Businesses and brands work through a lot of marketing plans, social media, and brands as well put in a lot of effort, time, and money towards gaining their customers’ trust. Yet on the customers’ end, they are constantly bombarded with advertsconvincing them to jump ship. This might work if you do not have an effective retention strategy in place. However, here is a piece of good news for you; if you have already been able to persuade them to buy from your brand once, you have succeeded. The next few steps only need you to provide them with incentives to keep coming back for your products or services. You will learn about what customer retention strategies you can apply.
Customer Retention – what is it?
It refers to the process of turning customers into repeat buyers and preventing them from switching to your competitors. Although most companies focus on customer acquisition rather than customer retention, the fact of the matter is that customer retention is actually cheaper and much more effective than customer acquisition.
Read: What Is Customer Retention – A Complete Guide
Why is Customer Retention Important for your Business?
The more times repeat customers buy from your business, the more likely they are to buy from your business again. There was a study that showed that after one purchase from a brand, customers are 25% more likely to buy from the same brand again, and the same percent is said to double at every purchase after each.
Also for retaining customers, you don’t even need to spend much on marketing, advertising, or sales outreach, since the repeat customers already trust your brand from their previous purchases.
Moreover, loyal customers are also more likely to give recommendations about your brand to their families, friends, and colleagues. This cycle of retained customers can help bring about long-term success for your brand.
What are Customer Retention Strategies?
Adopting these customer retention strategies means that your brand is working towards an improved customer experience. Customers are much more likely to be loyal to a company that provides them satisfactory customer service experience, which makes sense because if you make these interactions much more convenient for them, they are more likely to keep coming back to your brand.
If you are looking to invest in your loyal customers, then you might need to consider the following steps to make that happen;
- Prompt Responses. Faster replies to customers’ queries guarantee customer satisfaction. Even if customers’ issues cannot be resolved right away, it is still a good idea to send a response to them, instead of ignoring them. Customers are willing to wait when they feel that the brand is acknowledging their queries and working actively towards their solution.
- Simplify Workflow. The reps behind the customer service also need to be acknowledged, because if they are not satisfied with their workload, then they wouldn’t treat the customers well. Hence, brands must simplify customer support roles so that customers can easily reach out to the right department or representative. This provides support to customer service reps with their workload as well as keeps customers happy.
- Omni-Channel Support. Brands shouldn’t limit their support channels to just one or two platforms. Rather there should be multiple channels so that the customers are comfortable enough to go with the ones they prefer. For instance, Comcast Xfinity, which is one of the largest internet service providers in the US, has multiple channels for their customers to reach out to them. If Xfinity subscribers want to use social media platforms to reach customer service, they can do so through Xfinity Facebook or Twitter page, or if they prefer using the phone, they can call Xfinity customer service. Keeping multiple channels open can decrease the effort it takes to make a purchase or contact support.
- Provide Incentives. Customers love it when brands appreciate them by providing them with loyalty programs, discount codes, or special offers. Customers want to keep buying from brands that give them such perks.
- Customer Feedback. This is an important tool in customer retention and reducing churn rates. If brands do not know what their customers want, it is better to hear right from them. Brands should ask customers to fill out surveys that are focused on improving customer retention and customer service experiences.
Read: 5 Benefits of Hiring an Answering Service for Your Business
Final Thoughts
Obviously, your brand’s customer retention strategy and gaining customer loyalty isn’t something that can happen overnight. It will take a lot of time and effort. The major focus of your brand should be towards providing exceptional end-to-end customer service experiences to gain customers’ trust.
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