Charlotte, Nc — Retention Management, Charlotte, NC, had a 70 percent sales growth in 2007, and Richard Ekstrom, president of the company, says he expects another good year in 2008 as the company introduces several product enhancements to expand clients' abilities to reach their membership.
In 2007, Retention Management added 265 new clubs as clients, increasing the total number of clubs using the company's membership contact technology to 545. In 2006, the company added 164 new clubs.
“We are pleased with the maturation of our business model in 2007,” Ekstrom says.“The industry has begun to accept the economic reality that increased competition negatively impacts new member growth, and our message of active attrition defense is resonating with clubs. Retention Management is growing because we continue to provide a quality product, an excellent client experience and a very substantial financial return.”
Growth in 2007 occurred even though the company did not offer any new enhancements in 2007 and did not ramp up its sales force, says Chris Werte, spokesperson for Retention Management. Instead, growth came from better customer service, he says, adding that the company increased the number of its customer service representatives last year.
“We find that we get a lot of clients from referrals,” he says. “Our business model is to always treat your current clients well. That will lead to so many new clients that you don't have to spend time getting leads.”
Another reason for the company's success, Werte says, is that Retention Management often partners with software companies before going into a market. Although the company has had interest from possible partners in the Far East, Werte says they have chosen not to enter that market yet because of the language barrier. Language issues are important to the company because Retention Management provides 90 percent of the content for clients to send to their members.
Instead, the company recently opened a branch in the United Kingdom, and Werte says that Australia could be next.
Because the company is private, Werte would not reveal the company's 2007 revenue, but he did say that the revenue grew as well.
“Everything on our trajectory is growing,” he says.