How to identify unhappy clients and retain them

15 Apr How to identify unhappy clients and retain them

According to a research done by Frederick Reichheld of Bain & Company, increasing customer retention by 5% raises profits by 25% to 95%. It is no surprise then that the acquisition of new clients costs significantly more than retaining existing clients.

If your clients are satisfied with your service, they’ll not only provide you with steady revenue, but you’ll also see many opportunities to up-sell your other services to them.

Happy clients positively impact your bottom line. But when a business owner finds out that a client is discontent, it’s usually too late and their customer has already jumped ship.

How can you identify a dissatisfied client and take steps to save their account in time? Read on to find out.

1. Frequent complaints

A client calling to complain is a sign that they trust you, want to continue working with you and are looking to resolve their issues. But if you’re noticing that a client’s calls have become more frequent, then it would be wise to assume that they’re frustrated and likely to churn.

Recognize their concerns, list them down and try to address them as soon as possible.

2. No engagement

Another way to detect a dissatisfied customer is when he or she cut off all engagement with you without notice. For every single customer complaint, you’re receiving, there are many unhappy customers with the same concerns who never speak up. These customers are waiting for you to come to them and inquire. Reach out to them and get their feedback on the service they’re receiving from you so they don’t take their business elsewhere.

3, Repeated references to the contract terms

When client(s) repeatedly refer and remind you of the terms of the contract to gain assistance, then you can ascertain that they have lost their trust in you. Regain their trust by meeting with them with the same enthusiasm and promise that you had in the first meeting.

4. Measure the quality of your service

Besides the obvious determents like the deliverables your clients should be receiving from you, you may ask them to rate aspects of your service on a scale so you can calculate your Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT).

You may also collect feedback from your clients to calculate your Net Promoter Score (NPS), a measure of how likely your customers are to refer you to someone else. Here’s how it works: Ask your clients how likely they are to recommend you on a scale of 1-10. Divide the scale into 3 sets; Promoters (9-10), passives (7-8) and/or detractors (0-6). Subtract the % of promoters from detractors and you’ll get your NPS score.

Lastly, you may also estimate the Response Time between a complaint being filed by a client and it being resolved in order to detect underlying procedural issues that could be disappointing a customer.