Taking Your Customer Care to the Next Level: Customer Retention Depends Upon Customer Care

Companies spend big money and significant resources to acquire new customers while they tend to give little thought about how to hold onto clients who are heading for the exits. That's a mistake. Businesses need to change their thinking on this front and retool their strategies to dedicate more time and effort to retain the customers they already have. They can do that by elevating the customer experience. The new book "Taking Your Customer CareTM to the Next Level" explains how. Authors Nadji Tehrani and Steve Brubaker, both Customer CareTM experts, take readers on a journey that explores the importance of repeat business, and how to go the extra mile to keep customers coming back. The book looks at the role of content, leadership, listening, marketing, mobile, people, personalization, social media, training, and video in Taking Customer CareTM to the Next Level. Customer experience has become a hot topic in recent years, and companies are pushing the message that they are keenly focused on CX. But for all the talk about this subject, there are very few organizations out there today that deliver truly Next-Level Customer CareTM, Tehrani and Brubaker note in their new book. "Ironically, as we searched for relevant experiences of companies with extraordinary Customer CareTM, we had great difficulty finding more than a handful of companies that have truly put the complete package together for Taking their Customer CareTM to the Next Level," the authors write. The bottom line is that customers today, for the most part, simply are not being wowed by the companies with which they do business. There are, of course, a few rare exceptions to that rule. The book illustrates the first point by sharing actual case studies and examples of experiences that, the authors say, should be shocking if it weren't for the fact that poor customer experience has become the norm. More importantly, however, "Taking Your Customer CareTM to the Next Level" looks at some examples of companies and other organizations that have done just what the book's title suggests. Among the companies noted in the book are Ace Hardware, Amazon, American Express, Apple, Disney, The Ritz-Carlton, Starbucks, Southwest Airlines, Wine Enthusiast, and Zappos. One of the top justifications for spending the time and money to implement a new strategy to deliver Next-Level Customer CareTM is that it's far less expensive to keep existing customers than it is to win and onboard new ones. That said, Tehrani and Brubaker urge readers, if your advertising budget line item is greater for customer acquisition than customer retention, you are fighting a losing battle. They emphasize the importance of putting more resources into existing customers, who as a result will stay loyal and even become advocates. Business owners and executives, the authors say, must lead by example to put the customers' needs at the forefront and develop incentives, policies, and training to match the needs of the customers. Indeed, Customer CareTM is about more than making the sale and then moving on. It's about cultivating long-term relationships. While systems like integrated CRM solutions, location-based technology, marketing automation, mobile apps, and omnichannel support can help make that happen, the bottom line is that businesses need to have the right people in place to deliver Next-Level Customer CareTM. By the right people, the authors mean people who are compassionate and helpful, and who have the information and skillsets to get the job done. "Poor customer relations cost companies nearly $41 billion each year," Tehrani and Brubaker write. "But this doesn't have to be the case. Preserve relationships by providing the utmost compassion for your customers and Take Your Customer CareTM to the Next Level."

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Nadji Tehrani is credited with making teleservices and call centers America's biggest growth business. He founded Technology Marketing Corp. in 1972, and a decade later, he launched Telemarketing magazine―considered the bible in helping companies around the globe increase their sales, deliver superior customer care, and build market share. In the years since, the magazine evolved to become Customer Interaction Solutions and now CUSTOMER magazine in a move to reflect the expanding role customer experience plays not just in the call center but across all interaction channels and business disciplines, including product design, marketing, and sales. Tehrani remains the executive group publisher and editor-in-chief of CUSTOMER magazine to this day. Tehrani is also the recipient of numerous awards. In 2003 he was inducted into the American Teleservices Association Hall of Fame. He was presented with the National Leadership Award from the National Republican Congressional Committee. And he was selected by then congressman Tom DeLay as the honorary cochairman of the Business Advisory Council.

Steve Brubaker began his career at leading contact center solutions provider InfoCision in 1985, where he currently serves as chief of staff. He's also a member of the Direct Marketing Association, the Professional Association for Customer Engagement, and the Society of Consumer Affairs Professionals. Brubaker is the recipient of numerous industry and other awards. In 2007 he was honored with the prestigious Fulcrum Award from the American Teleservices Association (now known as PACE) in recognition of his extraordinary contributions to the call center industry. In 2012 he was selected by the University of Akron to receive the Simonetti Distinguished Business Alumni Award. And just last year he accepted the University of Akron Honors College Distinguished Alumni Award. The InfoCision executive is also known for his popular blog, The-Right-Call, in which he offers tips on such topics as how to create a personalized customer care experience, how to ensure all employees deliver a consistent face for the brand, and how to keep workers motivated so they can deliver the best possible customer experience.

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