FOCA is the framework I shared in the Execution layer of the Retention Architecture Model.
The "A" in FOCA represents Authenticity.
It's one of the 4 key pillars required to sustain client retention.
So why do clients leave even when you're being authentic?
It's worth digging deeper and uncovering what really went wrong.
We'll go to the root cause and nip the problem in the bud.
Sit tight.
Because most times...
Truth hurts.
And it may not be pretty.
Cambridge dictionary defines "Authenticity" as "The quality of being real or true."
However... "Authenticity" has become a buzzword for marketers selling their programs.
Especially in Personal Branding niches.
In personal brands, being authentic is exactly about showcasing your uniqueness.
Chris Do has a quote that I like: "The more you you are, the more you are."
You don't have to contrive anything.
You don't have to perform for anyone.
You are just YOU. Full stop.
Being you is enough.
Because you are enough.
The challenging part is...
Many people don't do the inner work to discover who they really are.
They indulge in distractions.
They jump from one shiny object to another.
They expect people to give them the answer...
Or they copy others based on what has proven to work.
Most choose the easy way out.
When you look at strong personal brands that are authentic:
Chris Do built his brand authentically by documenting what he did in the creative space.
He teaches the things he does.
He posted videos consistently on YouTube for 10 years before his channel blew up.
He didn't do it with the intention of selling.
But to share his knowledge, wisdom, and personality.
His channel now has millions of subscribers.
Alex Hormozi built his brand authentically by sharing what he went through to build his business.
He shared his business frameworks...
His failures...
His success...
His vulnerable moments...
Values, work ethic, his personal opinions, etc.
He also has millions of followers combined over various platforms.
It doesn't only happen in business.
It's the same for sports.
Michael Jordan's brand represents excellence.
He's arguably the best basketball player of all time.
Kobe Bryant's brand represents obsession and mastery.
His legacy is "The Mamba Mentality".
It's about being better each day.
David Goggins has a brand that represents mental toughness and overcoming adversity.
From being overweight to becoming a Navy SEAL...
And then becoming one of the best endurance athletes in the world.
For all these people...
Their results speak for themselves.
They lived it.
They overcame the challenges.
They practice what they preach.
Their character is forged in fire.
Now... They're icons.
They're an inspiration to many.
On the contrary...
Some marketers are teaching people to build personal brands for marketing purposes.
They build characters to showcase who they are...
Or rather, who they think they are.
The function of those characters is to sell.
How?
By making people love and trust the character...
The charismatic, attractive, and lovable character.
Personal brands become a weapon to boost sales.
That's a problem.
Because a personal brand that is built without introspection...
Without trials and tribulations...
Are just hollow and fake.
It doesn't stand the test of time.
The cracks always show up eventually.
Whether people notice it is another matter.
As the saying goes, "Marketers spoil everything."
"Authenticity" got its meaning twisted.
What that means is...
When people think they're authentic...
They may, in fact, be inauthentically authentic.
We'll talk about what "inauthentically authentic" really means as we go along.
Having set the premise of the discussion...
Now, let's dive deeper.
The Retention Architecture Model comprises Alignment, Execution, and Meaning.
You can read about it HERE if you haven't done so.
You need that as your foundation.
Otherwise, it's hard to follow what we're going to discuss.
Since "Authenticity" appears in the Execution layer...
It may be that the "Alignment" is missing.
Retention falls apart when "Alignment" is absent.
Alignment is the foundation.
It's the broad base of the triangular model.
Being authentic doesn't compensate for the lack of alignment.
Authenticity merely builds upon being in alignment.
For example,
I genuinely care for my clients. This is me being authentic.
My mentor also genuinely cares for clients. This is him being authentic.
We are aligned in values here.
But I may still choose to leave because...
The mentor has a different working style from mine.
If his directions don't lead me to the way I want to run my business...
This is still a misalignment.
No way am I continuing his mentorship when I'm led to somewhere I don't want to go.
So if your clients aren't staying even if you're authentic...
You may want to check for any misalignments first.
Misalignments can be in the form of values, beliefs, working styles, expectations, etc.
If you recall, the Retention Formula is:
Trust + Meaning = Retention.
When your clients choose to leave...
Either "Trust" or "Meaning" is already missing.
Misalignments can lead to both.
All 4 pillars of FOCA must be present for retention to work.
If you only have "Authenticity", it's not sufficient.
Check for the absence of F, O, and C if clients continue to leave.
Clients only continue to trust a business when all promises are fulfilled.
If the business only fulfills the bare minimum...
Clients won't bear resentment.
But the experience remains forgettable.
Because businesses are at best mediocre when they only aim for the bare minimum.
It's a reflection of standards.
Clients can easily look for a competitor that can WOW them consistently.
It's more value for money.
So when a business doesn't overdeliver...
Most clients are likely staying due to utility retention.
If clients leave, it's because they found a better deal.
If it's forced retention... There's nothing to discuss.
Clients can't run even if they want to.
Now, let's look at C: Consistency and Congruence.
These are critical to sustaining trust.
When a business is inconsistent in how they show up...
Or inconsistent in standards...
Trust leaks.
If you're authentic but inconsistency is part of who you are...
Clients leave.
The next C is congruence.
This is a huge source of trust leaks.
Many people don't trust marketers and salespersons.
Because we all know they're interested in making the sale.
So what do they do?
They try to pretend they care.
They act like they're interested in helping you solve problems.
But once they close the sale...
Their attitudes towards the client change.
Clients can feel the difference, even if they can't say exactly why.
Closing the sale represents the start of the client's journey with you.
It doesn't really "close".
So even if you're authentic, are you congruent in your words and actions?
That brings us to the next pillar: Authenticity.
I define "inauthentically authentic" as:
Pretending to be authentic.
It doesn't matter if it's intentional or not.
It can be a conscious decision.
Or it can well signify a lack of awareness.
It's a conscious decision when you create a persona for a certain agenda.
It's a lack of awareness when you blindly follow the "proven methods" the gurus tell you.
Then you think you're already authentic.
True authenticity is about figuring yourself out.
It takes time to reflect on our own experiences.
It takes effort to do introspection to understand why we do what we do.
Let's look at what being inauthentically authentic looks like in practice.
So you have an idea whether this is the main cause of your clients leaving.
The list is not exhaustive. I won't be able to list everything out.
But I'll summarize the common features later on for you.
Example 1:
A coach was attentive and addressed my concerns patiently before I became a client.
After I enrolled in his coaching program, my questions were brushed off frequently.
I felt cared for before I was a client. After I paid him, I felt the difference.
Example 2:
A person says he is people-oriented. But he's trying to automate a personalized experience to follow up with clients and save time.
So that it looks human, but it's not from a human.
What happens when the audience finds out it's fake?
Example 3:
Using AI or filters to beautify the image during livestream and photos.
When you meet them in person, they look nothing like what you imagined.
Example 4:
A CEO portrayed himself as a family man. He built a personal brand as someone who works hard to take care of the family.
But he's actually having an affair with another woman.
He and his affair received public backlash.
Did you spot a pattern?
The most glaring one is that they are all incongruent.
What they do is different from the image they want to display.
The image they display is intended to drive sales.
That's a persona for business.
It isn't authentic.
It just appears to be.
The next common feature is the inconsistency.
Putting up a performance is tiring.
It's hard to maintain consistency if there's no purpose or conviction.
That's a telling sign of being inauthentically authentic.
Like I said at the beginning of this post...
The truth will reveal itself.
You can only keep up a performance for so long.
Inconsistencies will surface without you realizing it.
Clients will leave once they know the authenticity is faked.
There's no trustworthiness.
There's also no more meaning for clients to stick around someone fake.
If you've already found cracks in any part of what we've covered so far...
It's more important to fix those first.
Because those are trust leaks.
Trust is the foundation.
You only address "Meaning" when "Trust" is already present and sustained.
If you've already addressed all aspects we've covered...
And trust leaks are fixed.
Then let's look at whether Meaning is lost.
Here are some guiding questions for you to do a self-audit:
- Is what you offer still relevant to your client?
- Does your client feel a sense of belonging?
- Does your client feel genuinely cared for?
- Does your client feel you have their best interests at heart?
- Does your client have opportunities to experience growth?
- Does your client feel a sense of contribution in your community? (If you have a community)
These are the aspects that clients derive meaning from.
If you're authentic but clients don't see a meaning in staying...
They'll still leave.
Once you've checked all the aspects we've discussed so far...
It's clear as day whether Trust + Meaning is missing from the equation.
It can be one...
Or it can be both.
Being authentic doesn't negate the fact that Trust + Meaning = Retention
The last thing you want to check is your core philosophy of running the business.
Are you prioritizing Profits > People?
Or People > Profits?
By right, this should be the first thing we establish when we run a business.
Because everything we do, every decision we make, will be based on this.
But we only check this LAST.
Because business owners don't readily admit they're prioritizing Profits > People.
They may want to portray themselves as loving and caring for the people they serve...
But in fact, they are just interested in extracting value.
When we do this step LAST...
After you've audited all the previous aspects we've covered...
The amount of proof staring at you will be undeniable.
I've worked with a client before.
In our first meeting, he said he started the business because he wanted to help people.
He said his methods can help people achieve financial freedom.
But after I worked with him...
He pushed me to do more promotions and launches for him.
He didn't care about the quality of his delivery during fulfillment.
Trust leaks everywhere.
Even after I did successful campaigns for him...
He didn't keep his promise to refer new clients to me.
He just cares about himself.
When he wanted to launch another event in close succession...
I asked him for the rationale.
He said, "Of course I want to make more money!"
See... The mask came off by itself with time.
Once I confirmed that they're a Profits > People business...
I stopped working with them.
Because our values are not aligned.
They refused to work on their delivery standards and improve their fulfillment.
They refused to work on retention.
Some clients left the business just after 1 month.
The business owner told me they lost about 7000 clients over a span of 20 years.
I'm not keen to help them with marketing if they're unwilling to fix their retention.
It's like asking me to continue pouring water into a leaky bucket.
I'm not keen to help them extract more money from clients...
Especially if they don't care about the client's success and experience.
A business that doesn't intentionally design retention within is leaky.
No matter how much marketing it does...
It can never be at capacity.
The rate of people leaving can be faster than the rate of new people joining.
It's a losing battle.
That's why...
The People > Profits philosophy creates sustainable businesses that win in the long-term.
Retention compounds acquisition.
Acquisition doesn't compound retention.
You can find out more about the Retention Compounding Loop here.
Even if you're truly authentic...
It doesn't really matter if clients already view you as transactional.
If clients feel you're constantly trying to extract more money from them...
They'll still leave.
Trust leaks still happen.
Clients prefer to stay willingly when there's a genuine relationship with your business...
And they know you always have their best interests at heart.
They want to be guided, not sold.
They want to know they're safe and you have their back.
Clients leave easily when it's transactional.
Clients don't leave easily when it's relational. Unless it's circumstances beyond your control.
If you're thinking that authenticity is all you need to let clients stay...
That's an oversimplification of the issue.
Voluntary retention requires multiple pillars to support.
But it stems from ONE core business philosophy.
People > Profits.
Always.
- Herek
P.S. If you'd like to explore more of my Client Retention content...
Feel free to follow me on the following platforms:
- LinkedIn.
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P.P.S. In case you missed it... Read the Client Retention Top 10 FAQs HERE. Then you'll understand our philosophy behind everything we do.
I look forward to sharing more with you in the next post.
If you enjoyed reading this post... Feel free to check out the other posts!
#8: What Is The Retention Architecture model: The 3 layers Explained
#9: the hidden costs of ignoring retention principles (No one talks about this)
#10: Why clients still leave despite enjoying great service?
#11: Why have traditional marketing tactics lost effectiveness?
#13: Why businesses lose clients: The hidden role of trust leaks
#16: Where Does Client Trust Break Down? The Trust Leak Stages Explained
#17: Why tactical optimization can't fix weak business foundations
#18: What should consultants do when clients insist on their ideas?
#21: Why do clients request a refund? (It's not what you think)
#22: Case study 1 - how retention principles saved a marriage...
#25: Read this if you use AI in business (It's killing client retention... And more)
#29: How To Increase Client Lifetime Value Using Retention Principles
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