Let’s be honest, there are few things that feel more rewarding than securing a new customer. It’s incredibly important for business growth and development and at the end of the day, more customers mean more money. With that being said, no business should ever operate on a model where the acquisition of new customers supersedes the importance of advancing old or preexisting customers. More specifically speaking, winning back profitable old customers that you might have lost. 

In the business-to-business (B2B) world, reacquisition is incredibly important. Losing customers happens more often than you might expect, especially given the current market, where customers have more options than ever to evaluate and re-evaluate their suppliers, find new ones, and make changes. 

Losing a customer can be a costly endeavor, and that cost is only going up.

Losing a customer can be a costly endeavor, and that cost is only going up. For some firms, long-standing customers are also their best customers.  As recently as 2014, for example, “the average publicly traded manufacturing firm received over 25% of its revenue from large buyers, up from 10% in the early 1980s.”. Any company, regardless of size, would be leery at the prospect of losing a customer like that. 

Former customers already have a certain expectation about your company and capabilities, and it’s almost impossible to change the first impression.

The reacquisition process, however, is a bit different than acquiring fresh customers. The most obvious difference is former customers already have a certain expectation about your company and capabilities, and it’s almost impossible to change the first impression. The other side of the coin, however, is you also have your own set of criteria and history, so you know if that customer is worth pursuing. 

Fortunately, when it comes to winning back a lost partner, it’s less about wining and dining, although that’s certainly a part of it in some cases. Realistically it comes down to this, can your company get the job done this time better and in a most cost-effective way? The good news is that a lot of what customers are looking for, both new and old, can be found from within your supply chain.

Rebuilding Relationships in the Digital Age

Assuming you’ve done the math, you’ve come to realize that Customer ‘X’ is definitely an asset to your roster and is worth romancing back into a partnership. Where do you begin? This isn’t necessarily an easy question to answer as not only does it depend on the specific customer, but it is also prone to change due to the current state of flux in the market. Everything is shifting, getting technological upgrades, and becoming digital. Even customer expectations are starting to trend towards digital solutions. Having said that, finding the right way to move forward is like trying to find the needle in a haystack, in the back of a moving truck. 

What many businesses are looking for today is visibility, flexibility, and assurance that they’ll get what they need, when they need it.

What many businesses are looking for today is visibility, flexibility, and assurance that they’ll get what they need, when they need it. The ability to provide those things to a customer not only marks you as a good business partner, but it’s also a key differentiator amongst the competition. The digital “olive branch” in today’s market is what kind of data and information you can provide your customers, and overall accountability of your services and, most importantly, the strength of your supply chain.

Managing Customer Expectations

Customer expectations are constantly growing and changing. Walmart is a prime example of this. The superstore is locked in a battle of epic proportions against Amazon. Every empty spot on a shelf means a potential missed sale. A sale that could end up going to Amazon or even a different competitor. 

As a result, Walmart started stepping up their expectations from their suppliers, hitting those that don’t hold up their end of the bargain with charge-backs and other fees. However, given the size and reach of a retail giant like Walmart, business potentials for suppliers are enormous. If you make the supplier list, they tend to be the kind of customer you don’t want to lose. To that end, suppliers have little other choice but to pull up their bootstraps and live up to Walmarts expectations.

No doubt, the bar is set high, but this may also present the opportunity for those who are able to demonstrate that they have been developing and evolving their business practices. Showing your former customer that you can get the job done and done right is a sure fire way to win that customer back. 

You need to be able to prove that you have a robust plan to meet their needs as well as the capability to follow through. If they have a tight delivery schedule, then you’ll need to have a plan in place to accommodate it.  Those accommodations are made through shoring up your supply chain to create the flexibility and visibility necessary to handle the freight, even when capacity and other elements are against you. 

Controlling Costs 

Controlling costs and optimizing the supply chain also means that you can provide your customers the visibility, flexibility, and the overall assurance that they will have what they need, when they need it. 

Costs are a big factor in any working relationships. A lot of partnerships have dissolved simply due to an inflating price point, which can be caused by any number of reasons. Unfortunately, it tends to be either a knee-jerk reaction to pass the buck when times get tough and for some customers, that cost is simply too much. Controlling your costs goes a long way towards repairing broken relationships, especially when it means that you can regain a former customer at the expense of your competition. Controlling costs and optimizing the supply chain also means that you can provide your customers the visibility, flexibility, and the overall assurance that they will have what they need, when they need it. 

The benefit to this approach is two-fold, really. First, you’re gaining back a lost customer as well as proving that your business solutions have grown and matured from the last time you’ve worked together. This not only opens the door to regaining a lost customer but could also provide opportunities to gain new ones. The other is that controlling your costs, via your supply chain, also increases overall efficiency which extends to all of your customers and your operations as a whole. Ultimately, the bulk of costs comes from transportation and the supply chain. As freight rates are prone to fluctuate wildly, the cost of shipping goods can also vary to a great degree making it hard to manage. For manufacturers shipping goods to customers, this needs to be managed effectively to keep costs low and both parties happy.

There are a number of different factors to consider when you’re trying to evaluate your supply chain. The good news is, you don’t have to do it alone.

Making these corrections and changes on your own can be a difficult proposition at the best of times. There are a number of different factors to consider when you’re trying to evaluate your supply chain. The good news is, you don’t have to do it alone. Having a 3PL partner like BlueGrace can help get your supply chain where it needs to be, not only win back former customers, but to also help you win over future prospects. Call us at 800.MYSHIPPING or fill out the form below to see how we can help!

 
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