How To Stop Customers From Cheating On You With Your Competitors
As someone who works with all types of entrepreneurs in literally dozens of different industries and categories, I’ve come across a plethora of pain points that we all face.
One of those is understanding WHY customers leave us.
You probably already know the 3 main reasons customers will stop doing business with one company and shift to someone else (e.g., your competitor).
- They moved
- They had a bad experience
- They forgot about you
What you WON”T hear about is the little-known reason I’ll discuss in this article.
And that reason is…
They Want To Be Sold More!
In all the years I’ve been working with entrepreneurs, one of the main culprits that causes a lack of sales is what John Carlton refers to as “selling from your heels.”
In other words, being shy about selling.
It’s funny to me that entrepreneurs think up a fantastic new idea, product or service that adds tremendous value to their customers. They do everything necessary to get the business set up. Then when it comes time to actually ask people to buy the product or service that will help them—they get scared.
Don’t do that!
Think about the last time you dealt with a company where they helped you, yet you bought from someone else. Why was that?
In many cases, it’s because they didn’t take the time to fully educate you about their unique solution and why it was different from their competitor’s. If you were a repeat customer, you probably bought from someone else simply because the first company never told you they had the more advanced solution.
Before I get into this further, let me back it up with a little research…
68% Of Your Customers Want You To Communicate More Often
In a 2009 consumer survey, researchers asked customers of varying businesses why they left that particular business.
68% of people claimed that they stopped working with a business simply because they felt that they weren’t being cared for.
In other words, they had a problem. They needed a solution. Yet the person selling that solution wasn’t being aggressive enough in making sure they got that solution, and then had everything they needed to get the results they were after.
This applies to both before the sale, and after the sale.
So tell me…
- What are you currently doing to follow up with buyers and check in to see how they’re doing?
- What are you currently doing for prospects to make sure they know about all the different ways you can help them?
- What are you currently doing to offer them additional products/services that would benefit them further?
- What are you currently doing to make sure they have everything they need to succeed in solving their problem or getting the benefit they’re after?
I know what you’re thinking.
“If I continually pitch them, they’ll get mad.”
Yes, that’s true.
Many people go “too far” when trying to pitch their prospects and existing customers. They make blatant sales pitches while adding no real value, education or support.
Here’s how you do it right.
How To Add More Value, Provide Better Service, And Increase Sales… Simultaneously
They think value, or helping, is incompatible with selling more and increasing sales.
After all, most people believe an autoresponder sequence should go something like this…
- Email #1 – Content
- Email #2 – Content
- Email #3 – Content
- Email #4 – Pitch
- Email #5 – Content
- Email #6 – Content
- Email #7 – Pitch
- … and so on and so forth
That’s the furthest thing from the truth.
If you want to increase your sales and increase the value you provide to your customers/clients, you must make one simple shift.
Construct your marketing so you position yourself as the trusted advisor and advocate to the person you’re serving.
It’s that simple!
So your email campaign then looks something like this…
- Email #1 – Content which transitions into a soft pitch
- Email #2 – Content which transitions into a soft pitch
- Email #3 – Content which transitions into a soft pitch
- Email #4 – Content which transitions into a soft pitch
- Email #5 – Content which transitions into a soft pitch
- Email #6 – Content which transitions into a soft pitch
- Email #7 – Content which transitions into a soft pitch
I’ve done this with many, many, many clients, and IT WORKS.
It works because you’re constantly adding value and entertainment to their lives while simultaneously, softly, making sure they’re aware of…
- All of your unique differentiating factors…
- All of your various offers…
- Why doing business with you is risk-free…
- Why you’re better than any other solution out there…
- And everything else that helps you make the sale!
Think about it.
By becoming a trusted advisor…
- It’s your duty to tell your customers and clients about anything and everything that would help them achieve their goals…
- It’s your obligation to make sure they’ve thought about every conceivable angle regarding why your product or service will benefit them..
- It’s your right to help them understand why your product or service stands head and shoulders above your competitors so they can get what they need the first time instead of wasting time and money…
See that shift?
It’s no longer about “selling.” You put the shift on being the person who takes care of that customer or client. The person who stands tall with them and gives them the honest truth about what they need, why they need it and how it will benefit them.
Putting This Into Practice
The first step is overcoming your doubt that if you tell people about what you offer, you’ll make them angry.
The only people you’ll offend are those who would never buy anyway.
Remember, by communicating more frequently and being more transparent about who you are, what you have, how you can benefit that person and why you’re better than competitors, you are helping that person.
You’re saving them time. Helping them get what they need. Acting as a trusted advisor. And adding value to their life by giving them valuable insights along the way.
Here are a few ways to make that happen.
- Go through each page of your website. Are you holding anything back? Remember, people research products/services before buying these days. Do that research for them by having it all on YOUR page. You then control the thought process.
- Revisit your email sequences. Don’t have a single email without a call to action. You do not need to sell something in every email. However you should be having them do something each time. It can be visiting a blog post, watching a video, replying to you, or sending them to a product/service page.
- Look into your buyers process. What happens after someone buys? Do they know about your other, higher-end products and services that you offer? Remember, people are coming to you to find a solution to a problem. If you have a product or service which can help them, but you aren’t doing everything you can to make sure they know about it, you’re doing that person a disservice.
I hope this article has helped you.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!