Companies spend so much time and effort on acquiring new customers that sometimes they unintentionally neglect the old ones. Studies and reports have found that customer retention is much more conducive to a higher return on investment than new business. Here are some expert customer retention strategies that you can begin implementing in your company.
Customer Retention Strategies that Keep Clients Coming Back
Practice Unbeatable Customer Service
Consistent, reliable customer service can usually help build a loyal customer base. When a customer is dedicated to a brand, they’re much less likely to go elsewhere for the same products or services.
You should encourage your employees to go above and beyond in exceeding your customers’ expectations. If a customer needs to get in touch with your company for whatever reason, they should be able to.
Communication is Key
You can follow-up with periodic emails or phone calls to check in with them or find out about their experience with your product or service. Just make sure you listen to what your customers have to say. An open line of communication is always key and, who knows, they may even provide you with some useful insight, too.
It may also be beneficial to use social media as another effective source of communication between you and your customers. By responding to their inquiries on platforms like Twitter and Facebook, you establish a presence where many of your customers spend the majority of their time online.
Become an Industry Thought Leader
Customers will stay with companies that they think are far and beyond more knowledgeable than their competitors. Your goal is to become a source that customers can turn to if they’re looking for information or insight on your specific industry.
Share Valuable Content
When you become a trusted source of intelligence for the customer, they may start to depend on the content you share. You can do this with well thought out blogs or social media posts where you provide valuable information about industry-specific subjects.
Just make sure that you’re in the know about what is happening in your industry and the work that you do. If a customer isn’t understanding a product or service, you should be able to accurately relay useful information and explain it to them entirely.
Provide Incentives to your Customers
Customers will usually stick with a company if there’s at least some value to the transaction. For instance, some companies offer customer loyalty programs that offer rewards for continued business.
Companies like Panera and Starbucks provide customers with loyalty cards that they swipe whenever they make a purchase. After a certain number of visits, the customer will be gifted with a coupon, a free item or some kind of savings. Incentivizing the act of doing business will make every transaction seem valuable to the customer if they’re getting something out of it, too.
If your business is looking to succeed, it’s time to start prioritizing customer retention rather than only focusing on bringing in new customers.
