Customer Loyalty Is For Customer Success to Sort, Right? Wrong!
You might think that customer retention rates solely fall under the responsibility of the Customer Success team, right? Well, I’m here to tell you that’s not entirely true! It’s actually a whole company effort.
That’s a blog for another time. Fair warning though, I might get a bit passionate and go on a rant in that one! I don’t have specific data to back it up, but I can share my experience to explain why this notion is a serious mistake.
Now, here’s another misconception: many believe that Customer Success and Customer Support (or Service, depending on what you call it) are the main drivers of customer loyalty.
Nope, that’s not right either! This time, I can back it up with solid data.
The Data, It’ll Surprise You
Have you ever heard of the book “The Challenger Sale” by Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson? I've only just finished reading it, and I stumbled upon some fascinating data they gathered for the book’s research.
By the way, in case you’re not familiar with Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson, they both work at Gartner. If you haven’t heard of Gartner, they’re a technology research and consulting company based in America. Seriously, check out their website sometime – they produce some mind-blowing studies and research. It’s really fascinating stuff!
So, I want to share the headline from their study that caught my attention: drumroll, please!
They found that a whopping 53% of customer loyalty doesn’t actually come from customer service, but rather from the sales experience!
53%! Wow! More than half of customer loyalty, which includes advocacy, referrals, and retention, is influenced by the experience customers have with your salespeople. It blew my mind!
I bet you’re wondering…
Why Is This Important?
So, here’s the deal: this data is seriously important for you to wrap your head around. It shines a spotlight on just how crucial sales are when it comes to customer loyalty.
Think about it: the sales experience has a direct impact on how customers perceive your business. It’s not just about getting them through the door, it’s about setting the stage for a long-lasting relationship.
Your sales team is responsible for delivering that early value and laying the foundation for success. They’re the ones who can make or break that customer’s impression of your brand.
Let me break it down for you even further: if a customer has a crappy sales experience or feels like they’re not being heard by your sales team, chances are they’ll take their business elsewhere. And even if you manage to reel them in initially, they’ll be at a high risk of churning.
Building customer loyalty is no easy feat. It takes hard work to keep your customers happy, and that includes ensuring your sales experience is top-notch. That means investing in training for your sales team so they can build strong relationships with potential customers and create an environment of trust by genuinely listening to their needs.
Remember, your salespeople are the first point of contact with your customers, and they have the power to make a lasting impression. So, make sure their skills are honed, their approach is engaging, and their focus is on building genuine connections. That’s how you’ll make a real difference in education and earn those loyal customers who will stick with your business for the long haul.
So, How Do You Get There?
If you find yourself in the same boat as countless other businesses, where you’re contemplating how to modernise your sales and marketing processes, then this is the bit of this blog for you. It’s time to get rid of those outdated tactics like mass email marketing, cold calling, and relying on webinars to qualify leads. Let’s face it, they’re just not as effective as they used to be.
The game has changed. The rise of social media platforms has transformed customer behaviour and their buying habits. And that means your business needs to adapt too.
You have to stay in tune with your customers, or else your leads will dry up faster than you can say “sales slump.”
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I’ve digressed a little. Sorry. My main point is this: if you’re in this situation, you need to know how to make that change. And luckily, I’ve got two crucial things to share with you. These are the keys to success for your sales team and the driving force behind your business growth:
If you can teach your salespeople these invaluable skills, you will see your business soar to new heights. It’ll be the best career move they make and the ultimate boost for your overall success.
Problem-Centric Selling Mixed With Social Selling
These two things are so interconnected that discussing them separately would be missing the whole point. These two strategies are absolute must-knows for you and your sales team.
Why?
Remember that Gartner data I mentioned earlier? It showed us that salespeople do more than just close deals. They have a massive impact on the entire customer journey. And that’s where problem-centric selling and social selling come into play.
Now, these strategies may sound different, but at their core, they’re all about putting the customer first. When you teach your sales team to master these techniques, you’ll see the magic happen. Picture this: increased brand awareness, more leads, more sales, more advocates, more referrals, more renewals – in other words, more revenue! Plus, you’ll be building stronger customer loyalty and helping your customers succeed. It’s a win-win situation!
Actually, it’s a win-win-win! Nobody loses here. Your customers win because they get top-notch service and solutions. Your business wins because you’re growing and thriving. And your staff wins because the responsibility of customer loyalty and retention isn’t solely on Customer Success anymore. It’s a team effort.
Perfect!
Resources To Help You
So, I recently read an amazing book called “Gap Selling” by Keenan (yep, just one name like Madonna or Prince). It’s a brilliant resource for learning questioning techniques in a customer meeting.
So this is the essence of it: instead of going in with a pitch or hard sales tactics, “Gap Selling” teaches you to focus on identifying the problems your potential customers are facing. And how do you do that? Through asking the right questions! It’s all about revealing the customer’s goals, pain points and challenges to meet their goals. Once you’ve pinpointed the problem they’re struggling with, then and only then can you talk about how your solution can help them. It’s a customer-centric approach that’s simply beautiful!
Now, let’s move on to our second resource, which is our very own Social Selling training and coaching program. It’s a perfect match with the techniques from “Gap Selling”. This program will equip your sales team with the skills they need to grow their network and create engaging posts and content that specifically address the problems your potential customers are facing. Oh, and here’s the cherry on top: we’ll also teach them the art of asking for the meeting at just the right time and in a way that gets between 5 and 20 extra meetings per week, per salesperson.
And guess what happens in that meeting?
They’ll use the powerful Gap Selling techniques to qualify if the person truly has the problem your product or service can solve. It’s the perfect combination to revolutionise your sales approach.
These two resources will help you:
I reckon it’s time you seriously consider this. Let me know if you have any questions. Feel free to message me on LinkedIn or Twitter (X).