Today I was listening to a great case study interview by Rob Walling from SoftwarebyRob.com, and co-founder of the Micropreneur Academy. This is one of many great case studies found inside the Academy. The interview was with Harry Hollander, co-founder of Moraware.
Harry’s obviously a bright guy, and he gives some great advice in the interview. The thing that really made an impression on me had to do with his take on the sales process.
He says:
“We consider our sales process done when we have someone who is willing to be a reference and put a testimonial on our website, or do a video case study”.
I love this! This really got me thinking about how I handle my own sales process, and what happens once someone becomes a customer.
Admittedly, I’ve been looking at post-conversion phase in a big company sort of way. I’m used to thinking about customer retention due to my experience in the corporate world. That’s what it’s all about there. Once you have customers, you check in with them and make sure they’re happy, not to turn them into fans, but to keep them from leaving. There’s a big difference here.
Client retention is about doing just enough to keep what you have. On the other hand, turning customers into fans means you have to blow their freaking socks off.
This is much harder, but it’s also much more exciting. Not to mention the payoff of having a bunch of true fans is better than anything you’ll ever be able to pay for.