Relationship Marketing 101 : Winning Back Your Customers

Whenever I get invited to talk on various marketing management concerns, my first priority is to put my audience at ease. I've attended seminars here and abroad and I hate it when the speaker seem to be enshrined in his own ivory tower. I was invited by the Philippine Marketing Association (PMA)in one of their paid seminars at the Dusit Hotel few months ago and it was a great experience. However, since i was only given an hour to lecture, I had to cut short the Q&A but I instead encouraged the participants to email me for their questions.

Through this blog, I intend to share my answers to some marketing-related questions I've been getting from various sectors.

QUESTION : Is it too difficult to win back a dissatisfied customer?

TIMCAP RESPONDS : "Win Back" is about keeping the door open for lost customers to come back, or offering compelling, individually relevant reasons to try the company again. The key here is to understand why customers defect and to take steps to avoid repeating the same mistakes- by conducting exit interviews with dissatisfied customers, for example.

Again-as in people's personal lives-- one bad experience does not necessarily mean the end of business relationship. Rather it can be an opportunity to respond quickly and win back customer by admitting the error and fixing the problem.

Communication remains key in this stage, since 55% of customers only complain "sometimes" when they are not satisfied, and eight percent never complain. Studies show customers who receive prompt and satisfactory resolutions to problems--once again, indicating a company cares about them-- will likely become even more loyal than before.