When it comes to understanding whether your customers are satisfied, no news is definitely not good news! One of the first questions I ask new clients is about how their customers feel about their services. More often than not, the response is, “We don’t get very many complaints, so we know that our customers are happy and satisfied.” “Great”, I say, “How’s your client retention?” That question usually receives quite a different response: “Funny you should ask”, the CEO, Vice President or senior leader I’m working with says, “Retention isn’t as good as we think it should be. That’s what we’re working on now.” In today’s wired world, the internet makes it easy for customers to find alternative providers of many services and products at competitive prices, and, in general unhappy customers don’t always take the time to complain. They simply, as I call it, ‘vote with their feet’ and switch companies. So, if you haven’t heard from your customers in a while – and your retention isn’t where you’d like it to be – don’t assume ‘no news from your customers is good news’ – because it probably isn’t!
