Losing Customers? How To Fix it
Losing Customers? How To fix it
How can mapping the customer journey improve client satisfaction and retention?
I read a great book called Never Lose a Customer Again by Joey Coleman. Let me give you some context on how I got to this point. We lost close to $50,000 a month in retained business within about five days. Our clients were dropping off, leaving bad reviews, and they were unhappy and unclear. We had been too confident in our methods and became prideful, thinking we knew what we were doing. Then, almost overnight, we lost $50,000. I realized I could either fire everyone or sit down and figure out what we were doing wrong.
We discovered there was no clear customer journey. Everyone goes on a journey, whether you map it out or not. None of ours was mapped out. We thought about Domino's pizza tracker and how it provides a clear journey. I read Joey Coleman's book, and it became clear why our clients were unhappy, why invoices weren't getting paid, and why we had to chase clients for money.
We decided to use Lucidchart to map out the entire customer journey, including our KPIs and who is accountable at each touchpoint. Then I thought, why not incorporate the concept of the "5 Love Languages" into our client relationships? After all, it's all about relationships. So, we used a platform called GoHighLevel, and within each pipeline, we provided updates similar to the Domino's pizza tracker. We also created a new pipeline based on the 5 Love Languages. We’d compliment them on a post, leave a Google review, refer them to a business, send a gift, or spend quality time with them, like lunch, dinner, or a basketball game.
How can strategic partnerships boost business growth?
I had one guest on my podcast who referred me to about half a million dollars worth of business. One relationship, one partner. This shows the power of strategic partnerships. There’s a book, 10x Is Easier Than 2x by Dan Sullivan. When you think in those terms, you realize you can either focus on reaching out to one person at a time or develop relationships with someone who already has influence.
There's a great story about Rockefeller. Someone asked to borrow $100,000 from him. He said no but offered to walk up and down the stock exchange with his arm around them, having a conversation. By the end of the day, everyone would want to do business with that person. That's the power of networking and referral partnerships today. If you align yourself with someone who understands what you do and how you help, it opens doors.
When you know your "one thing"—how you help and who your target market is—referrals come more easily. Staying in meaningful contact with referral partners is important. Instead of just reaching out for the sake of it, I focus on helping them. I ask, "Do you have a webinar? How can I promote you?" I get to know them well enough to connect them with the right people. In return, they often want to help me, too.
You'll quickly learn if someone will reciprocate when you start giving. But that's not why you do it. If it's mostly a "giving" situation, that's okay. They might be in a different stage of their journey. Providing value without expecting anything in return is fine because it often comes back to you in unexpected ways, like improving your networking skills.
*This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.*
