Weekend Reading: “Never Lose a Customer Again” by Joey Coleman

For the 167th episode of The Marketing Book Podcast, I interviewed Joey Coleman, author of Never Lose a Customer Again: Turn Any Sale into Lifelong Loyalty in 100 Days. The author’s theory of building customer loyalty isn’t about focusing on marketing or closing the sale: It’s about the first 100 days after the sale and the interactions the customer experiences. While new customers experience joy, euphoria, and excitement, these feelings quickly shift to fear, doubt, and uncertainty as buyer’s remorse sets in. Across all industries, somewhere between 20%-70% of newly acquired customers will stop doing business with a company with the first 100 days of being a new customer because they feel neglected in the early stages of customer onboarding. In the book, Coleman outlines a methodology for dramatically increasing customer retention and revenues. He identifies eight distinct emotional phases customers go through in the 100 days following a purchase. If you can understand and anticipate the customers’ emotions, you can apply a variety of tools and techniques — in-person, email, phone, mail, video, and presents — to cement a long and valuable relationship. From the book: Regardless of where your business operates, what industry you work in, or the size of your operation, you are likely losing approximately 20 to 70 percent of your newly acquired customers in the first 100 days of the relationship. Companies spend incredible amounts of time, money, and energy to obtain new customers, but are hemorrhaging customers after the sale.