Keeping Your Customer for the Long Haul

There’s a simple follow up law you probably already know: People who don’t deliver what they promise don’t keep customers.

Some marketers know this, and don’t care. They’re in it for the short grab. Once they’ve made their sale, they’re out of there, like a side-show barker. They scoff at fables like “The Tortoise and the Hare”, where “slow and steady wins the race”. 

Others, like you, really focus on providing a great product that does everything it claims. You don’t allow yourself to fall into the trap of being rushed. You check and test everything, so it all runs like clockwork.

You’d think that’s all there is to keeping your customer for repeat buying journeys, wouldn’t you?  Yet it’s amazing how easily you can lose even a happy, satisfied customer… unless your follow up is systematic and sound.

What Causes a Customer to Jump Ship?

Lots of things out of your control can do this:  A recommendation for your rival’s new product from a friend… the fact that he loves the sparkly fuchsia-and-tangerine website (when the rest of the world covers their eyes and yells, “I’m BLIND!”)… the fact that the header graphic you were selling didn’t come in the colors he prefers, but your competitor’s did…

However, even if he jumps ship once or twice, if you consistently work to please him, and use consistent follow up and contact habits – and most of all, he knows he can trust what you promise – there’s a good chance he may promptly come back to your fold.

Of course, it’s better that he never leave it in the first place… but if that happens, don’t cry over spilt milk: Just keep on refining your follow up efforts.

And besides, odds are – judging by online complaints and statistics – your competitor didn’t keep his promise and didn’t deliver the goods.