There are a few maxims we have all heard over the years regarding customer retention, including that it is cheaper to keep a current client than it is to have to find a new one.
Also many in the mortgage industry are focused only on the deal they are doing today with the client, so they do not worry about customer loyalty.
Recent data from the J.D. Power and Associates 2011 U.S. Primary Mortgage Origination Satisfaction Study shows those companies who have a strong customer service focus consistently over the past three years ended up growing their market share. Conversely, those whose customer service scores declined over the same three-year period ended up seeing their market share decline.
On a more generic level, a survey conducted by Amdocs, a provider of customer experience systems in the communications arena, quantifies the problems these service providers have with client loyalty. In these numbers is a lesson for originators.
Almost two-thirds believe customers are less loyal than they were two years ago. But seven in 10 say customer retention and loyalty are the critical factors for driving growth.
Meanwhile, 65% of the companies involved in this study said they only institute a retention program when the client has already started the process to find another provider.
As in the mortgage business, the telecommunications arena has many competitive alternatives for consumers.
Julio Puschel, senior analyst and head of operator strategy for Informa Telecoms and Media, commented, “Customer retention and loyalty, far from being a cost center, will become a new center of growth, provided that operators understand what their customers really want and devise their offers accordingly.
“Importantly, customer retention and loyalty programs need to be initiated early in the customer lifecycle and be present during the entire relationship between operators and clients, as opposed to relying on belated efforts to prevent churn.”
Rebecca Prudhomme, Amdocs vice president of product and solutions marketing, provides advice to the communications firms that mortgage originators should listen to.
“The only way to earn loyalty is through deeper customer engagement. Customers demand a high-quality experience across all touch points, starting with their first service experience and continuing over the course of the customer's lifetime,” said Prudhomme. “To do this, service providers must look at the customer holistically and provide them with a simple, proactive, personalized and consistent experience across all channels of interaction.”
Kate Zabriskie, the owner of Business Training Works Inc., Port Tobacco, Md., notes that in the customer service arena words do matter.
“What we say to customers can have an enormous impact on how customers view us and how we view ourselves. Take, for example, 'my pleasure'—a signature phrase used by employees at the quick-service restaurant Chick-fil-A—it sure sounds better than 'no problem.' Moreover, it subtly reminds employees that service should look as if it is a pleasure and not a chore,” she said.
Businesses can improve the experience they provide to their customers by choosing their words carefully.
“Language should not be left up to chance. Think about your typical customer interactions, and look for languaging opportunities. What do you call customers? How do you refer to employees? How do you say thank you?
“By being consistent, your organization is more likely to communicate the messages it wants others to hear,” Zabriskie said.
A Smart Calling Tip from Art Sobczak, the president of Business by Phone, recounted a conversation he had with someone who buys the print services for their company's annually report.
The buyer had told Sobczak about a call he received from a new sales rep looking to obtain his company's business. “I told her no, and she was pretty antagonistic as she shot back with, 'Why?' I told her I didn't see any reason to change, she wasn't too courteous when she hung up.”
What the rep should have done, the buyer continued, was told him her firm specializes in printing annual reports and could provide equal or better quality to what they were receiving now.
And the buyer said that was only the starting point. “It only would have gotten her to the point where she could ask questions to find out what I'm looking for and what I need. Then I'd want to find out how and if she could do that.”
Sobczak said the conversation led him to a revelation of his own. “As I spoke with him, I thought what a great idea that is: Interview buyers and ask them how they like to be sold to.
“Find people who you know are decision makers for different companies. Locate buyers in your own company. Find out what they react favorably to. Even talk to customers you've built up a personal relationship with, and ask them what they'd listen to.
“Don't sell people the way you want to. Sell the way they want to buy,” he said.
One tool to help manage customer relationships, especially when it comes to trying to keep current clients, is the social media.
“An organization does not need to have a large social media presence in order to have an engaged brand,” says Randall Craig, social media and Web strategist.
“A social media presence should include listening to your customers discuss the brand and more, and engaging in the conversation to connect.” Defining a more “fan” centric than “sales” centric perspective on social media is beneficial. “Shares” and wall posts can easily translate into third-party endorsements, and free advertising.
So how can an organization turn these “fans” and “followers” into customers and brand ambassadors? Craig offers several tactics an organization could use in social media to pull that sale closer to the close:
1. Take your time to get to know the customer. As they are getting to know you, they will identify your capabilities. Contrast this with traditional marketing, where expertise leads, and then relationship follows.
2. Allow the customer to take the lead. It's more likely that they will initiate the sales process when they are ready—after all, they know their needs better than you ever will.
3. The customer is not a single voice. Engage with the fans and followers. Focus on the customer experience and their engagement with your social media voice.
4. Ask for the sale if it feels right. Asking for the sale prematurely may do more harm than good. But exposing your expertise over time within the context of a two-way, nonbroadcast relationship, is a far more powerful implicit “ask.”
Social media activities should make an effort to improve credibility and grow the relationships, Craig said, noting shouting “buy me” is the quickest way to lose one's online friends.
How long does it take to make a sale? It depends how quickly you earn it—trust takes time, he answered his own question.
