This past weekend, I met someone who works at an auto dealership, one that I'd heard very positive things about. Let's call him "Paul." The following conversation ensued:
Me: So how's business?
Paul: I tell you. It's great. We sold over 400 cars last month and beat a comparable dealership in another state in a competition we were having.
Me: Wow! That sounds great.
Paul: Yeah, we're all exhausted after last month, but I'm happy to be in this situation. Most every other dealership around here is struggling, but we just keep selling cars.
Me: Why do you think your dealership is doing so well?
Paul: The main thing that we attribute it to is customer retention. We don't do nearly as much advertising as most dealers around here, but it seems that even when the car market isn't great, our customers keep coming back to us. We get LOTS of repeat business.
Me: I'm happy for you.
Paul: Thanks. I've been here 10 years, and we've just always been busy like this; the organization just does a great job.
The employee was exhausted, but he was exhausted from transacting business with a high volume of repeat customers, not from beating the pavement looking for new customers. He was exhausted from success, and Paul attributed that success to customer retention.
The slow times in an economy or for an industry happen, but they can be mitigated by strong customer retention.
The slow times in an economy or for an industry happen, but they can be mitigated by strong customer retention.
Work today to build your relationships with high quality employee attitudes, skills, and knowledge. Work to have high quality processes and high quality products and services.
Build your credibility and relationships you have with customers today, so they'll keep your sales higher than competitors during those tough tomorrows.
Build your credibility and relationships you have with customers today, so they'll keep your sales higher than competitors during those tough tomorrows.
