How to lose your customers in 2023

James Hunnybourne at Ultima outlines the most common ways that businesses today are likely to lose their customers

 

As the economy suffers and money gets tighter, budgets often shrink. This can spell bad news for your customer experience strategy.

 

But cutting investment in this area represents a significant risk in the long term. Additionally, technology businesses are experiencing supply chain issues and skills shortages. It’s easy to see how your attention might be taken away from your customers resulting in losing them and adding to your business woes.

 

Let’s look at some of the ways you are likely to lose customers in 2023 – because once you understand the pitfalls, it’s much easier to plan how to keep those precious customers.

 

Not knowing your customer: if you don’t understand what makes your customers tick, how can you provide the right products and services for them? Knowing who your ’ideal customer’ is goes a long way to ensure you provide the right products and services.

 

Companies that are profitable and growing are usually the ones who know their customers the best. They are constantly finding ways to get closer to their customers, in part through more significant digital investments that help them engage more directly and better personalise their offerings.

 

But they are also investing more in product innovation capabilities and related analytics to help them meet their customer’s changing needs.

 

Not listening: this, for me, is the most fatal way businesses fail their customers. Your customers know what they want and how they want it – so ask them. Then listen.

 

If you don’t listen and then adapt your behaviour (or products and services) to what your customer wants, then they will go to another business that will listen. And there is probably a whole queue of businesses just waiting in the wings to hear them and how you failed.

 

Not adding value: complacency around your business offering is one sure way to lose customers. Companies that are constantly striving to add value and who are prepared to ’go the extra mile’ for their customers are the ones who are winning. It’s so simple to believe you have the best product, but there will always be someone snapping at your heels to provide a better one - ignore this at your peril.

 

Those companies that are creative and add value for their customers are the ones that will see repeat business.

 

Pushing your agenda: I think we can all identify with businesses that work with partners and vendors and feel the need to make sure they are offering their products and services to their customers.

 

But it’s too easy to find yourself wrapped up in trying to please partners and vendors when it’s what your customer wants that is the most important thing. Pushing your own goals or those of your partners onto your customer will make them disappear - and fast.

 

Not recognising loyalty: not showing you value your customers is a sure way to lose them. Why should they buy from you when you never thank them for their custom or offer them a better deal for their loyalty? If you aren’t showing your customers appreciation regularly, their eye could be drawn to a competitor’s offer, and you’ll be another customer down.

 

Inconvenience: how many times have you dropped off a call centre call because you can’t get through to the right person or talk to a real person quickly? Worse still, you are left in a queue for so long that you lose the will to live.

 

If you want to keep your customers, make sure it’s easy to get through to your helplines or customer services desks so that customers can have their queries dealt with promptly. You should be monitoring what they are asking regularly and providing assistance in a way that makes them feel valued.

 

Poor pricing: it might sound simple, but so many companies make the error of pricing themselves out of the market or not charging enough. Knowing your product, your market and your customers and what they are willing to pay for your products and services is critical. Don’t undervalue your services but know your competitors’ charges and where you fit in against them.

 

Security breaches: the fastest way to lose customers is to mess with their data. With the increasing frequency of cyber-attacks, businesses that do not take adequate measures to protect their customers’ data will suffer from data breaches. Customers avoid companies that have a history of security breaches – research has shown a third of UK businesses (33%) said they lost customers after a security breach, and 34% said they suffered reputational damage.

 

Ensuring you have the right cyber-security tools in place is critical to preventing breaches, but perhaps most important is ensuring your staff are well trained in cyber-security and feel a personal responsibility to be aware of phishing attacks.

 

Lack of personalisation: with the advent of social media and digitalisation, we’re all used to highly personalised marketing messages. In 2023, your customers will continue to expect a highly personalised experience when interacting with your business.

 

Companies that do not offer personalised experiences, such as tailored recommendations or personalised communication, will struggle to retain customers as they won’t be bothered to open your communication.

 

Bad customer service: customers expect exceptional service from the businesses they interact with. If a business provides poor customer service, such as slow response times, rude or unhelpful staff, or difficulty resolving customer issues, it will lose customers.

 

As well as excellent training, you need to make sure you are supporting your team through these difficult times so that they can provide good customer service themselves. 

   

Inadequate tech: many websites have let a business down by crashing when too many customers try to access a special deal or marketing offer. Make sure your technology is robust and flexible. Moving to the cloud is a good option for businesses that need to ramp up and down their capacity around seasonal promotions or special occasions.   

 

Finally, having a big ego and thinking you are delivering the best possible customer service is very easy. But being humble and realistic about your work is vital to excellent customer service. Think about all the pitfalls and the level of relationship you have with your customers.

 

Do you want to be a trusted partner? If so, what more can you do to become one by helping your customer achieve their goals?

 

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James Hunnybourne is CRO at Ultima

 

Main image courtesy of iStockPhoto.com