Love 2011

Stephanie says...

First - let me state the obvious, anyone in business loves their customer's right? We spend our marketing money on trying to acquire them as fast as we can. We spend our customer service energy on trying to satisfy them. Product development all revolves around providing products our customers will love delivered at the right value proposition. We work hard to get that customer and "love them up" and then what?

How many new customers have you lost in the last five years? How many customers have you gained in the last five years? How important are your customers to you? I realize this seems like a silly question but consider this statement from The Harvard Business Review which said that the average business loses 50% of their customers every five years.

Which is better: retaining current customers or adding new customers? That really is not a question that you can answer without saying both are important. The 80 - 20rules says 20% of your customers provide 80% of your sales and I have not come across an industry yet where this is not true. Consider the following:

· Acquiring new customers can cost as much as five times more than satisfying and
retaining current customers

· A 2% increase in customer retention has the same effect as decreasing costs by 10%

· Depending on the industry, reducing your customer defection rate by 5% can
increase your profitability by 25 to 125%

· Customer profitability tends to increase over the life of a retained customer

So how much do you Love your current customers? What is the likelihood that you will retain your customers? What would those numbers mean to you and the success of your company? Have you evaluated your customer retention rate? Do you have a plan to keep your customers? How much do we really "Love" our current customers and how is the "Love" expressed?

Here are the reasons customers leave, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce:

· 68% leave because they are upset with the treatment they've received
(Customer Service)

· 14% are dissatisfied with the product or service

· 9% begin doing business with the competition

· 5% seek alternatives or develop other business relationships

· 3% move away

· 1% die (morbid I know but it is factual so I felt I needed to include it here)



Why do customers leave your business?

Research shows that 73% of customers leave because they are dissatisfied with customer service, but the company losing the customer thinks only 21% leave because of customer service. The company losing the customer thinks 48% leave because of price, when in fact only 25% do so. It is hard to believe that our customers don't "Love" us. We would rather believe that price is the culprit. It hurts our feelings less, but costs our companies significantly more, because not only have we lost the customer, but more than likely we lowered our prices to try to keep them.

So what should you do? I am by no means an expert but I can share with you what we try to accomplish at Printz. First, find out why your customers leave. Do not believe that your customers will not leave; that your customer service is too good for your customers to leave. Make sure that you understand your customer's needs and wants - there are many resources on the internet or at your local better business bureau. Ask your employees what you can do to better serve your customers. Your employees will frequently have the best ideas - ask them.


We love our customers. Our sales and customer service folks at Printz like Sheena, Jill and Ann really try to anticipate our customers' needs and help them through our design and printing process quickly and efficiently. We fix everything we can without asking for help from the client- bad files, crop marks, misplaced graphics and ask for client help on things we can't fix like low resolution graphics and logos. Our Press and Bindery folks make sure the final product is printed in a way that will give us optimal colors on high quality papers we have hand selected to give us the best output. We hand inspect every order before it gets to you. When you open your Printz box you will see an inspection card signed by the person who inspected your job. My business partners Kurt and Phlayne and I are on site at Printz every day working in every department to ensure quality and talking with customers every day and when things go wrong, which they sometimes do in a business with so many moving parts, we sincerely care and try to rectify the mistake.


We really do love our customers and we appreciate your business. Please accept the $20 discount as a token of our appreciation and "love" when you place your order by February 28, 2011 and enter code Love2011, it is Valentine's Day after all.

www.printz.com l info@printz.com
877.514.5060 l 612.436.0007

815 14th Ave SE l Minneapolis, MN 55414