There could be a huge hole in your business

This is Part 1 of a series of 3 posts that looks at one of the most effective ways of raising profit in your business
Communicating with your existing clients

There could be a hole in your business that you did not know was there. If you have this hole it will be costing you money until it is fixed. I call this hole The Gap. I define the gap as the people who leave your business that you did not know had left. In this post, I want to explain why I think this hole exists and why having The Gap is so damaging to your business.

If you have The Gap in your business, there will be a certain number of people who do not receive information from you. The missing information can be one or any of the following:

• News about your business
• Congratulating them on their birthday
• Congratulating them on an achievement
• Sending them offers
• Telling them that you haven't seen them for sometime and when are they going to be back

This type of communication should be sent personally to your clients. If you do not do this you have a Gap in your business. It is a form of client neglect. This is important because 'neglect' is cited as the main reason people leave a business.

67% of people who leave a business will cite 'neglect' as the reason

Most business owners think that the majority of people leave a business because of price. This is simply not the case. Only 15% of clients who leave a business leave because of price. So if it is neglect that is the reason for people leaving a business why are clients neglected?

Based on the evidence that I have gathered, business owners 'neglect' their clients because they do not know they are neglecting them or they do not know what client neglect is. They think that sending people promotional emails occasionally or confirming an appointment is more than enough 'communication'.

Before The Gap develops in a business, you will normally find an excuse or rationalisation behind a lack of communication with existing clients. One of the most damaging and the most common rationalisations for not sending emails is "I don't want to 'hassle my clients". Sending regular and frequent emails to your clients is a vital component of a thriving business. If the business owner excuses himself for not communicating with his clients, he places his business in a very precarious position. Alongside this mindset developing, there are two further factors that create the gap.

The Gap begins to appear when obtaining new clients for the business is prioritised over communicating with existing clients. This dangerous situation goes completely undetected in most businesses where it is allowed to happen. There is a very compelling reason why this activity slips beneath the radar. The thrill of obtaining a new client (or receiving a new enquiry) far supersedes the reaction to an existing client rebooking. It is astonishing how ubiquitous this reaction is. What is even more astonishing is the fact that the existing client has probably paid more than the new enquiry and is far more likely to stay with the business.

New client addiction and euphoria is a big problem for businesses because it creates The Gap. If left unchecked, The Gap will be the cause responsible for the biggest loss in money in a business. The Gap can be plugged. It does, however, require a fundamental change in thinking based on an examination of client behaviour.

I will look at what this change is in tomorrow's post.

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