Win and retain customers for your business
Overview
This standard is for entrepreneurs who win and retain customers for their business. Customers are essential for your business. You will need to put as much effort into winning and keeping your customers as you do in providing products or services. Working closely with your customers to understand their motivations and needs will contribute to their retention. In addition to this you will be able to innovate to attract new customers. Setting your business up with your customers at its heart will help to keep you ahead of competitors and earn you invaluable customer loyalty. Maintaining customer retention involves understanding who your customers are, researching their needs, developing good relationships with them, seeking their feedback on your products or services, continuously trying to improve the service your business provides and reminding customers why they should continue to buy from your business.
You might do this if you are:
setting up a new business or social enterprise;
running an existing business or social enterprise;
expanding your business or social enterprise.
Performance criteria
You must be able to:
- define your current and potential customers
- research and collate the needs of different groups or types of customers
- identify your customers' current needs and potential future requirements
- consider if your products or services appeal to current or potential customers
- identify why customers choose to work with your business or buy your products or services
- know your competitors and identify your competitive advantage to your customers
- define your products and services and present these to your customers
- advise your customers on how you are aiming to meet their needs
- explain potential new developments to your customers
- check that your marketing strategy is aligned to your customers' needs and preferences
- set up your business infrastructure to help maximise customer satisfaction
- contribute to customer retention by providing good customer service
- encourage and reward customer loyalty
- improve products and the services to your customers to meet and exceed their expectations
- reinforce your customers' confidence that they made the right decision by choosing your products or services
- encourage feedback from your customers and act on it
- review your products and services on a regular basis and make amendments where required
- keep up to date with relevant laws and regulations required for customer service
Knowledge and Understanding
You need to know and understand:
Market
1. how to identify the place for your business on the market
2. the customer information that you need so that you can tailor your products and services
3. how to segment your customers according to their needs and value to your business
4. the information about your competitors, such as how your product or service differs to theirs, their strengths and weaknesses, their prices on similar products or services
5. your business goals, products and services
6. how best to communicate information to your current and potential customers
Business infrastructure
7. the impact your business infrastructure has on the quality of customer service delivered
8. the relevant IT and communication systems, billing processes or customer relationship management processes
Customers' experience and feedback
9. how to build relationships with your customers to meet and exceed their expectations
10. how you can improve the experience your customers have when dealing with your business
11. the range of services, benefits and rewards you can offer to your customers, such as being available to them, tailoring products or services to meet their specific needs and offering discounts for customer loyalty
12. how to regularly remind customers of the benefits of dealing with your business
13. the types of feedback to get from customers
14. the methods of getting feedback from customers
15. how to action on customers' feedback
16. why you need to review your products and services on a regular basis
17. how to improve your customer retention and increase their satisfaction
18. the relevant laws and regulations that relate to customer service