Can American and European entrepreneurs benefit by using Asian customer retention techniques?
Most entrepreneurs realize that customer loyalty is a key driver of profits for their businesses. Many entrepreneurs actually pay more attention to retaining customers than they do to obtaining new customers. It is often felt that it is far less expensive to cultivate existing customers and sell more to them than it is to seek brand new customers. There are many interesting things small businesses are doing to retain their customers. Some of the Asian customer retention techniques are particularly interesting.
Five Asian Customer Retention Techniques
As any successful entrepreneur knows, it can be hard work learning how to retain customers and keep them coming back. In Asia, retaining customers is not only important to profits, it is also important in maintaining status in the community. The following are five of the more interesting customer retention techniques being used in Asia:
1. Inexpensive Repair – To foster customer loyalty, the owner of an Atunas sporting goods store in Taipei, Taiwan tells his customers that he will stand by them if something goes wrong with a product. He wants to create the image that Atunas is a famous brand with excellent service. If a product is broken, he will never charge more than $5.00 (150 NT) to correct the problem. He feels that this is a service his customers can get that they cannot get from other sporting goods retailers. He tells the story of one customer who had owned an Atunas backpack for 7 or 8 years and brought it back to his store with a damaged front. He only charged this customer $5.00 (150 NT) to fix the backpack, which was really not even enough to pay for the shipping charge to the repair facility. He is charging a minimum service charge to build loyalty.
2. Changing Scenery – One strategy for keeping long-term hotel customers is to periodically modify the design of the hotel rooms. The management of the Shanghai La Vie Hotel has found it to be fairly inexpensive and quick to update the rooms in their hotel. Currently for $8,000 (50,000 RMB) they can change the design of a room. In approximately 2 months they can change the design of 10 rooms in their hotel. To maintain strong customer satisfaction, the rooms in this hotel are kept fresh and modern. In some cases the entire theme of the rooms are periodically changed.
3. Changing Menu – The owner of the Ding Jen Fong restaurant in Taipei, Taiwan decided that he would constantly evolve his menu by periodically adding new items. His goal was to have many repeat customers and he felt that they expect to see new dishes from time to time. In June of this year, for example, he will be adding more than a dozen new dishes. He is concerned that without new dishes customers will get tired of the old dishes and they won’t keep coming back. This successful restaurant owner is convinced that his constantly changing menu is one of the reasons his customers come back and bring their friends.
4. Fast Service – One of the ways the Liu family retains customers for their strawberry farm in Shanghai, China is by providing extremely fast service. They can do this because their bakery customers are dealing directly with their farm rather than with a wholesaler. The Liu’s have found that the bakeries in Shanghai are frequently faced with rush orders due to changing customer requirements. Normally the Liu’s will go out on their truck at 5:30 in the morning to deliver strawberries. When a customer calls up for immediate delivery, however, the Liu’s can accomplish that because they have their own delivery truck. In only a couple of hours they can deliver an emergency order. Most other strawberry farmers cannot do this because they only sell to wholesalers.
5. Listen to Customers – Many businesses in Asia spend time listening to their customers and carefully observing their actions. As relationship building is the key to doing business in Asia, many try to establish personal relationships with each of their customers.
Conclusion
During this period of global uncertainty it is more important than ever for businesses to retain their customers. Tracking customer loyalty is a process that all organizations should do on a continuous basis. As businesses grow, however, it is difficult to maintain personal relationships. Nevertheless, many entrepreneurs in Asia have made it a priority to keep in touch with their customers. From inexpensive repair services to fast service and ever-changing menus and hotel décor, these entrepreneurs have figured out clever ways to keep their customers coming back.
About the author
Winslow “Bud” Johnson is the author of the book Business Success Today. This book outlines how 20 businesses from China, Taiwan, Europe and the United States are achieving outstanding success even in difficult times. He is also president of the Stamford Marketing Group, a global consulting firm providing market intelligence to clients around the world. See www.winslowbudjohnson.com.
Tags: Asian Entrepreneurs, aviation, marketing
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