash influx and all that good times demand, but not attending to customer care or adding customers.
The relationship between “good times” and TCOC (Taking Care of Customers) is not something to be forgotten.
July 24th, 2008 at 5:07 am
Funny you mention “good times”, one of the strange things that happens with my CPA practice is that when times are good, people are less likely to want to save on taxes. That’s not across the board, but every time there is a boom (dot com, real estate) I have people who tell me they are too busy making money to worry about taxes. If they need more money, they’ll just make it. They don’t care how much they pay in taxes.
Now with a downturn, people are more concerned about the amount of money they pay in taxes.
July 24th, 2008 at 6:57 am
Ha- that would actually be a fun list.. “duet businesses”– one that does well in hard times, matched with one that does well in good times.
Sort of like winter-summer businesses– own the business that sells BBQs in the summer and another that sells snowboards in the winter.