Businesses face the challenge of losing existing customers to a competitor. Why do existing clients switch brands, and what can you do to prevent a leaky sales bucket? Are you clients saying buy or bye-bye?
Do you remember the last time you changed your buying habits and started to switch to buying a new product?
Why did you switch?
What motivated you to consider something different? When you examine your experience, you can understand some of the drivers for people leaving your brand or business behind. Was it convenience, price, value or did you switch because someone treated you with kindness, empathy and human touch?
Often a root cause for switching is that some human being at your client felt ignored, disappointed or missed a real human connection.
Five Pillars of Switching
There are five central reasons why people switch brands:
- Value for money. Does your brand’s value still match the price? Value isn’t the same as a lower price – you can always find products or services for less. But does the value provided match the price you charge?
- Customer Services Sucks. Can your customer get a problem resolved efficiently and without jumping through hoops? Is the process easy and empathetic, or is it such a terrible experience that the customer leaves for better service, not a cheaper product?
- Brand Fatigue Sets In. With loyal customers, overtime they may no longer feel appreciated or, they may have new options in the market that become more attractive. Is the brand getting stale and not providing the value it once delivered? Are you saying thank you occasionally without trying to upsell?
- Misunderstanding motivation. If your consumer or client is changing, and you don’t understand what motivates them, maybe your product or service isn’t as relevant. If you are regularly talking with and listening to clients, things change, and you may not be paying attention or listening to what they are saying. Perhaps you aren’t picking up on the cues your customer is sending.
- Human Beings Don’t Show Up. Not acting human is one of the most misunderstood reasons why people often switch brands. Like most irrational behaviors, how a brand or company makes you feel can have a powerful effect on behavior. When was the last time you asked your client how you could help them be more productive with the job they want to accomplish? And what happened with that feedback?
Understanding Market Dynamics
It always amuses me that when a business isn’t growing or facing challenges, they think that cutting out marketing is the answer. In most cases, that is a big mistake.
- The problem may be that your company has been underspending the competition in telling their story to prospects or, not marketing themselves at all.
- Often, they aren’t investing in travel to meet clients in person or to reinforce what makes them different in their marketing outreach.
- Their tradeshow booth looks like a Word document filled with a laundry list of features, not benefits.
But shifts in the marketplace can often be a powerful dynamic that no one wants to acknowledge.
- Your company is no longer top of mind because your competitors are communicating more effectively and frequently. While you are braking and cutting back on marketing, the competition is putting its foot on the pedal.
- The brand is using the same communications (ads, emails, brochures, etc.) from five years ago and hasn’t refreshed the message. Your tagline and imagery are old. Your digital front door (website) feels like it is twenty years old.
- Inside sales or your customer service team isn’t making things easy for a current client to get the resolution of a problem. They act to protect the company, not to support the human being on the other end of the line.
- The message you deliver isn’t fresh anymore because the competition is offering more for a lower price, and you are stuck in the middle.
- You are not differentiating your business in a meaningful way to clients. The value for money proposition isn’t working.
- You aren’t telling your story regularly to your targeted audience.
No Simple Solution
There is no magic marketing wand.
But if you recognize a problem, it allows you to begin to reinvest to reinvent or reimagine your brand. Marketing isn’t fairy dust, but hard work that requires deep insights into understanding your clients today, in the world they live in and the challenges they face. If your bucket is leaking clients, you may need more than a plug.
How are you preventing your clients from clicking the switch?
Does your business need a marketing coach, guide or sherpa? Are you generating enough leads? Is your marketing underperforming? I can help.
You can set up a time to chat with me about your marketing challenges using my calendar. Our initial conversation is free. You talk, I listen. Email me jeffslater@themarketingsage.com or call me. 919 720 0995. Visit my website at www.themarketingsage.com Let’s explore working together today.
Photo by twinsfisch on Unsplash
An excellent book about Switch by Chip and Dan Heath is a great place to dig deeper into this subject and learn about consumer behavior.
