Six Ways to Win Customers for Life

This article answers the question: How can companies win customers for life?

Answer: Companies can win customers for life by focusing on retention, aligning employees around a clear customer experience vision, valuing existing customers, and consistently delivering an experience that gives customers a reason to come back.

I recently interviewed Ed Howie, founder and CEO of Lifelong Customers, for an episode of Amazing Business Radio. He shared what he refers to as “six essential realities for winning lifelong customers.” Here is his list along with my commentary and interpretation of each strategy:  

1. Customer service doesn’t create growth. Customer retention does. I’ve written that the problem isn’t customer service. That’s the solution. The problem is customer retention. Growth happens from new customers, getting existing customers to return, and getting those who return to buy more. When you create an amazing experience, customers come back and spend more. Focus on retention, and your business grows.   

2. Most companies are competing in the wrong economy. Howie’s explanation of the “wrong economy” is that companies focus the large majority of their marketing budget on new customer acquisition. He suggests focusing instead on the “customer attention economy,” which is about customer retention. My suggestion is for organizations to put the right people on the front line, train them properly, and empower them to deliver the experience you want customers to have. 

3. Clarity creates alignment. Alignment accelerates sales velocity. Every employee should be aligned with your customer experience vision. I call it a mantra, a one-sentence-or-less phrase that describes exactly what you want the customer to experience. Without clarity on that mantra, employees may not be aligned to deliver the experience you want.     

4. Stop chasing strangers and love the customers who love you already. I love this one. Howie’s take is to not “gush” over new customers while taking existing customers for granted. Think about industries like internet and phone services, where new customers get incredible deals, while existing customers pay substantially more. If you’re going to offer new customers an incentive, do something special for your current customers that proves you love them just as much, if not more. That goes for how you treat them, too. 

5. Loyalty is a feeling. Customer retention is an operating system. You can’t force a customer to be loyal. Loyalty is an emotion that is earned over time. Retention, however, is something you can manage. You can make it a process through training and essential behaviors you put into place to deliver a consistent experience. Think of retention as the system that creates the opportunity for loyalty. Get that right, and over time, customers may reward you with loyalty.   

6. Customer experience is either winning or losing your lifelong customer. I go back to my comment in the first strategy about customer retention and growth. When I hear someone say, “They don’t have customer service,” my response is, “No, the company does have customer service. It’s just not good customer service.” The experience you deliver will either drive customers away or draw them back. Consistently deliver the experience customers want and expect, and you can turn a one-time customer into a repeat customer, and eventually a loyal customer. 

While I’m 100% in agreement with Ed Howie’s six strategies, my take on them may differ slightly. Ultimately, we end up in the same place. Winning customers for life isn’t about one great interaction, a loyalty program, or a clever marketing campaign. It’s about a consistent experience that gives them a reason to come back.