4 Customer Retention Strategies That Make People Feel Valued
Pre-sale attention can feel like a courtship; there are check-in calls out of the blue, optimistic forward-looking meetings which everyone goes out of their way to attend, and questions get answered fully and instantly.
But, oh, what a dismal descent to earth when the courtship ceases, and you realise it was all about getting a sale. Suddenly the calls stop, the onboarding is cursory and now you’re sitting in a call centre queue to get your problem sorted.
Which is why customer retention strategies matter. Being dumped once the sale is complete is a poor sales model, and thankfully pretty rare now. There are, however, plenty of businesses that could save money on their marketing budget, enjoy increased repeat sales, and enhance their brand, by having a clear strategy on value-adds for existing customers.
A Definition of Customer Retention
“The purpose of a business is to create a customer who creates customers.”
– Shiv Singh
There it is. Customer retention is all about creating a relationship with your customers that makes them feel good, makes their lives or businesses improve, and generates a desire to tell others about it.
It could be that you’re doing a great job with your customer retention already. There are plenty of metrics to tell you this but start with a quick stock-take. Select a reporting period to use for your assessment. Simply work out the percentage of existing customers against new ones; ideally, you’d want to see a split of 20-40% new customers against 60-80% old customers.
4 Customer Retention Strategies
For those of you feeling inspired to give your customer retention a boost, the Outsource Your Marketing team has come up with 4 strategies that we know work well:
1. Get the Onboarding Process Right
This is what your customers are going to remember, so it needs to be good.
- Make it Personal. No-one wants to feel like they’re being taken through a generic process.
- Have Hands-On Involvement. Video tutorials may be ok for later on in the relationship, but have people involved at the early stages.
- Seamless. The last thing you want is your customer wondering if they’ve made a mistake at this early stage.
2. Let Customers Know They Can Trust You
All your early encounters with customers are laying down markers for the future. It’s worth, therefore, creating the template for a positive and productive relationship. On the one hand, you’re looking to delight them by responding promptly, reporting regularly and proactively problem solving. On the other hand, you should be seeking feedback on the amount of contact they want, and the level of reporting required.
3. Build-In Regular Touchpoints
Alongside all the operational communication, it’s really helpful to schedule in a quick catch-up with customers once a month, or once a quarter. You’ll know best what suits your customers; it could be a newsletter, a phone call, or a visit.
The important thing is that it’s an opportunity for them to talk about how their business is going, and for you to let them know about any new products or promotions that may be of interest to them.
4. Thank Customers Once in a While
Customers don’t like to feel ‘taken for granted’. And once they start to feel unappreciated it’s a difficult task to bring them back on board. Rewarding your loyal customers lets them know that you value them. It could be a gift or personalised treatment.
Relationships thrive on reciprocity; your thanks will create ongoing loyalty and referrals in return.
About Outsource Your Marketing
We’re a full-service digital marketing agency offering a solid success rate for clients. Our team of digital marketers are experienced across a range of sectors from logistics and fulfilment to wealth management to healthcare and construction. Want a chat about improving your customer retention? We’d be delighted to show you how we work.
