Sustain and Retain

Delight customers and retain them

About Sustain and Retain process

Sustain and Retain refers to the ongoing management of customer contacts in order to keep their attention. When there is a client, business owners must delight them in order to retain them. If they have a long-term contract, they must remain committed. Business owners must ensure that customers return with repeat business, that the contract is renewed, and that customers are retained. 

Here are some of the key practices of this process:

Ongoing order fulfillment without interruption

Receiving and processing items for distribution to clients is what order fulfillment involves. The order fulfillment process takes place in one or more distribution centers and often entails inventory management, supply chain management, order processing, quality control, and help for customers who need to report issues, exchange products, or return them.

Accurate invoicing

Accurate invoicing is a necessary component of running a business. This isn't something that will happen on its own, though, because there are just too many things that may go wrong and lead to errors.  Companies must make the necessary efforts to guarantee that proper invoices are sent.

Inaccurate invoices cause payment delays because clients will raise questions. It also makes poor use of resources. If the company has undercharged the customer, it means loss of revenue for the company.  Furthermore, invoicing errors, especially if they frequently occur, reflect poorly on the organization.

Proactive communication about any unplanned changes to fulfillment schedule

Changes in client behavior and expectations, as well as larger market factors, are constantly monitored by proactive businesses. This enables businesses to predict how such changes would influence their and their customers' operations, prepare how they should respond, and manage change in a timely and effective manner, minimizing any interruptions.  Should an interruption be inevitable, an advance notification to the customer about it along with an ETA goes a long way to keep the relationship for long term.

Conducting customer satisfaction surveys

One of the most basic types of market research that a company can conduct is a customer satisfaction survey.  The principle is simple: as a firm, you want to know how you're doing by measuring customer happiness. To do this, a survey is prepared and distributed to a list of consumers, whether it be online, on paper, or via mail. Customer satisfaction survey findings are used to uncover engagement issues and track success.

Customer service

It's critical to identify new customer service and sales opportunities. This can be well managed with a responsive workforce, cross-departmental communication, and speedy renewal and order cancellation processes, among other things.  A quarterly business review (QBR) is a useful way of keeping in touch with the customer to gauge their satisfaction levels and finding new business opportunities.

Gathering customer testimonials

A client testimonial is an endorsement given by a customer for a product or a service they used. It is a recommendation which is based on the client’s positive experience with that product or service. In other words, the customer has to use your business and be happy with the results. Testimonials are beneficial for business owners because they show potential new customers you actually exist. Moreover, testimonials also indicate that your products or services are high-quality and really work.

Identifying problem areas proactively and offering solutions

Proactive problem solving includes recognizing and resolving issues before they negatively impact the customer. It begins with gathering appropriate data about the processes and systems in order to provide customers with as much early warning as possible. This demonstrates to the customer that the vendor has customer's best interest in mind and is always in look out for opportunities that benefit the customer.

Providing client industry insights

Customers are delighted when their vendors serve as their eyes and ears in the market.  A business can seal a very long term relationship with a customer if it can provide industry insights, competitor intelligence to the customer to use.

Nurturing clients relations (sending season's greetings)

Building effective and long-term relationships with customers requires nurturing of the relationship. A business should not forget to use the basic hygiene acts of relationship such as sending New Year wishes, small gifts, social invitation, etc. in maintaining the relationship.

Steps to sustain and retain customers:

1. Keep track of and analyze attrition data - Companies should carefully measure and analyze the number of customers leave, as well as the reasons for their departure.
2. Create a feedback loop for the customers - Companies need a system for collecting customer feedback and communicating it with the rest of their company. This is where a feedback loop with customers comes into play. It offers a mechanism for gathering, evaluating, and disseminating client feedback and surveys.
3. Keep track of all customer communications in a calendar - Consider using a communication calendar to keep track of customer interactions and identify upsells and cross-sell possibilities.
4. Send out a business newsletter - A corporate newsletter is a simple and inexpensive approach to keep consumers happy. To send updates or offers to all of the consumers at once, use email automation.
5. Begin a consumer education campaign - A long-term investment in client base is demonstrated via a customer education program. Some companies provide customer self-service tools, such as a knowledge base and a community forum, as part of this program. Customers then utilize these capabilities to look for solutions to service issues before contacting the support personnel.
6. Develop a bond of trust with your consumers - Because consistency in offering value to consumers is a significant aspect in creating trust, the organization should be constant in delivering value to customers.
7. Provide one-of-a-kind services - Offering a product or service that is superior to the rivals' in the eyes of their clients is a difficult task, but the payoff is well worth the effort in the end.  Keeping clients in mind, creating a special offering in your firm that addresses a crucial consumer pain issue is worth doing it.

Zoho Apps that help improve customer relation:

• Zoho Survey - Developing and sending out customer surveys is a breeze with Zoho Survey.  Users of Zoho Survey can access a variety of built-in reports and interactive charts to aid in the analysis and comprehension of survey data and the generation of intelligent, actionable insights.
• Zoho Campaigns - This is an email marketing software that helps businesses engage with its potential as well as existing customers using automated email schedules. It can be leveraged for sending out newsletters, greetings and run educational campaigns via email to the customers.
• Zoho Invoice - It is an online invoicing software that assists in creating professional invoices, sending payment reminders, keeping track of expenses, logging work hours, and being paid faster.
• Zoho CRM - CRM is all about getting to know the customer - who they are, how they've been advertised to, and how they've reacted. If all goes well, you can keep communicating with them, and the beneficial relationship continues. While CRM software does not manage client retention on its own, it does offer businesses the tools they need to better manage the activities surrounding customer interaction.

How we help?

Sliver Business Services serves startups and scaleups in developing business systems. We typically help small and medium-sized businesses, groups, and non-profit organizations implement a comprehensive, integrated business suite in alignment with their long-term Business/IT Strategy and enable processes that execute with minimum friction.

At Sliver, we use Zoho applications to achieve the fastest implementation time for a Sustain-and-Retain system, which is 50% faster than the industry average. Our full-service consulting and professional services help map out a company's particular implementation requirements, whether it's a small business, an enterprise, or something in between. We integrate sales, marketing, and product and service departments on one platform improving drastically the customer experience. 

For more information visit us at https://www.sliverusa.com/systems-for-startups. You can also email us at info@sliverusa.com or call us at +1 331.888.2627.