Radney's Business Group

Many organizations place their highest emphasis on attracting and gaining new customers. While this is important, I feel it is more important to place a higher emphasis on retaining and keeping your current customers. This is particularly true in saturated markets and industries, where your customers have many, many alternatives available to them. Numerous research studies have shown that if you can reduce your attrition rate, that is the annualized rate of lost customers, by as little as five percentage points, you can increase your bottom-line profits by anywhere from 25% to 85%. That's right, just keeping more of the customers you have and preventing them from taking their business elsewhere can have an immediate, positive impact on your bottom line

The high costs of excessive voluntary employee turnover include: Costs for recruiting new replacement staff Costs for training and developing replacement staff Learning curve costs – While they are learning their new job, learning about your products and services, about your organization and other important information, it often takes many weeks or months for new employees to reach their potential performance The negative impact on customers while replacement employees are not yet hired and while new replacement staff are not yet fully trained and fully proficient The negative impact on customers and employees covering for staffing shortfalls due to attrition The negative impact on your organization’s “employer of choice” reputation due to high attrition

Communications effectiveness Support from and treatment by managers Recognition received from management Work environment Adequacy of tools and information needed to perform the job effectively Effectiveness of sales performance feedback and mentoring Satisfaction with compensation and benefits plans Satisfaction with career opportunities Clear understanding of job Job is what was promised when hired Clear expectations for job performance Availability/effectiveness of training and development Company culture Empowerment Receptivity of management to employees’ ideas Competitiveness of company’s products and services Satisfaction with the job and company Satisfaction with company direction Likelihood of staying with your organization for the foreseeable future (in surveys of current employees only) Willingness to recommend your company for employment

Train employees to be respectful of all customers, including children. If employees are kind and engage a child, a parent may be more likely to stay in the store, says Jones. For example, a small business in Valparaiso, Ind.—Flanagin's Bulk Mail—uses coloring sheets to keep clients' children and grandchildren occupied while in the store. Each time a child comes in to her store, the owner, Donna Flanagin, asks the child to color a sheet so it can be displayed on the front door. When the child's birthday arrives, Flanagin sends the coloring sheet and a birthday card to the child. "It costs virtually nothing, yet reminds the parents and grandparents about her business and helps her makes a connection with her customers," says Jones. Make waiting in line an entertaining experience. Nobody likes to wait in line, even for a Disney attraction. But it's a fact of life. At Disney, employees are trained to strike up conversations with guests and to offer useful information about new attractions, fun facts, and upcoming show times. A small grain company in Kansas that learned this concept at the Disney Institute applied the idea to its plain waiting room. Since customers often brought children or grandchildren along, the grain company added magazines and toys and books for kids to its waiting room. The company also trained front-desk employees to let customers know the approximate waiting time and offer tips on less busy stretches of the day, in case customers preferred to return later. Be "show-ready." Your "stage" communicates a lot about who you are. Disney will not tolerate trash and trains all employees to pick it up so that the resorts remain "clean, friendly, and fun." If a leader were to walk by trash without picking it up, it would send the wrong message to staff. For a small business that might not even have a physical location, this concept can be as simple as making sure your Web site is professional and easy to navigate. According to Jones: "your Web site is your front door. If it's not show-ready, it can make or break your business." Keep the show on stage. Disney employees must always follow company guidelines for dress and customer service in guest areas. They can take a break and relax in areas unavailable to guests. As a small business owner, try walking the floor as a customer. Do you see or hear conversations that are best held amid the privacy of employee areas? Can your team members be easily seen by customers as they take a smoke break or talk on cell phones? If so, explain the difference between on-stage and off-stage. Encourage your team to be "assertively friendly." Disney encourages its employees to actively seek contact with guests. For example, they will approach a family that appears confused about its park map or has misplaced its car in one of the vast Disney parking lots. They will proactively offer assistance instead of waiting for people to ask. All these tips require leaders who understand the importance of communications and how to extend the conversation to secondary guests. The effort will pay off. Disney has discovered that if a customer appreciates your store or service and speaks highly of her experience, then her children and grandchildren are likely to become loyal customers, along with their friends, neighbors, and acquaintances.

1. Visionary leadership -- Leaders who are available, approachable and open with minimal micro management. 2. Consistent and effective communication -- Multi-way communication explains the "whys" information is shared and requested without fear of retribution. 3. Select for fit and ongoing development of staff -- Wait for the right person to fill a position and have the courage to let go of the wrong. 4. Agile and open culture -- A sense of pride, collaboration, respect and quality in a "blame-free" environment. 5. Put service first -- Strong standards put consumers first. In healthcare; that includes patients, families, physicians and colleagues. 6. Ongoing recognition and community outreach -- Recognition and appreciation must occur formally and informally at all levels. 7. Solid relationships -- Collaborative relationships are the key to success.