Customer Retention &

orientation
 What is Customer Retention?
 Where it is originated

• It is originated from Customer experience

• It Begins during the sales process and Marketing
&Selling the Product/service
must also sell the expectation of positive
experience.
• It formulates the idea that why should
the Customer buy from you instead of a
competitor
 How It can be delivered?
• Positive customer experience can be delivered
by making use of all channels of communication-
staffs, letters, telephone-calls, web-site, E-mail,
Event attendance, etc.

• It is unlike to cost a fortune.

• It must be understood that you only get what you

pay for.
 Definition

• Retention is nothing more than delivering the

right customer experience. It’s simple when
delivered with commitment to the customer.
Service must never deviate from the promise put
across by the marketing message.
• Sometimes we spend huge amount of time &
money to acquire new customer instead of
unwilling to spend a fraction of that to keep their
existing paying customers. Unlike this Practice,
we have to balance both, before & after the sale.
 Retention Basics
• Soft skills are very important in business. It
is essential to be technically sound, but
one should also have the ability to convey
the idea to the customers in the simplest
possible manner.
• Customer should feel that they got their
money’s worth.
 Process for Retention
(Personal Touch)
• Offer only proven & highly quality products and
services.
• Demonstrate customer appreciation.
• Provide responsive and pro-active customer service.
• Give instruction on how to get the most use from
product & services.
• Share customer testimonials with other existing &
potential customers.
• Educate the customer about Industry/market and about
Value of business.
• Invite customer opinions & feedback on Product and
services.
• Do you maintain these? If
your answer is yes, good
for you.

• But if your answer is no,

then you know it is time to
judge & rectify yourself for
long-term achievement.
 Will formal “Personal touch”
process ensure everything
 The cost of this touch process sometimes
makes doing nothing at all.

 Doing nothing doesn’t create positive

customer experience-It results in losing
customer and when customer leave, they
don’t buy, they share negative experience
with others & they don’t recommend the
business. This Negative Marketing
increases the need to spend even more to
compensate for its losses.
 The cost of acquiring & Keeping a
customer can therefore be calculated
together.

 The focus of following-up with

customer should never be about
selling them more but it should be
about making sure they are satisfied
and about providing opportunity for
feedback.

 As a rule, A business should not

have to invest more than 20% of
what it spends on acquiring a
customer to retain that customer
 ~Customer Orientation ~
What is it ?
• It is the focus on meeting the needs of
one’s customers, internal or external.

• It establishes specific customer

satisfaction standard and actively monitors
client satisfaction
 How it is maintained

 At lower levels, the

service involves
courteous & timely
responsiveness to the
requests of customers,
while at higher levels it
involves developing
the relationship of
partner and trusted
advisor.
 Suggested Practices
• On day to day travel, work at responding to people in a
helpful & supportive manner.
• Make a list of customers & their product/services-using.
• Follow-up & be proactive in contacting others when you
feel you are unclear of expectations.
• Take the responsibility for rolling out or installing a new
project, maintain a formal role & follow-up with customer
about your performance.
• Respond to a customers’ complain by first mentally
placing yourself in their position. Focus initially on
listening to the complaint, avoid defensive reactions that
convey anger or frustration. Practice mock-test with
colleagues.
• Spend extra time with customer, practice active listening,
reiterate what you see as their concerns needs,
summarize those and ask for feedback
• Research on your customers’ history with the
organization. Seek out alternative source of
information like database, newspapers & other
public records.
• Set up a tickler file to enable you maintain
regular contact.
• Balance the need of customer with the needs of
others & organization. Negotiate to arrive at win-
win situation.
• Find the ways to explain or bridge the gaps
between the needs of the customer and the
larger organization; conduct a gap analysis.
Use this information to create long-term or
lasting solutions for the customer
• Invite customers to meet immediate outside your
area/ social activities for understanding about
others who are outside your function, also to
expand your network as well.
• To know about your clients’ client. Identify their
expectation, opportunities, constraints &
compare with those are being presented.
• Develop a strategy to deal with mutually
benefited
• Advocate the role of customer advocate. Convey
to your team leader to bring resolution with top
most priority.
• Make a good feedback & suggestion process for
further improvement
 How to Improve Your skills for
Customer Retention &Orientation
 Stephen Coveys’- German scholar :Seven Habits
• Be Proactive- Control ones’ environment using
self-determination & respond to circumstances.
• Begin with the end in mind-Must see the desired
outcome & concentrate on the activities to
achieve that end
• Put first things first-Mangers should manage his
own person & implement activities to achieve 2nd
habit.
• Think win-win situation – Most achievement is
based on shared effort
• Seek first to understand and then to be
understood – Maintain positive relationship
through good communication & is understood by
others.
• Synergize – Habit of creative co-operation, the
principle that collaborating towards attaining a
purpose often achieves more than individuals
working independently
• Sharpen the Saw – Should learn from previous
experiences & encourage others to do the same
FEEDBACK-PLEASE