The 80/20 Rule

Quality in a service or product is not what you put into it. It is what the client or customer gets out of it.
~Peter Drucker

Do you know, really know, who your best customers are? If you aren’t sure, take some time and look over who has come to your shop in the last 12 months and how much money they have spent with you. Don’t be surprised to find out that 20% of your customers are responsible for 80% or more of your profits! Now look at it a little closer. How many times did they come in during the year? How many times a year do you contact/market to them in some form or fashion? How much money did that cost you? Are they worth it? Absolutely!!!

Retention is vitally important to any business, but retention of your best customers even more so! There are generally three reasons people stay in a business relationship:

1. They absolutely love your service and have become your biggest fans. Don’t ever take these people for granted! This is a rare group of customers indeed.
2. Your shop mostly meets their needs and you are convenient…they sort of feel ho-hum about it all.
3. They aren’t thrilled about your service but don’t want to take the time and trouble to find a new shop.

Ideally you will work towards moving the less than enthusiastic customer to a Ho-Hum customer and the Ho-Hum customer to a fan. This will not happen overnight but it can be done. You need to communicate with them on a personal level using the means they prefer. For example, if you know one of your customers will soon need brakes, and the company you purchase your brakes from is going to have a rebate special, contact this customer via their preference (phone, text, email or a card in the mail). They will feel very special that you took the time to contact them and let them know that you care enough about them to go the extra mile to save them money. This is how “fans” are created.

A lot of you already know that I enjoy historic towns and frequent their inns and tea shops. One of the inns in particular always has special events like a Ghost & Goblin Dinner/Tour, Dinner with Dickens, a Valentine’s Event, etc., and they will not let anyone else make reservations until my husband and I have made ours. The couple that owns the inn is fantastic and so is the entire staff. They know our names and how to contact us at any given moment. They pamper us in every possible way. You can imagine that when another historic inn tries to get us to come to their event instead, we can’t even consider it. The special treatment we get here keeps us as their biggest fans. We have introduced others to this remarkable place as well. I also take groups to this wonderful tea shop in another historic town and I get the same treatment there. Why would I ever go to their competition? Both of these places make me feel special, wanted, and needed. Who could ask for anything more?

“Revolve your world around the customer and more customers will revolve around you.”
~Heather

Try motivating all of your customers to the fan level. You will be amazed at the difference, the loyalty and the referrals! All it takes is a little effort, a lot of awareness and true caring. Enjoy the results!

Rhonda

PS: I was just reading my on-line copy of Fixed Ops and an article was advising dealerships to enroll new and used car buyers on their Pre-Paid Maintenance Program. This is a bundled service contract of all services/repairs that might be needed over the course of the car loan and it is included in the car loan. This way the dealership will guarantee they get what they call the “rogue” customer back for their service department instead of yours. Just be aware of it. This is the time to really know your customers so you can ask them if they are planning to buy a car in the near future. If so, you can hopefully circumvent this pre-paid program that will truly lose you a customer until their loan is paid off.