USAYour product is great, pricing competitive, employees are likeable. Yet you can’t seem to take the business to the next level and grow. Attrition is high, why don’t clients that initially love you, stay with you?
You own your business because you have a unique talent, service or idea. However that doesn’t mean you are a great accountant, receptionist, bookkeeper, HR director and marketer. As a small business owner it is crucial to know your strengths and accept your weaknesses. Customers demand good service from the estimate to the final bill. As a business owner it’s easy to believe you can do it all. Trying to wear too many hats can lead to mistakes and oversights. Studies show business-service clients can be up to five times more likely to switch professionals for perceived service quality problems than for price concerns or product quality issues. Interesting, huh? You are losing clients because of poor service and mistakes. Not the product, not the price, but service.
You’ll lose clients when…you promise to call (e-mail, fax) the client back tomorrow with information and then get really busy and forget to do it for a couple of days.
You have now lost credibility and integrity.
You’ll lose clients when…estimates, proposals or invoices have errors or don’t go out on time.
You have now lost trust.
You’ll lose clients when…calls are unanswered and fill up voice the mail. With no set plan for checking the machine calls get missed and/or returned late.
You have now lost the clients sense of importance.
This is what the client now thinks. “Now that I am a client they take me for granted. I can’t trust this person to do what they said they will do. If they are not keeping their word on these simple things, how will they treat me on bigger projects? I am not going to buy more products if this is how we will be serviced. Is there someone else who can do this for me that is more reliable? I am not going to recommend them and risk my reputation.”
Now, I completely understand about making the most of a tight economy and if you have a business where your team members wear multiple hats and it works, great.
However, all to often I’ve worked with clients and seen confidence in the company dwindle due to the owner’s lack of delegation. Put your ego aside and make investments in employees that will help grow and retain your clients. The money spent on having key people in service jobs will pay for itself when clients trust the company, not just the product or service you provide.