A few weeks ago I met a rather distraught acquaintance. She had acted as a project manager for one of her clients for two years – a retail company – helping to establish a brand presence for the owner, execute a successful marketing and advertising campaign, and turn the brand into a profitable business.
After two years, the owner asked to terminate the service agreement. Naturally, my acquaintance was very upset. “I don’t understand what I did wrong,” she told me. “I was managing a business that was making a profit, and built it to be a favourable destination for our target audience.” The owner did not provide her with a reason, but felt it was time to let go and take over her role.
Her emotional response is not unusual. As an entrepreneur and a project manager for other businesses, she questioned what went wrong, when nothing appeared wrong.
It can be hard when people unsubscribe from your mailing list, ask for a refund or perhaps stop dealing with your company altogether. A week after we met, my acquaintance seemed happier with the situation. While the issue with her client still bothered her, she respected the owner’s decision to stop liaising with her service-providing company, realising she was now free to focus on other aspects.
As an entrepreneur it is normal to face such situations. Global businesses face them every day, with special hotlines for refunds and complaints. Some customers might switch to other competitors overnight and there’s often little companies can do to prevent it.
The reality is that clients and customers have different reasons for moving on, and it is important not to take it personally. Consider the case of my friend and do not let it deter you from focusing on growing your business.
So what could you do when faced with a similar situation?
Firstly, whether a customer asks for a refund or complains about your service, go out of your way to provide good customer care. Find out the reason behind your customers’ dissatisfaction. Is there a fault in your product? Perhaps your staff is not providing a good service. It is important to understand the root of the problem and provide a solution. By showing good customer care, you can alter a customer’s decision and also prevent similar situations from arising in the future.
If the reason has nothing to do with you, but instead is a client’s personal decision, then do not think too much about it. It might turn out to be for the best. You want clients who want to deal with you, and consider what you offer valuable. The same applies to a mailing or subscription list; you want to send out your news and offers to those who want to receive it.
However, if losing clients or customers is something you find difficult to deal with, this is what I recommend.
Hire or dedicate a staff member to deal with customer support. With good customer care knowledge, they would deal directly with your customers, freeing up mental and emotional space for you to focus on your business expansion and satisfy your loyal customers.
You could have a customer support hotline and an email address for your dedicated employee to address any issues.
From time to time, conduct a customer service survey asking customers to evaluate your services and address areas of weakness. Some companies tie the survey to an award or a discount voucher to encourage those reluctant to participate in surveys to do so. The key is to keep the survey short, to the point and not time-consuming.
Last but not least, do not take matters to heart. While we all want people to love our business, sometimes the reason people don’t has nothing to do with us or our company. Your customers could be going through rough financial times, or decided to switch providers to support a friend who has launched a new business.
Letting go of clients or customers can be hard, especially when you have been working hard to provide them with great value. However, sometimes letting go frees up time to focus on your loyal customers, and provide opportunities for growth.
Manar Al Hinai is an award-winning Emirati writer and communications consultant based in Abu Dhabi. Twitter: @manar_alhinai.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
