Keeping current customers coming back for more is essential to the success of your business, and a good amount of research says it's less expensive to keep a current customer than to win over a new customer. Still, for your retail business to thrive, you must grow your customer base.
Fortunately, it's not either/or. Suppose a current customer tells you how much they like a product or service you've sold them. You might say, "Please be thinking about other people you know who also would like it, and I hope you'll recommend they come in. May I give you a few of my business cards in case they want to ask for me?" When a happy customer refers you to others, you not only get a new prospect, but the customer making the recommendation builds commitment to you.
But what if the current customer HATED the product or service? Well, your first task is to make it right with a refund or exchange. Next is to discover why it happened. Researchers from University of Michigan and McGill University found that people who dislike a product or service often are surprisingly open to the idea that people they know would LOVE it.
If a customer is dissatisfied because they found the product or service to be defective, it's insulting to ask them to think of who else might want to buy it. On the other hand, if the problem was a matter of taste, it can work to say, "I understand why the product was a bad fit for you. Now that you're more familiar with it, you might know of some people who you think would like it. If you decide it could help them out, I'd very much appreciate you telling them the product is available here."
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