Creating and Keeping Customers

What is the Purpose of Business?

If you ask most people they will say the purpose of business is making a profit, product or service but these are all the outcomes. One of the modern thinkers in business, Peter Drucker, once said that the purpose of business is "to create and keep a customer."

This statement may sound deceptively simple, but it carries deep implications for how businesses should operate, grow, and sustain themselves in a constantly changing world. Let’s break down what it truly means to create and keep customers and how that forms the foundation of long-term business success.

Creating Customers: The Foundation of Business Growth

Creating customers is more than simply closing a sale or acquiring a new client. It’s about identifying a need, offering a solution, and delivering value that resonates deeply with your audience. But how exactly does a business go about creating customers? The process is multifaceted and requires an understanding of who your potential customers are, what they need, and how you can uniquely solve their problems.

1. Understand the Customer’s Pain Points

At the heart of creating customers is the ability to understand their needs and challenges. This requires engaging in thorough research, speaking directly with potential clients, and diving deep into their world. What are their biggest pain points? What frustrations are they experiencing that are not being addressed by current solutions?

By identifying these gaps, businesses can position themselves not just as a provider of products or services but as a solution to real problems. This connection between your offering and their need is what initially sparks customer interest and leads them to engage with your brand.

2. Innovation: Delivering Unique Value

Creating customers is closely tied to innovation. Innovation doesn’t always have to be a groundbreaking technological advancement—it can also be about delivering existing products in new and creative ways. It could involve streamlining processes, offering superior customer service, or developing new features that differentiate you from competitors.

Successful businesses create customers by continuously innovating to meet changing demands and by offering something that competitors don’t. Whether it's a more intuitive user experience, faster delivery, or a more customized product, innovation is the key to catching the attention of new customers and building an initial relationship.

3. Engagement: Connecting with Your Audience

Once you understand your customers' needs and have a solution, the next step is engagement. But it’s not enough to simply advertise your product/service; effective engagement speaks directly to your customers' emotions and desires. It tells a story of how your product or service can improve their lives, making the connection between their problem and your solution.

Engagement is where businesses start to create trust and credibility. Content marketing, social media engagement, email campaigns, and even traditional advertising channels all play a role in introducing your brand to potential customers and persuading them that you are the right choice.

4. Providing an Exceptional Onboarding Experience

The first interaction a customer has with your business after making a purchase is critical. If a customer encounters a poor onboarding experience, they may never come back. Providing smooth, intuitive onboarding—whether it's through customer support, detailed product tutorials, or personal outreach—ensures that customers feel valued from the start.

Creating customers is not just about selling; it’s about ensuring that their first experience with your business is positive, memorable, and aligned with the promises made in your marketing efforts.

Keeping Customers: Building Relationships for the Long Term

Once you've created a customer, the next challenge is keeping them. While acquiring new customers is important for growth, retaining them is vital for long-term success. Studies consistently show that it costs significantly more to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing one. Moreover, loyal customers tend to buy more over time, refer new customers, and become ambassadors for your brand.

So, what keeps customers coming back? Let’s explore the key factors:

1. Consistency in Delivering Value

The most effective way to keep customers is by consistently delivering the value that originally attracted them. Businesses must remain committed to solving their customers’ problems over time. This means ensuring that your product or service continues to meet their needs even as those needs evolve.

Consistency in quality, performance, and customer service builds trust and reinforces the idea that your brand is reliable. When customers know they can depend on you to deliver on your promises, they’re far more likely to stay loyal.

2. Customer-Centric Innovation

Innovation doesn’t stop once a customer is created; in fact, it plays a critical role in retention. As your customers’ needs change, you must continuously innovate to ensure that your offerings remain relevant. Customers want to feel like they are progressing, and they expect the brands they engage with to evolve along with them.

For instance, consider how software companies release regular updates and new features to improve user experience. These innovations, which address customer feedback and market trends, are vital to keeping customers engaged and satisfied.

3. Excellent Customer Service

Customer service is often the "make or break" factor in customer retention. When customers encounter a problem, how that issue is handled can determine whether they stay or leave. Providing responsive, empathetic, and effective customer service is a powerful way to build loyalty.

It's essential to make customers feel heard and appreciated. Offering personalised support, quick resolutions to problems, and proactive follow-ups demonstrate that you genuinely care about their experience. In many cases, even a negative incident can turn into a positive relationship if handled correctly.

4. Building Emotional Connections

While logical factors such as pricing and product quality are important, emotional connections play a massive role in customer retention. Customers are more likely to stay loyal to brands they feel an emotional connection with. This could be through shared values, exceptional experiences, or simply a sense of community.

Brands that go beyond the transaction and foster a deeper relationship with their customers—whether through personalised experiences, loyalty programs, or community engagement—are more successful at keeping customers for the long haul.

5. Feedback Loops and Continuous Improvement

One of the most effective ways to keep customers is to actively solicit their feedback and act on it. Establishing feedback loops ensures that you’re always in tune with your customers’ changing needs and expectations.

By making continuous improvements based on customer feedback, you show that you value their opinions and are committed to providing them with the best possible experience. This engagement creates a sense of partnership between the business and the customer, further strengthening the relationship.

Conclusion: Building a Customer-Centric Business

The purpose of business is not simply to exist or to maximise profits. Instead, it revolves around the principle of creating and keeping customers. Businesses that focus on identifying and meeting customer needs, providing consistent value, and fostering strong relationships are the ones that thrive in the long term.

Creating customers requires understanding their pain points, delivering innovative solutions, and effectively communicating value through marketing and onboarding. Keeping customers hinges on continued innovation, superior customer service, emotional connections, and a commitment to improvement based on feedback.

By aligning your business strategy around these principles, you can build a customer-centric organisation that not only attracts new customers but also retains them, ultimately driving sustainable growth and long-term success.