Can You Repair Broken Customer Relationships?

Harvard Business Review has a new piece detailing the steps mid-sized companies can take in order to fix any damage to their relationships with customers that may have occurred.

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According to a survey cited in the piece, the scope of these issues is quite substantial given that the proportion of customers claiming to have had some kind of problem with the product or service proffered by a company has risen by almost 30 points over the last 20 years, climbing from 47% circa 2003 to 74% as of last year.

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In order to mend the customer relationship damage that results from those kinds of problems, the authors of the report recommend first abandoning the mindset that customers and companies are involved in a zero-sum game where there are clearly defined winners and losers, and instead view the nature of the customer/company relationship as a collaborative or complementary one at its core.

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Further, companies attempting to improve customer relationships would be wise to research the biggest pain points and hurdles that each customer is facing, then develop a clear strategic proposition about how your company can best address whatever pain point or opportunity you’re best-positioned to address. 

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You can find that article here.