About 20% of customers are lost by an average business annually, due to lack of cordial relationship. Acquiring new leads is great, but retaining existing customers should be your primary focus. Because, several studies found that 68% of sales comes from existing customers. If you lose a customer, you have wasted 7x the resources used in converting them. You shouldn’t allow that happen to your business.
To help curtail this problem of losing customers, here are some customer retention strategies that work.
If you want your customers to stay put and trust your brand, then you should get beyond the normal service or product that you offer. When it comes to nurturing your customers, think of a valuable offer that you can offer them without their knowledge. Surprises come suddenly. They are not planned, and they don’t have to cost you a fortune.
Reciprocate good gestures. Surprising your customers will inspire them to leave honest feedback about your product, and brand. Offer your customers free gifts and discounts when they are not expecting it. This will definitely change the lens through which they see your business.
Customer service has gone beyond attending to inquiries and complaints, you also need to meet their expectations – even when you didn’t get their feedback. As you set and meet customer expectations, you’re empowering them. According to the Harvard Business Review, “customers want to be empowered, not controlled. You have to act with empathy.”
One of the ways to set and meet customer expectations is to be honest when making a promise. But, it’s hard to satisfy someone you barely know. So, get to know your customers intimately. Understand what they desire most, and use these pointers to set expectations. However, don’t over promise if you know that you can’t deliver.”
Build trust through relationships
Successful businesses are built on trust. When two people are involved in a business, if there is no trust, the business dies. The moment customers discover that you are not trustworthy, they will switch to your competitors. Nothing scares customers away like bad experience. They will even spread the negative news with others.
Seeing how important trust is to your business, you need to consciously make attempts to promote trust. As you initiate relationship with new and existing customers, you give them the opportunity to trust you. The commitment of your customers will be firm when trust increases.
When customers are given the chance to express themselves, they reveal their minds and feelings about your brand.
In their complaints, be sensitive enough to catch the pain points. Get to know the areas they’re not satisfied about and why. Adjusting in those areas will turn things around.
Truly, hearing from customers directly to know how they feel about your products and services is a great way to cement the bond that already exist. In essence, it can help you develop engaging custom content for customer retention.
Overdeliver on your promise
According to statistics from Business.com, when a customer is dissatisfied, he will likely tell 20 more persons about her negative experience with the brand. To avoid hurting your customers, the rule of business hasn’t changed: “Under promise and over deliver.” When you follow this formula, you’re exceeding customer expectation. After all, you’re going beyond what you promised. Customers can be aggressive when disappointed. If you promise to deliver a product in 20 minutes, be there at 15 minutes or 5 minutes before the time. As simple as this is, you’ll have succeeded in satisfying your customer.
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Address customer’s complaints on time
Actually, effective customer service rely heavily on how fast the problem is resolved. Your customer care department should be trained, flexible, welcoming, and have an open policy. Complaints should be a priority that needs urgent attention in your business. Don’t defer or postpone giving attention to it. Answer the question now. Your firm should be able to resolve complaints from all sources (email, offline, social media, phone calls, etc.).
In conclusion, these strategies take time before you begin to see their effects in your business. So, be ready to put in the work and time. Meanwhile, which of these strategies will you apply to your business today?
My name is Chigozie Japhet. I am a content writer, and a brand strategist. I like writing, reading, researching and watching football, especially my team, Man United. i believe in working hard, and also in relaxation as all work without play, makes Chigozie a dull boy.
