#24: How to improve client retention?

If you want to know how to improve client retention...
We've already covered the necessary grounds to answer that question.
Following the Retention Architecture Model will improve client retention.
Because it minimizes the number of trust leaks at each stage of the client journey.

You can go to Blog Post #16 to understand where trust leaks occur exactly.

But here's what many businesses miss out.
The most powerful thing about retention is... It compounds acquisition.
I mentioned it at the beginning of this post.
Now, I'll elaborate.

The illustration above shows clearly:
The central philosophy behind client retention is "People > Profits."
If you have your clients' best interests at heart for every decision...
Their trust in you goes deeper.

On the contrary, when businesses focus on Profits > People...
Trust erodes.
So retention fails.
They don't trust those who are only looking for opportunities to extract more money.

Here's the magic:
When "Alignment and trust building" is done well...
It leads to "Voluntary retention."
People stay willingly because they want to.
Not because they have to.
Not because they're forced to.
These clients are in a positive state after having pleasant experiences.

Clients are more likely to leave positive reviews after a great experience.
They're more likely to say good things about your business.
Positive word-of-mouth referrals start spreading organically.

Your good reputation compounds.
Prospects come to you, already pre-framed.
They've decided to work with you without you needing to sell.

This leads to lower acquisition costs.
When trust is high in your business...
The market doesn't need you to persuade or convince them to buy.
Prospects convert into clients easily.

This means you don't need to spend as many marketing dollars now.
Your profit margins can become higher.
It allows you to reinvest and improve your product or service.
You can create an even better and more memorable experience for clients.

When clients trust you more...
And they have a close working relationship with you...
They're more likely to make repeated purchases from you.
They're more likely to spend more on each transaction.
Their lifetime value continues to increase.

Lifetime value has no ceiling.
It's only limited by the amount of value you can continue to provide.
As long as you're able to continue serving your clients at a deeper level...
They'll willingly pay.

During their new purchase...
It all goes back to how you set expectations and fulfill your promises.
Trust can still break when you drop the ball this time.
Past retention isn't a predictor of future retention.
But when you focus on retention... Acquisition also takes care of itself.

Retention is a long-term commitment.
It requires commitment, consistency, and dedication to serve your clients well.
The compound effects of retention aren't immediate.

That's why retention isn't a sexy topic to sell.
That's why many gurus prefer to focus on teaching marketing, funnels, ads, and copywriting.
Because the results of tweaking any of those can be seen in the numbers changing on the dashboard.
It's easier to sell when results are tangible and almost immediate.

Everybody likes seeing fast results.
Most people want quick money.
That's why there's no category king for client retention at this point.
And that is why I do what I do to fill the gap in the market.

Even though it's difficult to educate the market.
Even though it's going to take a lot of effort.
But just because it's difficult doesn't mean I shouldn't do it.
Someone has to do the hard but necessary work.
And that someone is me.
I do it because it's difficult.

People > Profits.

Always.

- Herek