"Follow the Leader", Featuring Mike Aoki

What do you think is overlooked by contact center leadership, that hinders their customer retention efforts?

Customer retention is a relationship rather than an event!

Too much emphasis is placed on "saving" customers. That is like waiting until the end of a romantic relationship to tell someone you love them. By then it is too late. Minor frustrations, unfilled needs and finally a "trigger" event cause a breakup.

"EVERY customer contact is a retention opportunity!" Train your agents to look for ways to improve customer experience on every interaction. How can you add value? Look for opportunities to help. For instance, suggest automatic renewals, so customers avoid service interruptions. Offer paperless billing to save the environment and make record keeping easier for customers. Make your customers feel valued. Make it easy for them to stay loyal.

In addition, look for opportunities to add positive emotion during customer interactions. Apologize when appropriate. Be gracious. Use friendly, but professional language in both verbal and written communication. Little things count in a relationship. So, remember to make your customer feel appreciated.

Remember: "Every customer contact is a retention opportunity!" 

Mike Aoki is the President of Reflective Keynotes Inc., a Canadian training company that helps contact centers improve their sales and customer retention results. A contact center expert, Mike serves on the advisory council of the Greater Toronto Area Contact Center Association and was Master of Ceremonies for five of their Annual Conferences. He was also chosen by ICMI.com as one of the “Top 50 Customer Service Thought Leaders on Twitter” for 2014-17.

Follow: LinkedIn | Twitter