Agreed Rebecca. Anything we can do to find out why a customer left helps us retain the next one.

Hey Brian, If only more folks came from your perspective and thought about the end user and how they would interact with software, the world would have a lot less technology-based frustration. I like your approach because it is about taking responsibility for the product and not placing it on the end user/customer.

Thanks for taking time to share your experience!

I used to create solutions for different departments at GEICO using Excel. I would write some VBA code and in a few days get the program they needed. If the end user had problems I always assumed it was my fault for not making the interface easier to understand. I never blamed the user.

It was a philosophy which led to fewer and fewer problems with the end product.

Ultimately, all of these things I created were done because nobody wanted to go through the IT department and their red tape. The managers never knew until the stuff was already being used by too many people for them to stop it. I even created an app for some guys in IT who didn’t want to go through their own process. The point is that I always focused on how the user might use the product and what sort of assumptions (right or wrong) they might make and tried to avoid the problems before they popped up.

I feel I’ve gotten rather long winded. My point is, you are right…great post. (I should have started with that.)

So right… when you look at acquisition/retention costs, it makes the benefits of understanding the why of lost customers very real. The info is not always easy to get (for instance, in retail), but as you point out, a small sample can give you the info you are looking for or at least start nudging you in the right direction.

Some businesses will say they can’t follow up with EVERY lost customer. My response? How about following up with one? Cheers! Kaarina

I love long comments Ralph! And I appreciate the people who take time to leave them. 🙂

Your story is a perfect example of what we can learn from a lost customer. Like you said in your industry (and it is true of a lot of B2B service providers), one customer can be a huge deal. I think not learning lessons from the ones that got away would get very expensive, very fast in that situation. I’m glad you’re getting another shot — I’m sure y’all will knock it out of the park this time!

I had a client a long time ago that is in Advertising, BBDO. They are a big organization and we were dealing with their Toronto offices. Now the interesting this was that we had a past relationship with the CFO and he liked us – a lot. We were invited in to show them a new approach to planning their office space after completing a small project for one if their divisions. The thing we never understood right up to the time we lost them was the way they operate. The wanted us to pitch our work the same way they do a pitch. Our industry doesn’t typically “invest” a whole project concept before a contract is signed. We never got that about them and it wasn’t overt. They just kept asking and we couldn’t sell them because we always kept it basic.

Long story but my point is that “understanding” how your customer works is one thing that is critical to our success. We learned that from BBDO and we have another shot at them in the near future.

Sorry for the long comment…….:-)

Agreed. There is a lot to learn from lost customers. Depending on the industry, the data might be hard to get, but if you can find it, it is almost always illuminating.