customer support

We all know that the cost of acquiring new customers can be very expensive. Depending of course on the product you are selling, the cost of getting a new customer can be as high as $1,200 or more. I have a client that sells medical equipment, and he told me the cost of landing a new prospect and converting them into a client is a minimum of $1,200 per, and that figure is low compared to some of the other equipment that they manufacture and sell. Conversely, the cost of losing that customer runs into the tens of thousands over the course of a year or more, thus they spend a great deal of time and money to insure that the event does not happen. But, sometimes it does, no matter how hard we try. And if you lose the customer, and don't learn from it and make improvements, shame on you as a manager/owner. I have always said, it's not so bad that an employee makes mistakes, as long as they learn from them. But if they continue to make the same mistake over and over, something needs to change.

One way to "learn" from losing a client is what we call the "Lost Client Survey". And this generally involves a phone call to the lost client to find out where you went wrong. Unfortunately, most people don't want to go through this much pain for what they may not perceive as gain. Since you have already lost the client, you figure, why rub salt in the wound, or give them a chance to rub it in. However, as I have discovered when conducting this activity for clients, on more than one occasion, we were able to rescue the client. And because we cared enough to follow up and show the lost customer that we cared, on several occasions, that same client was unhappy with the service they received from the new vendor, and came back to us to give us another chance. Thus a win/win situation evolved. We obtained a lost customer back, and sharpened our customer service as a result, which may have saved others.

The Lost Client Survey should always be conducted over the phone, or even better, in person when possible. If after the third attempt, the client will not respond, then send them a questionnaire form by snail mail and enclose a five dollar coupon for Starbucks or Panera Bread. It is rare that they will throw away the questionnaire and keep the coupon, but if they do, it will have a lasting effect on them nonetheless. If it doesn't, you are better off not doing business with them anyway. And the coupon sends them a strong message, you care about their business.

Begin the survey with an apology for whatever you have done to lose their business. Interview your people to attempt to understand the issue, but do not describe it to the customer. Allow them to tell you. I know it's hard to believe, but your folks don't always shoot you straight anyway. And do not pawn this practice off on the person that dealt with them. They are the worst person you want doing this. If you were the reason they left, and you are the boss, eat your crow and apologize and conduct the survey. Write the survey questions out, write the answers, and file it away or post it for other people in your organization to see. If your people can see that you are serious about customer service, they will be too.

In part 2 of this series, we'll develop some suggestions for survey structures that may be helpful to you. We will also look at issues such as help desk software and ideas on how to improve your customer support. For more information: Cynergy Software/