What You Should Do IMMEDIATELY After Losing An Important Client
Entrepreneurs always have the chance of losing a client and are seldom prepared. This can be unsettling and frustrating but don’t worry, this happens frequently. And when a client decides to change vendors, it is usually because of outside factors, not because of the vendor’s performance. This decision hurts the company economically and emotionally. So if you want to know how you can get up from losing a major client, then this is for you.
Luckily for you, BBC Member, we have produced a list of the things that you should do immediately after losing an important client that you can do right now. Remember, that while the first step is completing any of these amazing courses, the second and possibly more important step is taking action even if it’s imperfect action. So without further adieu, let’s get into the video.
Many small business owners know the feeling of being heavily reliant on one client. Usually, entrepreneurial efforts to diversify are unsuccessful, and when a single customer decides to break off, it can be difficult for a business to recover. And if a major customer leaves it could affect your business in a significant way.
However, this isn’t the end of your venture; there are steps that you can take to start up again quickly. Aside from that, there are opportunities for you to survive and even thrive afterward. You need to carefully consider how the customers are leaving and then take the measures accordingly. So here are the tried and tested strategies for handling a departing client.
The first step in mitigating the risk of a client leaving is to find out what went wrong. This step can protect you against clients who are on shaky ground, or worse, going down the wrong path because they aren’t sure what’s worked for you in the past. Next, find out how they might become a great referral source despite their departure, and make sure it isn’t at the expense of providing quality customer service to them as they leave. Reflect on what you learned from your work with clients. This will help you create new strategies so that you can keep future, and current, clients.
Be transparent. You have to give your business partners and employees a heads up that you are going to be at an event. This will let them know they might not hear from you first thing in the morning or when they contact you by email. Send out notifications with useful tips on how they can find new clients in the event of a disaster. Stress that they should not worry and that they still have their jobs, that their work is important but open to new strategies and technology.
Don’t forget to say thank you to the client, and actually mean it. Remember to thank your customers for all their support. Even though they won’t be needing your services in the future, they had good things to say about you and deserve your thanks. If you cut off a consulting relationship with someone in an unpleasant way, it can cause problems that can affect their business for a long time. The most effective way to end a business relationship is to do so in a classy manner.
Next is to keep your door open to their future business. If a customer decides to go with a competitor, let them know that they are always welcome to return. You may want them to know that if the circumstances change in the future you will happily take them back. It’s important to be gracious and grateful to your clients. This leaves them feeling like they’re not at fault and that they may come back in the future if there’s a problem.
You can also ask for permission to check in with them. It is recommended that when you lose a client you should reach out to them at the 30 day mark, and then again at the 90 day mark. Sometimes people hesitate to come back because they feel embarrassed. Even though they want to come back, they feel embarrassed. If a problem happens in the first 30 days, you might get them back.
But if that doesn’t happen, then just let them stick around for 3 and a half months, because that was when they got over their transitional phase. Although your customer does not have to disclose their reasons for canceling the contract, most customers are likely to let you know the underlying reason for this decision. Gathering information from clients can help you in the future.
The client might have decided that it was ending their relationship with your company because they didn’t feel like you were communicating with them or the products or services you delivered weren’t what they expected. Sometimes, this decision is outside of the customer’s control. The company might be going through a rough patch financially and no longer be able to afford your services. The customer might be closing up shop itself and no longer needs your company’s services or products.
Following up with a potential customer after they’ve chosen to cancel the contract allows you to keep the door open for future contact. For example, if you find out that the customer can’t work with you anymore because of financial difficulties, you might be able to work together in the future when it is back on its feet. Additionally, understanding what upset the client helps you to avoid making those same mistakes again with current or future clients.
Word of mouth marketing is essential for any company looking to expand its business. When your current clients are happy with your services, you should ask them to refer potential clients by becoming part of a referral program. Studies have shown that people referred by their friends can be more loyal customers, generate higher lifetime value, and make more frequent purchases.
Be courteous and strategic when you ask for personal referrals. The best time to probably ask would be when your customer is pleased with the service you have delivered to them or feels like they are receiving value. Sometimes a person becomes more supportive of their referral after they have been persuaded that your company can provide value despite not being able to do so in the past.
Have a script prepared when meeting new prospects for your business. For example, you shouldn’t just say “can you sign up for the service now?” but should say something like “this way, you won’t have to worry about time spent on finding deals or discounts.” You’ll want to think of what type of sales process your company has and what referral scripts would work best for that process. Make sure you consider your options ahead of time and plan to give referrals.
While the customer you lost may have been a significant portion of your company’s revenues, hopefully, they weren’t your only client. Take some time to ask your remaining clients if there is anything your company is doing poorly or satisfactorily. You can also just take a general temperature with your existing clients. One client leaving your business can be a huge blow to your profit. You don’t want several to leave either, and even if they do, it should not happen all at once or one right after the other.
Uncovering new prospects to up your game should the current big client deal fall through. Successful big clients need three things – commitment, urgency, and incentives. You will recreate success by going back to your network of prospects and potential sales leads; meeting their needs and incentivizing any cold prospects with discounts, special offers, or trial periods.
One way to recover from a lost client is by considering a more focused lead ranking system and the process of nurturing them. Perhaps the new focus should be figuring out which clients are ready to buy or might need more time to research, question their questions, and build trust. One way to move leads forward is by re-evaluating your current business relationships.
Check in with prospects who you haven’t heard from in a while, try to schedule new rounds of calls and product demos, and delve down into the prospect’s concerns.
One of the best strategies is to figure out how much time you and your team have spent serving a lost customer and dedicate that time to bringing in three new clients. Turning what could be perceived as a negative into something positive keeps your focus on the future and all the great work you will accomplish. In some cases, you have landed a new business that is even more profitable than what you had before.
Focusing on growing and not just appealing to a lost client can help reinvigorate your company. Bonus: You won’t be wasting energy lamenting your loss. Because being dumped by one client can be a reminder that companies need to work hard to maintain steady growth. Large clients often put significant demand on a business’s time and resources, which is why you should always be looking for new ways to grow your company. You need to consistently make the time and energy to develop marketing tactics and reach a new customer base. In order for your business to continue, you need to focus on getting new customers.
Sometimes we lose clients because we didn’t serve them well enough, but this can be avoided. It’s good to figure out where we failed and make sure it doesn’t happen again in the future. Like most companies, you’re considering how to get better and serve your client base. Consider taking a good, hard look at what you can do to retain and service your current customers better. With the right changes, you may be able to come out stronger, with the same professionalism while making more money in the process.
It is helpful to have an emergency plan in place, just in case your company suffers a set back after losing a big customer. Even if you throw your all into keeping remaining clients happy and finding new customers, it can still take several months for a business to recover financially from the loss of a major source of income. You can take a salary cut yourself, and temporarily lay off employees. Or alternatively, you may want to keep all of your staff on payroll while cutting costs and spending until your company has bounced back.
While you’re trying to generate more leads, it’s helpful to eliminate inefficiencies in your current pipeline. You might have fallen into the trap of only pursuing one type of lead generation, like successful practices inbound marketing strategies. But when you lose a big client, it’s time to broaden your lead generation strategies. Just like you wouldn’t want to bet all of your savings on one stock, you shouldn’t spend all of your budget and efforts on just one type of lead generation.
The key to a diversified portfolio is including both inbound and outbound marketing. Try increasing email marketing, advertising through social media, and reaching out to clients through phone calls. Simple tactics like picking up the phone and calling your customers can also do wonders. It is not always wise to move conversations from email (or other social media platforms) to phone calls.
For business-to-business outreach, you are better off having a conversation with a person on the other end of the line. There are nuances and objections that you can cover in person that you won’t be able to identify in email correspondence.
Do not be afraid of business development. Always be looking ahead in your company, with no growth coming from the comfort zone that you’re in. Even if your company is financially stable and doing well, for now, a plan for future crises needs to be put in place.
Business relationships come to an end, so continue on developing new business opportunities. Make it a weekly practice to focus on new developments; at any size or stability a company may have, everything comes to an end – even though it’s simple advice, it has stuck with me since I first heard it.
This last step does not have anything to do with fixing what you’ve already lost. It has more to do with your mindset, which is more important to your success than your bottom line. Our customers put their faith in us with all of their trust; we should remember to be grateful for the opportunity to have helped them. If you focus on the positives and look forward to having even more, it can actually be healthier than resenting a customer who is leaving.
No matter how good a relationship you have with someone, it won’t last forever. A company’s growth and evolution are similar to the personal relationships of its employees. One way to maintain your quality is to strive for excellence in every service you provide in order to acquire new customers.
When you are faced with trials, think back to the time when you overcame something worse. You can also use a crisis as a great opportunity to grow your business and move on to better opportunities. If you lose a client, it may be tough and sad, but the best way to handle this is to be optimistic. You should focus on your business and not let any emotional response get in your way. This time is the perfect time to get creative and have a positive outlook. Keep going forward and do your best in this situation so that you can deliver excellent outcomes for your current clients and for the future.
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