The best new customers are the ones you already have. While some customer attrition is inevitable, because businesses move away, sell out, go bankrupt, or confront other situations that you can't control, you should never accept the loss of a customer. Accept what you can't change, but never accept losses that are within your control. Your goal should be to have zero customer defections.
Be a private investigator and learn from your lost customers. Don't just accept the loss! Work like crazy to get them back. Remember, you once had a relationship with them, so go back and review what was successful in the past.
George, a seasoned and highly successful national sales manager, claims much of his track record is due to his hating to lose. He swears never to lose customers he values and wants to keep. When that rare event does happen, George launches his Operation Rescue and makes an all-out effort to regain their business. George believes that, to regain lost customers, he's got to become a private investigator to learn why they left him in the first place. That information yields valuable lessons that help him improve all his customer relationships, even if he ultimately loses the customer from whom he learned the lesson.
TAKEAWAY
Accepting customer attrition without trying to
stem the tide can start a downward spiral. Learn
to fight back, and renew those relationships!