"How to Keep Customers from Leaking Out to Your Competition" 
Learn to prevent the most common and costly marketing mistakes. 

Here’s a situation we know has occurred many times.  The phone rings with an angry customer, and their frustration is understandable.  After all, they’ve got leaky situation and they need a professional to come fix it as fast as possible.  You send a tech to the job and they execute perfectly.  Now this person is a customer for life, right? 

Your customer might be dry now but that doesn’t mean they’re yours forever.

Many plumbers assume that customers are sort of "captive" and that you'd need to break their water main to get them to leave you.  Maybe you send a maintenance agreement request or a coupon once after the initial meeting, but you pretty much leave them alone. That may have worked in the past, but in today’s plumbing industry it’s just not enough.

Experts agree that it costs - on average- $325 to gain a customer. (If you only service him once, you probably lost money!) The trick is to keep them as "your" customers, continually building profits and referrals over years.

Customers, buying habits, competition, and loyalty have all changed. Customers don’t call and ask for a reason to say with your company – they just leave.  Why does this profit stream gush away?

You may say it's because of "No customer loyalty" but the real question is, "Are we loyal to them?" Unless we earn their loyalty, why should they be loyal? There's a big difference between "customers" and names on a list.

Why Your Customers Leave.

• 55% Say "Company indifference" or "No contact". Over half leave you because you showed no interest in them staying!
• 16% Accepted a competitive offer. You weren't there, but your competition was!
• 12% Are disappointed with the company. Most contractors think this is the #1 reason.
• 9% Became unserviceable. They moved, passed away, changed needs. Can't help this one.
• 4% Felt pricing was unfair. They weren't given enough "value" reasons to stay.

As you can see, the two biggest groups on the list left for the same reason: You didn't pay attention to them but the competition did. That means that 71% of lost customers were pleased with your company, but left because there was no relationship to lose! They just thought "why not" and started buying from your competition.

Why They Stay… and What They Pay.

Here's what a major study by Imperial Financial revealed about why customers buy from you:

• 37% said the relationship was most important.
• 22% said they owned another product of yours.
• 14% were referred by a friend or family member.

Add those up and 73% of your business has a relationship tie-in. Yet nearly 90% of your marketing money is chasing "new customers" with whom you have no relationship! No wonder we lose them.

Another study shows how your relationship with customers promotes higher tickets and referrals:

• Loyal customers spend 33% more than non-loyal.
• Loyal customers refer 107% more than non-loyal.
• Most referrals happen within 60 days of contact.

A Simple Solution For a Costly Problem.

Now, how can we use this information to keep your customers buying and referring? How can it be done simply, efficiently and with minimal expense?

The solution is all found in the enclosed HomeXpert newsletter or newscard. It informs, entertains and - best of all - contains psychological "sales triggers" like no other newsletter available.

Each HomeXpert is customized for you. It has your logos, signature, ads and special offers. (Even your photo if you wish!) When used regularly, it becomes a customer-retention machine.

HomeXpert builds sales, referrals and real relationships. Isn't this why you're in business?

'Don’t Give Your Customers To the Competition'