Most of my work experience, in one form or another, has dealt with customer service. Ever heard of, “the customer is always right?” I don’t know if I would go that far, but your goal should be to keep your customers/clients happy so they continue to work with you.

Customer retention is the responsibility of all people within an organization and is critical to the success of any business. Retaining customers should be a primary goal of senior leadership of any company due to the high cost of bringing on new business, as well as the limiting the negative message it sends to potential clients when customers defect.

The key to customer retention is for the agency to provide a service that the client feels adds value to their company and warrants repeat business with the agency. Meeting or exceeding customer’s expectations is an important strategy of retaining clients and the importance of understanding the client’s needs are paramount. Knowing the intimate details of a clients business enables you to provide solutions to their needs and also limit any hint of indifference by building loyalty through understanding and appreciation of your client.

Studies have shown that customers leave 68% of the time due to indifference shown towards their organization. Do not take for granted that a customer knows how much you value them. Take the initiative and let them know.  Below I have listed points showing the other reasons customers leave.

• Fourteen percent leave because of complaints not taken care of
• Nine percent leave for the competition
• Nine percent move their business to a new city

Bottom line, do your best to keep your customer happy and value them. They are what keeps you in business and are too important to lose.

Source: http://smallbiztrends.com/2010/05/sixty-eight-percent-is-yours-to-keep.html

For the past 13 years, I’ve been a fulltime mom and wife and a part-time employee.  For years, I would always wonder how full-time working moms could do it all.  They work over 40 hours per week, cook, drive the kids to their activities, make sure the house is in order, get the laundry done, and do the shopping.  I’d ask myself over and over, how they do it?  How is there enough hours in the day to get that all done?  What am I doing wrong that I can barely get everything done and I only work part-time?  I use my two days off (during the week) to get everything done for my family and our house.  What can I do to maximize my time and be as productive as the full time working moms?

Well, about two months ago, I figured it out.  I became a full-time working mom!  Do you know what I was doing wrong? I was procrastinating! I was putting off my tasks until my next day off or the weekend.  I had enough free time during the week that I would tell myself I could take care of that in two days, or three days, etc.  Procrastination is a horrible thing! It can get you into a lot of trouble.

Nothing ever good comes out of procrastination.  If you let it, procrastination can be a real downer!

When I started my full-time career, I wondered how I was going to do it all.  How do I continue to take care of my kids, my husband, and our house and have time for my volunteer positions?  My answer … procrastination had to be taken out of my life!  There is no place for procrastination in a mom’s world.  If you think you are going to take care of something tomorrow, think again.  There’s going to be three more things in that spot, tomorrow.

Since I started my new job and I am very happy with what I’ve been able to accomplished!  I no longer tell myself, “Oh, I can do that tomorrow.”  I don’t have time tomorrow! If I have time available, I make good use of that time! It’s amazing what you accomplish when you set your mind to it and not let procrastination get in the way. Take it from me, you will be very impressed with what you can accomplish if procrastination doesn’t exist in your world.

There are five reasons why people procrastinate and those reasons are:

• Fear of failure
• Being a perfectionist
• Confusion and self doubt
• Poor motivation
• Lack of priorities

You can work through these several roadblocks if you understand that failure is part of living and you are not afraid of imperfection.  Be confident and strive for ways to start a task.  Another way to help offset procrastination is to make lists of what your priorities are and put a time line on them.

Don’t put off something until tomorrow that you can do right now! Get up and take care of it and you’ll feel a whole lot better!