How do you retain customers?

Click chart to enlarge. SOURCE: PMP STATE OF THE INDUSTRY SURVEYS, 2019, 2018, 2017

Two of our columnists tackle the topic of customer relationships. What it boils down to is letting your customers know that you and your team appreciate their business.

Bobby Jenkins comes at this topic from the angle of making sure the customers you never even get to meet — the latchkey accounts — still feel valued and part of your “family.”

Meanwhile, Greg Baumann examines ways to keep a customer from canceling. Just having a grievance acknowledged and addressed can go a long way toward keeping that customer long-term.

Eric “The Bug Guy” Palmer, president and co-owner of Southwest Exterminators, St. George, Utah, also is founder of 7 in 6 Consultants. On our blog online at PMPPestTalk.net, Palmer offers his thoughts on appreciation for owners (his Groundhog’s Day post) and for employees (his post for March 7 is “Employee Appreciation Day”).

Our PMP Growth Summit recap also explores this topic.

Appreciated employees are loyal employees, which lead to loyal customers. Consider our customer retention figures for the past three years of our exclusive PMP State of the Industry survey. While this year’s projected “90 percent to 100 percent” retention rate is holding steady, it’s still less than half.

How do you retain customers? Drop us a line at pmpeditor@northcoastmedia.net.