"A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush." We've all heard this cliche before and for some it symbolizes 'settling' ~ take what you have rather than risking it for more! But this old school way of thinking does not inspire a pursuit of success. With risk often comes reward, and lets face it after the 09 global crisis the risk seems higher than ever while the rewards seem scarcer. The safety of 'working for someone else' has even begun to start showing cracks. So if everything has an element of risk perhaps retention is a key. Retain your employment, retain your clients, retain a solidified career path, retain your investment growth... Perhaps 'a bird in the hand' is referring to the retaining of increasing success?
For all you entrepreneurs out there, you will know that reaching business success and maintaining success (and yes, 'success' always includes an element of growth) often require a slightly tweaked set of skills. As a going concern, a business entity should always be measuring activity and analyzing the results. This does not mean using all available time and resources to constantly report and analyze to the detriment of action, but you will need to know where things are at in any given moment, and know your organisations strengths and weaknesses to be able to leverage resources in the face of opportunity.
One good measurement in maintaining success is customer retention. The reason this is important is simple. A customer retained is worth six new ones. This is separate from growth and customer acquisition as this should still be happening and the entity should still be experiencing growth. (Unless you are in the rare and uber-lucky position of operating constantly at 100% capacity.) But the simple fact is (did I say fact, I meant rule of thumb) it takes six times longer to acquire a new customer than it does to keep an existing one. An existing customer knows you. They know the way you work, they are familiar with the quality and they have first hand knowledge of your systems which means zero learning curve. It therefore makes sense to keep them happy.
Your business should keep their loyalty in focus, operating in a way that considers and works for them too, not just you. Be conscious of your actions and ethics and avoid letting them down.
Above all, Always be rave worthy. Do not underestimate the power of word of mouth. This is growth on a platter. A trusted endorsement that you can leverage. Good clients bring in good referrals.
You want your brand culture and good service to work for you. You don't want simply operating to work against you just because your frontline staff got out of the wrong side of bed or missed their morning coffee! But as you will know, sometimes the unavoidable happens. An accident or mistake can instantly create customer dissatisfaction. This requires swift yet tender care. Deal with it, ringfence the issue and prevent it spreading. Be aware of todays social technologies and how this affects the speed of viral negativity. Nothing hurts like that bird in the hand tweeting bad thoughts to all the birds in the bush! Rectify the situation. Right your wrong.
Remember, by dealing with it in a busy shop or on a crowded Facebook page you can quickly transform and win back the customers loyalty and trust. An open environment shows transparency and solid ethics. The customer chose to shop with you in the first place, so show them why they should remain loyal. Offer value and benefit. No one usually targets a business, using a weaponsied dose of 'being impossible' just to get something for free unless the business has had a reputation for the way they resolve issues?
All in all keeping an existing customer loyal and happy is easier and more valuable when compared with the task of client acquisition. Perhaps it should be 'A bird in the hand is worth six in the bush?'
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