7 Secrets for Developing Evergreen Customers
Customer acquisition is far and away more costly than customer retention, yet many companies place greater focus on developing business with new customers. Linda Henman explains how constancy is key in cultivating loyalty among existing clients.
In botany, we learned that an evergreen plant has leaves that stay green throughout the year. Unlike deciduous plants, which lose their foliage during the winter or dry season, the foliage of evergreen plants remains constant.
Like their botanical counterparts, successful companies take an evergreen approach to their client relationships, too. Conventional wisdom, which is neither conventional nor wise, would have us believe that customers buy because of cycles, the weather, the stock market or some other external factor. Successful leaders don’t buy that thinking. Instead, leaders of evergreen companies realize they must engage in constant attempts to make their sales perennial.
They also understand that the cost of acquiring new customers far outweighs that of keeping existing customers coming back. In fact, research tells us that attracting a new customer costs five times as much as keeping an existing one happy. The first rule of any business, therefore, should be to retain customers and build a loyal relationship with them, thereby avoiding customer acquisition costs. Yet, most companies continue to focus more on customer acquisition than retention.
Many of my clients have designated business development specialists who concentrate on getting new customers in the door and more money in the coffers. But these same companies also know that, if they want evergreen clients, everyone must assume the role of customer service representative. Here are seven secrets to success:
- Know your best customers.
- Hear their voices.
- Give them what they want.
- Don’t rely too heavily on a few customers, no matter how good they are.
- Innovate constantly, create distinctive and breakthrough products, and become the company your competitors can’t ignore.
- Help your customers improve their businesses.
- Spend 90 percent of your efforts and resources on external issues and only 10% percent on internal processes.
Botany taught us about evergreens, and accounting taught us about the “Rule of 72.” As we remember, if you invest $1 at 1 percent interest, in 72 days, you’ll double your money and have $2. Similarly, if we improve in consistent but modest ways, we can be twice as good in a very short period. You don’t need a huge change initiative, just a commitment to hear your customers every day.
Dr. Linda Henman is one of those rare experts who can say she’s a coach, consultant, speaker, and author. For more than 30 years, she has worked with Fortune 500 Companies and small businesses that want to think strategically, grow dramatically, promote intelligently, and compete successfully today and tomorrow. Some of her clients include Emerson Electric, Boeing, Avon and Tyson Foods. She was one of eight experts who worked directly with John Tyson after his company’s acquisition of International Beef Products, one of the most successful acquisitions of the twentieth century.
Linda holds a Ph.D. in organizational systems and two Master of Arts degrees in both interpersonal communication and organization development and a Bachelor of Science degree in communication. Whether coaching executives or members of the board, Linda offers clients coaching and consulting solutions that are pragmatic in their approach and sound in their foundation—all designed to create exceptional organizations.
She is the author of Landing in the Executive Chair: How to Excel in the Hot Seat, The Magnetic Boss: How to Become the Leader No One Wants to Leave, and contributing editor and author to Small Group Communication, among other works.
Dr. Henman can be reached at 
