Strategies And Tactics To Salvage At-Risk Clients

by Tom Ruwitch

Last month I learned that one of our clients was struggling with our company’s email marketing software. The struggles were minor how-to issues, but they were enough to keep her from using the software, and they put our relationship with her at risk.

We called her and addressed her concerns. If we had not discovered the issue or if we had ignored it, we most likely would have lost this client.

Every business should have systems to identify and salvage at-risk relationships. Without such systems, you lose more clients and you have to generate more new sales just to break even. A minor improvement in customer retention can mean a major increase in profits.

Here are some of the ways we identify at-risk clients: Once a quarter, we send clients a survey and ask, “How are you doing?” We also call every client at least once per quarter and ask that question. The client we helped last month revealed her concerns in a survey.

We monitor the volume of calls and emails to our customer support desk. When we identify a client who calls more frequently than others, we reach out. We monitor software usage. Clients use our software to create and send emails. They usually establish sending patterns (a monthly newsletter, for example). When those patterns shift, we contact the client.

Last year we noticed that a client stopped sending emails abruptly after sending monthly newsletters with us for years. We called the client and discovered that the person who used our software had left the company and her replacement had no idea how to log in to use our system. We walked her through the software, and her company now sends monthly emails again.

We track responses to the email newsletters we send to clients. Our email software tracks who opens the emails and who clicks various links. It also tracks who opts out. Earlier this year, a client opted out.

We called the client not to say, “Why did you opt out?” but to say, “How’s it going?” Sure enough, the client had some concerns that we were able to address. We probably would never have discovered the concerns if we had not monitored the email data, and that client may have left us if not for our phone call.

Your small business may not be exactly like ours. You may not have a help desk you can monitor. You may not have any way to track whether a client actively uses your product.

But every business can collect clients’ email addresses and phone numbers. You can always call or email and ask, “How are you doing?” You can send customer feedback surveys, and you can monitor response to your email newsletters.

With just a little bit of strategy and effort, you can identify those at-risk clients, salvage those relationships, improve customer retention and maximize profits.

Tom Ruwitch is founder and president of MarketVolt, a St. Louis-based interactive marketing firm and ESP. For a free e-book that offers more detail on email marketing best practices, go to MarketVolt.com/hero.