How to Win Back the Customers Who Walked Away From Your Business

No one is immune to mistakes, but some mistakes have more severe consequences than others. For businesses, one of the worst consequences of errors is lost customers. But sometimes it is hard to know why customers have left and even harder to bring them back.

It is important to know what customers want and expect by conducting a customer satisfaction survey. It’s also vital to conduct a customer loss review survey of former customers to understand why they were disappointed and give your business the tools it needs to bring as many of them back as possible.

The Power – and Limits – of Brand Loyalty

In general, people tend to gravitate toward familiarity. They find something they like, and as long as there are no major issues with it, they will stay faithful to that brand. Brand loyalty fosters some level of forgiveness in customers, but it is not something that can be taken for granted. By periodically reaching out through customer satisfaction surveys, businesses can determine exactly what it is about their brands that keep customers coming back and take the steps they need to continue those business practices.

There are many things that can erode the reputation of a brand. It could be cutting corners or changing the product itself. It could also be service-related, such as aggressive sales techniques or long wait times. For an individual customer, one bad experience can cause customer loss. Failing to keep up with industry improvements can also cause customers to stray from a brand. Businesses need to understand what they are doing right through a customer satisfaction survey as well as the mistakes identified through a customer loss review survey.

Reaching Those Who Have Turned Away

When a business loses one customer, there is a potential of losing more. Even if the customer isn’t especially eager to talk to someone from your company, it is likely that he or she will want to be heard. That could mean talking to a couple of neighbors on the block, a half-dozen coworkers in the break room, or hundreds of friends and followers on social networking sites.

A third party survey research partner can provide the necessary distance your business needs to get honest answers about what is right and what is wrong with your company and your brand. It is important that the survey questions and the analysis of the answers be developed and reviewed by psychologists. Once the analysis takes place, the third party should then provide an action plan on what a company needs to do to hang on to current customers and win back its former customers.

Sometimes businesses have some sense of what their mistakes or oversights are, but often there are other factors they haven’t considered. Whatever the reason, businesses need to take responsibility for their actions or their failure to meet customer expectations. An offer of compensation and a plan for making customers’ experiences better if they do choose to return is an important component.

The best analysis reveals what customers want and expect. As a result, you will learn about those customers who have reasonable expectations as well as those who are nearly impossible to please– ones who drain time and resources away from the customers who add to the value of your business and your brand.

NBRI helps companies just like yours by combining powerful research with deep analytics. If you’re ready to join their ranks, here’s how we can help: