Years ago while sitting in one of my first meetings at a national satellite television company, the word “churn” came up and immediately everyone sat up and starting talking about how to reduce it — offering ideas, sharing strategies.
I’d come from the Federal Government and this was a new word for me. . .”churn”. I thought it was something to do with butter until that day.
At the end of the meeting I still wasn’t totally sure what it was and the dictionary was no real help (following from www.dictionary.com):
1. a container or machine in which cream or milk is agitated to make butter
2. any of various containers or machines similar in shape or action to a butter churn, as a device for mixing beverages
3. British — a large milk can
4. an act of churning stocks by a stockbroker
I don’t know about you, but I really dislike when a word’s definition includes the actual word itself. Not too helpful.
I quickly learned that “churn”, in the business sense, meant when our customers left. In satellite television terms that meant they went to our competitor, switched to cable/FIOS or stopped watching paid television.
About 7 years after that first meeting, when I decided to go out on my own, keeping “churn” as low as possible was on my mind — after all, I’d lived that number for over 7 years.
It’s part of where “Extreme Client Care™” originated. It’s what inspired doing away with marketing pyramids and funnels and creating the Escalator Marketing™ business model instead. And keeping churn low — incredibly low actually — is part of what I’ll be showing you how to do at my upcoming Extreme Escalator Experience live event.
So many business owners and entrepreneurs keep all the focus on getting new clients when it’s much easier (on you and your business) and less expensive to keep existing clients than to constantly worry about getting new ones: less marketing, less educating about your policies, less proving your worth and more results, stronger relationships, higher profits.
Which would you prefer:
- serving clients who love you and happily and consistently refer others OR
- pounding the pavement trying to “persuade or convince” people that you know your stuff and they should become your client?
Seems like a no brainer for those of us who want to enjoy more of our lives.
And another, often overlooked, reality: When you “do your job” and properly manage your business, it’s easier for your clients to stay with you than find another coach, vendor, “source”, solution for themselves.
What are you doing to reduce your churn?