This week I had an introductory meeting with a good friend of a good friend who is a Corporate Council with a passion for Customer Experience. And my friend was correct; Mike Williams is a classy person who understands the service world and gets CX.
During our conversation, Mike told me about when he used a basic understanding of science to explain customer retention to a peer group of Sony Electronics leaders (Mike was EVP & General Council). Here, in my own words, is Mike’s story:
What does it take to start a fire? You only need combustible material (fuel), oxygen, and an igniter (spark, match, or lightning). You can keep pushing the igniter on your propane grill, but your burger will never cook unless you start a gas flow (don’t ask me how I know this, I do!). Good things happen as soon as you begin the propane flow. And he drew this diagram on his whiteboard:
Mike said three things are required to cause a customer to defect – poor product or service, poor experiences with your business, and a viable alternative. Having competition will not cause a customer to defect unless the product/service you provide is unsatisfactory and your business practices and experiences delivered by your employees are awful. My version of the science of fire graphic is shown here:
The lessons I took away from this story are:
- There is no need to worry about competition if you evolve your products and services to meet customer needs and wants.
- Your products and services had better deliver on the promises (expectations) your company is communicating to prospects.
- Your company must be an all-around good partner, and your employees must always treat customers however they want.
I must again ask the title question: why is customer retention so difficult? I think Walt Kelly answered that question in 1971:
Related articles about why customer retention is difficult:
- Customer Retention and Loyalty Require Empowered Employees
- Consistent Experiences Drive Customer Retention
About Middlesex Consulting
Middlesex Consulting is an experienced team of professionals with the primary goal of helping capital equipment companies create more value for their clients and stakeholders. Middlesex Consulting continues to provide superior solutions to meet the needs of its clients by focusing on our strengths in Services, Manufacturing, Customer Experience, and Engineering. If you want to learn more about how we can help your organization improve customer retention, please contact us or check out some free articles and white papers here.