The consumers are the most important part of a business. The obvious reason is that without them, no one would purchase your products or avail of your services. That’s why a lot of companies are putting all their money, efforts, and time into accessing markets and acquiring new customers.
But is that the best way to do it? It seems logical enough that you need to find people to reach out to regarding your brand. But in doing this, a lot of companies miss out on a crucial step: customer retention. Statistics show that it costs five times more to attract a new customer than to retain your existing pool. Further, improving your customer retention strategies, even just by 5%, can help you gain an additional 25% to 95% in profit.
Those numbers should be enough for businesses to begin re-targeting their strategies and realigning their objectives towards increasing customer retention. As much as possible, the goal should be to keep your existing pool of customers loyal to your brand. This one action can go a long way to the point that they will market your product for you by word-of-mouth referral. Whatever your business’s niche is—whether you’re running a marketing agency, selling pre-owned lifted trucks and other vehicles, offering luxury services, etc., it’s high time to start improving your customer retention strategies. Here’s how:
Put customer service in your top priority
It’s not enough to simply know that you have to foster your relationship with your consumers. You have to put it on your number one priority. Since customers are the lifeblood of any business, make sure you are setting proper goals to improve your customer service. Plan and prepare for your retention strategies to be successful. Put your sole focus on it and don’t allow it to get caught up in other administrative and day to day tasks.
Listen
For you to know how you can serve your customers better, you have to find out what they want first. Take time to study your consumers’ behaviors. What problems are they facing? What are they looking for? Knowing these things will help you figure out what you can do to assist them.
Every time you come across an opportunity to communicate with your consumers—whether it be through customer support, meetings, emails, instant messages, etc., be attentive and observe their behaviors. Gather information about them that will help you build a stronger and more meaningful relationship. Take every opportunity and use it to foster loyalty and trust between you and your customers.
Actively seek feedback
Customers will always have something to say about a brand and its products or services. They will write reviews, share their thoughts and experience with the people they know, etc. Especially since we’re living in the information age where everything we want to know about is accessible with a single search, customer reviews are more important than ever.
Instead of waiting for your consumers to write their reviews about you, actively seek feedback. Your consumers want to be heard, so give them that opportunity. Ask them about their experiences, suggestions, recommendations, etc. This will give you insights on how you can improve. And it can also pave the way towards improving your relationship with your customers.
Stay in touch
The customer experience doesn’t end after they purchase your product or service. Even the post-sale phase is detrimental to helping you create loyal customers. Don’t stop engaging and communicating with your consumers after the transaction. Purposefully engage with them even after the sale. Check in on them and stay in touch. This can motivate your customers to come back for more, simply because you take care of them.
Your customers are your biggest asset. So you should be putting your money, effort, and time into retaining them. You don’t need any skill or specific method to form relationships with your consumers. You just have to care for and engage with them genuinely. In return, they will stay loyal to your brand.
