Last month we looked at the first area of development which is Getting Customers. As we learned, this requires marketing and selling your health departments. This month, we will focus on the next step which is Keeping Customers. You have served them, now you must nurture the relationship by creating an experience that will create retention.

Let’s start with designing the experience. When customers walk into your business what do they see? How are they greeted? How are the telephones answered? What do they hear when their call is placed on hold?

Have you made a conscious decision on how to make each step of your process enjoyable? From every contact with the staff to each telephone call and email, there must be a concentrated effort to make the experience the best it can be.

Another key to keeping customers is conditioning them to behave a certain way. This can be as simple as recognizing possible future opportunities to serve them. Take your most recent customer for example. What possible future services can you make him or her aware of? Do you have an add-on or upgrade they might benefit from?

Now that you have identified possible future opportunities, how are you going to develop a relationship that will keep you in the forefront of that customer’s mind? Do you have a monthly newsletter campaign? I often coach clients on how vital a newsletter can be to building an ongoing relationship with their community.

Orchestrating the experience means that every contact, email or conversation is planned to create a win-win for the customer and your business. Surveys have proven time and time again that most customers cease doing business with you because they feel taken for granted. Do the people you serve feel like they are talking to a bureaucratic agency or do they experience a nurturing relationship based on mutual respect?