Keep Customers Coming Back With These Effective Customer Retention Strategies
You know what's better than acquiring new customers? Keeping the ones you have. I'm sure you've heard the phrase "The cost of acquiring a new customer is higher than keeping an existing one." If you are not doing everything you can to keep this customer then you are missing out on a lot of money. Let’s talk about how to use retention strategies to keep your customers coming back.
Have a seamless onboarding process.
When it comes to customer onboarding, the first step is to make sure that you're offering a stellar experience. Try to think of all the ways you can help your customers get set up from the moment they sign up with you.
Send them a welcome email. This email should welcome your new client into your fold and provide links or attachments for getting started with something fundamental to their relationship with you, such as how to use your software or app, or how to access their account on your website.
Organize a call with an account manager or customer success manager within one week of signup. An introductory call helps clients feel like they have someone they can turn to if they have questions, and makes them aware that you're there for them if they need anything at all.
Assign each client a dedicated customer success manager (CSM). A CSM can be especially helpful in guiding clients through the onboarding process and even beyond that time frame, by helping clients achieve specific goals and making sure everything progresses smoothly along the way.
Set expectations to create a better customer experience.
The best way to retain clients is by making them feel as though you understand each and every one of their needs. This can be done in a variety of ways, but most importantly, it involves knowing your client as much as possible. You need to understand what they want and why they want it.
Understanding the goals of your clients will help you better cater to their needs. If a customer wants more leads, then create lead-generating strategies that work for them. If another customer wants better sales conversions, find ways to increase those conversions through effective advertising campaigns or increased website traffic.
Understanding the business itself is also important when retaining customers because it will allow you to tailor your services according to how the business operates on a day-to-day basis—and how these operations influence its success rate at generating revenue from customers over time, which brings us back full circle: understanding what makes each individual client tick helps keep them coming back again (and again), which keeps turnover rates low which ultimately leads towards increased profits!
Make sure that customers feel valued.
It's important to give your customers a sense of individual value. You may be able to get away with treating most people like numbers, but when it comes to the customer experience, nothing says "you're just another human being in the crowd" like being treated as such.
This is why it's essential that customer service representatives are trained to recognize each customer and address them by name whenever possible. There's no need to overdo it—no one wants to be greeted by an agent who doesn't know their name—but a little familiarity can go a long way toward building rapport and reinforcing the feeling that your business cares about its customers as individuals.
Create a sense of community.
Creating a sense of community for your customers doesn’t have to be hard. In fact, creating a sense of community with your customers will do more than simply keep them around. It'll also make them feel like they're part of something bigger. This can be accomplished in a few simple steps:
Ask your customers to share their stories with you, or write them yourself (with permission).
Connect these stories on your blog, social media and email campaigns so that customers who read one story read another, and then another. Building this type of community is easy when you think of every customer as an entry point into your brand—and every happy customer as an opportunity to reach many others.
Reward customers who share their stories with additional deals, referrals and other perks through loyalty programs and referral incentives.
Asking people to refer a friend or family member can come off as pushy sometimes—but if the incentive is good enough and the process is seamless enough, there's no reason why it won't work!
Actively ask for customer feedback to improve your experience.
One of the biggest mistakes retailers make is to develop products or services and then sit back, waiting for their customers to tell them how it's going. That's an exercise in futility, as very few consumers will take the time to provide you with something without you asking for it.
Asking your customers to share their opinions not only gives you valuable insight into how they feel about your product but also keeps them engaged in your brand. Be proactive! Don't wait until there's a problem and hope a customer (or 10) will come forward so you can fix it — ask them what they think and act on their suggestions.
Assuming you've already mastered collecting email addresses from shoppers, sending post-purchase surveys is easy. Keep your questions short, simple and focused on specific aspects of the experience in which you want improvement; use multiple choice answers where possible and keep the open text boxes to a minimum; don't forget to supply a contact number if shoppers want more information or need help with their response; provide incentives for taking part such as discounts or free samples; keep responses anonymous unless the shopper wants follow-up contact — let them check a box if that's what they want; thank everyone for taking part whether or not they had problems with their experience; let people know when changes are made because of their feedback (consider thanking them again at this point).
Address your customer’s needs and concerns promptly, be consistent about communicating new products, and have an exceptional customer service
Good customer service is the lifeblood of any business. It’s what turns casual customers into loyal, repeat buyers. Here are three ways to make your customer service exceptional:
Address your customer’s needs and concerns promptly.
Be consistent about communicating new products and promotions.
Make sure all your employees understand how to handle interactions with customers in a friendly manner.
Create a loyalty program that rewards your customers.
With so many options for each product or service, customers are looking for a reason to choose your business over another. By rewarding your customer's loyalty, you give them a reason to keep coming back and trying new products or services. Plus, creating a loyalty program has the added benefit of making your customers feel valued and appreciated.
In fact, research shows that customers are 25% more likely to return to businesses that offer loyalty programs!
Think loyalty programs are only for retail? Think again! Loyalty programs can be adapted to just about any industry and customer base—whether it's a rental car company giving out free days after renting X number of cars or a bar offering discounted drinks after X number of visits. As long as there is something you can offer in exchange for repeated business, you have the basis for building a successful program.
Loyalty programs also give you more data on your customers' buying habits. In addition to tracking customer data through credit card purchases, having an online portal where customers register their card gives you access to personal information such as email addresses and phone numbers—allowing you to target special offers directly at those individuals who might be most interested.
With these and other retention strategies, you should be able to keep customers coming back. The key is just to pick something that works for you, implement it, and watch the returns roll in. No matter what strategy you ultimately choose to use, just remember that customer loyalty is one of the most important assets a business can have. With loyal customers, even the ups and downs of the economy can be weathered with relative ease. Keep your customers happy and they'll likely stay with you no matter what.