Finding buyers for your products/services can be hard, but what is even harder is GETTING and KEEPING those buyers satisfied, so they do NOT feel what is called “buyer’s remorse” and demand their money back, or refuse to give you repeat business.
Having said the above, let’s be clear about one thing though:
You CANNOT please all your clients. There will be those with whom you simply will not be a good fit – and it will be NO FAULT OF YOURS. When that happens, you must be ready to let such people go. NEVER make the mistake of assuming you have to keep all clients at all costs.
In other words, client attrition is a necessary evil (I call it a blessing) that ALL of us will have to deal with every now and then.
What is crucial however is that you ensure that you keep it as low as possible, and ensure it does NOT happen with those you know are your ideal clients i.e people who fit your target audience profile.
In my case, I learned YEARS ago that NOT all buyers deserve to be my clients, so I’ve developed a screening system to identify and keep such people out of my network of potential buyers as much as possible.
With that system in place, I then go all out to use my marketing arsenal to rope in those who remain, and ultimately sell to some of them.
However, once a sale happens, I DO NOT go to sleep!
Instead, I stay alert for ANY issues that may be raised by the new buyer – even as I keep close contact (via periodic email, Whatsapp and phonecall “Hellos”) with even older clients.
If s/he (or any of the others) raises ANY issue with the solution provided, I instantly click into my accelerated Support Service Provision mode.
During this phase, I draw on all my knowledge and experience, as well as information from past client interactions, to help the client get the desired outcome in using the solution delivered to him/her.
I’m proud to say that 95% of the time time, I have succeeded in addressing raised issues, earning myself the client’s subsequent appreciation
In many cases, that ended up opening the way for more up-selling opportunities in the future, and at some point a real lasting friendship with him/her.
The screenshots and email transcripts reproduced below, illustrate a real life example in which I employed the strategy described in this article, very recently, to solve a problem for a “newly minted” buyer of my Excel-VB Ration Formulator app.
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BELOW: His email informing me of the difficulty he was having, getting the app to run normally…
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Sep 15 (2 days ago)
Good morning
I was so busy during the Salah break that I was unable to down and run the RF app. However I was able to download the RF-Exports.xls , data-appended.xls and the zipped folder that contains the picture guides. And also the 4 YouTube videos. It seems these 2 excel files are not the main app for the ration Formulator because I could not find the login screen in order to use the password you provided in your email. ThanksSent from my iPad
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BELOW: I send him a reply, after speaking on phone with him – adding URLs to a video on how to enable macros etc….
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The video shows how. The 2 articles offer additional information and education
1. Start-Up – Excel-VB Ration Formulator.avi – YouTube | 23 Nov 2011 | Tayo Solagbade shows how to enable macros (in Excel 2007) to run his Excel-
VB …
http://youtube.com/watch?v=z8B1yX8e-GY
2. [Tutorial 01 – ExcelVB Coding Tips & Tricks for Accountants: How to Enable Macros in different versions of MS Excel I.e 2003, 2007, 2010 and 2013! | SD Nuggets™
3. Protect Yourself from Macro Viruses [Potential Dangers of Enabling Macros in Excel-VB Workbooks From Unfamiliar Sources] | TayoSolagbade.com
http://excelheaven.tayosolagbade.com/?p=604
I will call you.
Tayo
Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device from MTN
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BELOW: The above turns out to have been correctly done by him and NOT the issue he was having. So I send him ANOTHER reply, after speaking on phone with him – this time I add 2 PDF files, with explanatory notes about how their contents may help solve what I suspected to be the likely issue he was having
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Tayo Solagbade <tayosolagbade@gmail.com>
AttachmentsSep 16 (1 day ago)
to aliyu, Tayo
Hi Aliyu,See attached file named Aliyu-PFM-Login-Screenshots.pdf
My conversation with you indicates you’ve most likely got this covered…but I still include it because of the details I added regarding the Mac OS
Excerpt: If you’re having this experience while trying to run it on your Mac then it’s understandable/expected. Like I told you, my apps are built using Windows based MS Excel version which uses VBA code syntax that’s not fully compatible with that in the Mac OS version of MS Excel.
My advice is that you run the app on a PC that runs Windows for best results.
However, below are 2 articles I’ve written to offer information, education and basic support for Mac users who have bought from me:
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NOW, here’s another possibility to consider:
I just recalled that a past client (by name “Ekene”) experienced a problem (for another of my software – The Poultry Farm Manager) which was due to a compatibility conflict between my app (which was developed for 32 bit MS Office) and 64bit MS Office installation on his system.
I’m not sure if this might be the case with you. The attached PDF explains how to check which of the 32 or 64 bit MS Office versions you have on your PC.
However, as long as what you have on your PC is a licensed version of MS Office, the instructions in the attached PDF will easily resolve the conflict for you.
Otherwise, you may need to reinstall MS office and choose to install the 32 bit version this time around.
Full details of how you may have ended up having the 64 bit version installed for you is given in the attached PDF – based on information I compiled from the Microsoft forums.
I’ll call you once I send this email off to you.
Cheers,
Tayo
PS: Note that the PDF was prepared based on error reports sent me by Ekene, which differ from yours. I’m however not sure if they may be due to the same root cause. So I recommend you read all 3 pages carefully, then follow the -prescribed steps from pages 2 to 3.
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BELOW: He replies to confirm my suspicion that the second possibility (regarding 64bit MS Office) turned out to be the cause of the problem he was having
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11:42 PM (15 hours ago)
to me
Good evening I just got back home and finish reading your mail. Both the pc and the Mac are running 64 Bit operating system. I think that is the cause of the issue am having. Thanks a lotSent from my iPad
Final Words
I share the above true story to give the reader a real world relevant example of how to use the ideas I advocate – and to provide proof that I practise what I preach – so s/he can feel inspired to do the same.