Many companies are losing customers due to many reasons such as poor customer service, competitors, and poor quality of goods or generally bad experiences from the companies. If companies would like to retain their customers then they have to work harder to ensure that they satisfy the customers. Without customers, any business would not be in business. The main point of a business is that they make money by providing goods and services for customers, and it would be pointless for them to produce goods if there are no customers. More customers mostly imply higher returns while few customers may put the company at the risk of closure due to losses. The customers have to be attracted and maintained if the business is to flourish(DBS Group, 2014).
First, the company must ensure that they provide good quality of goods and services. In this way, customers would always prefer their goods and services as compared to their competitors. A customer is usually attracted to the company for the goods and services that the business deals in. Therefore, the company should ensure that they retain the quality of goods and services they produce to maintain a customer. For instance, it would be pointless for a company dealing in shoes to sell to a first time customer good quality shoes only for the customer to get substandard goods the second time. They would have lost a customer as she is not likely to come back a third time. In this way, the company will have lost a possibly loyal customer. The customer is also likely to give bad reviews about the company despite the fact that she was given quality goods the first time. In addition to losing a customer, the company may have damaged their reputation(Parker, 2004, pp. 17-19).
In a digital world, companies ought to invest in the right technology. This way, they will be able to reach out to the young people who use technology to look for information. They should be accessible online. They should have a website and have a strong social media presence where they can post all their information so that they can be easily accessible to everyone. They can always post on the goods and services that they deal in so that more people are aware of the products that they deal in and so that they can cover a wider coverage than they do by use of physical presence alone. They can also interact with customers and answer their questions promptly. It is necessary that every company hires a person who is specialized in promoting their products on the online platform. The employee will be able to deal with anyissues arising from customers and may help to counter any negative publicity(DBS Group, 2014).
They should also help in ensuring that they treat customers well. Any rude employee should not work with the company as they will most likely discourage customers from buying goods or services. People do not like to be treated badly especially in a case where they are paying for a good or a service. Employees must always remember to treat customers with courtesy and ensure that they are satisfied. The employees must be motivated to work hard and motivation may be in terms of their pay package or any other forms of rewards. Rewards will always make an employee work harder to maintain their jobs, which in this case means, maintaining the employee. If an employee treats a customer with no courtesy, the customer is likely to remember the bad treatment even if he or she has been treated very well in the past. Human nature is designed to remember the bad things that happen and forget all the good things(Parker, 2004, pp. 21-22).
Another issue that makes companies lose customers is stiff competition. Many companies that deal in the same goods and services and it would be useless to provide substandard goods if there are many companies producing the same good. It is important for a company to differentiate itself by producing something better than what the rest of the competitors. They may be forced to review their prices to compete effectively with other companies. In the case where the quality of goods cannot be changed or made different, they may be forced to be more creative than the other companies. They may consider offering after sales services, maybe a gift voucher and maybe even a campaign helping them to get loyalty from customers. They could also look into the possibility of having various discounts for goods over a certain price range(Parker, 2004, p. 22).
The company should also ensure that they keep in touch with the existing customers. This is to keep them updated on any new product or maybe to just find out if the product or service that they paid for has served them well. It may also be to get any feedback on the good or service. Getting feedback from customers is very important as it helps the company to get reviews from the customers directly. They may be also be made aware of any improvements that may require improvement or any adjustment. This way, the customers really feel that they are important and that they matter(DBS Group, 2014).