For a lot of business owners, they are continually looking for innovative ways that they can attract new customers. However, this often leads to existing customers feeling sadly neglected. In truth, customers who have already used your services in the past already know their value, so you should be concentrating more of your efforts on bringing them back. Not only do you benefit from repeat business, loyal and satisfied customers are likely to trumpet about how great your company is. And with social media providing a bigger mouthpiece than ever, the benefits of keeping your customers happy are there for all to see. So, let’s take a closer look at just some of the ways that you can do this.
Stay in Touch - Customer retention
Once you have made an initial sale, this should be seen as only the beginning of your relationship with a customer. Since many people now buy online, this presents you with the ideal opportunity to capture their data and get in contact with them. You can start by sending a follow up email thanking them for the purchase and showing them some of the other products and services you offer. If they have agreed, you can also add them to your email marketing database to send through more information. Ensuring that you regularly update your social media accounts is another way to communicate with customers. However, you should always remember that there is a fine line between keeping in touch and spamming, and you certainly want to avoid crossing this wherever possible.
Keep Everything Fresh and Updated - Customer Retention
If a customer hasn’t thought about your brand in a while and decides to take a look back at your website or social media accounts, you want to make sure that everything looks fresh and up to date. It simply gives off a bad impression if you haven’t done anything for a long time, and customers are likely to think twice before giving you their continued business. Instead, you should be looking to engage with current trends and share interesting and relevant content on a regular basis. Even if your customers don’t check your sites religiously, the knowledge that you are passionate about keeping your sites fresh may be enough to sway them that yours is a business that they should give their repeat business to.
Go Above and Beyond - Customer Retention
People are most likely to share their experiences about a particular business when they have gone above and beyond the call of duty. It may be something like offering them a special gift on their birthday, customer Christmas gifts or giving them access to a loyalty scheme. If you have a business where you interact with customers on a face-to-face basis, remembering the customer’s name and giving them specific recommendations about what you think they would like to buy can make all the difference. Taking steps to identify your staff through lanyards or name tags that are personalised with interesting information about them can help to break down the wall between employees and customers. Ultimately, you want to treat every customer like they are special and they are much more likely to keep coming back.
Get Involved in the Community - Customer Retention
Another thing that people like to see from businesses that they use on a regular basis is that they are actively involved in the local community or affiliated with a particular charity. So, why not choose a cause that you believe in and lend your support to it as a business? If there is a natural link between your business and the charity you have chosen, this is even better. It also helps to get your face out there in the local area so people begin naturally associating your business with the good work you are doing. Another thing that you could consider doing is donating a certain percentage of your profits to charity, and making sure that you shout about this fact on your website and other marketing information that you choose to send out.
Make Sure Your Team Understand the Importance of Customer Service - Customer Retention
Remember, anyone who is out on the front line and interacting with customers is an active representative of your business. Your customer service policy should be made clear throughout your organisation, stressing how important it is that customers are treated in a respectful and professional manner. The first way that you ensure that you are getting this from your employees is with a comprehensive training scheme. If you receive a complaint from a customer about a particular member of staff, you should obviously try to handle this in a fair way. If it is just a single complaint, it may not be too much of a big issue, but if this is something that is happening on a regular basis, you may need to start looking into it more closely.
Make it Easier For Customers to Reach You - Customer Retention
We have already talked about the importance of communicating with customers, but remember that communication is a two-way street. The internet has opened up so many doors with regards to communicating with people, so you should utilise these as much as possible. Firstly, your contact information should be easy to find on your website whether people want to get in touch by calling or emailing you. Many businesses have now decided to install an instant chat function on their website so this is also something you could also consider. However, you need to make sure you have the capability to answer people’s queries and issues as soon as they are raised. And one of the top methods for businesses to interact with customers is social media, so monitor anything you receive through here and answer everything directly. Remember, in today’s world of instant communication, people are less likely to wait around for a response, which means that prompt interaction is more important than ever.
Listen to Your Customers - Customer Retention
When it comes to ways that you can improve your level of service, your customers should be your first port of call. There are two main ways of doing this. The first is to listen when they provide feedback directly. Even if the feedback they provide is negative, it can still be helpful for your business in the long run. And just because it is negative, it doesn’t mean that they will never use your business again. People like to feel like they are being listened to, so remember to thank them for their feedback and let them know if you are taking steps to implement any of their suggestions. The other way that you can encourage customers to tell you what they think is through a survey. If you want to encourage more people to complete this, you could offer some sort of reward at the end of it.
Show Your Appreciation - Customer Retention
One of the top ways that you can show your appreciation to a customer who has been particularly loyal to you is by offering them exclusive rewards or deals. Everyone likes to feel as if they are a VIP or special in some way, so taking steps to show that they are appreciated should be high up on your priority list. Even a simple thank you email after someone has made a purchase can make all the difference. And remember, there is no reason why you can’t ask customers for help too. For example, if they have been particularly happy with the service they have received, you could ask them to refer a friend to your business.
Keep Innovating - Customer Retention
If your business has become stale and you are continually offering the same thing again and again, you are less likely to have customers who want to come back to you. However, if you keep coming up with exciting new innovations and ideas, you are much more likely to attract people back time and time again as there will always be that level of curiosity about what you will come up with next. Customers can see when businesses are moving forward and they are much more likely to come along for the ride.
Offer a VIP Experience - Customer Retention
For your most loyal customers, you could reserve a VIP experience for them in which you thank them for their continued loyalty. It may be that you hold a drinks reception or maybe that you invite them along to the launch of your new product. Having this opportunity to interact with them in a more casual setting also allows you to find out further ways that you could improve your overall customer service experience. These are just a few of the top ways that you can keep your customers coming back to you again and again. Remember, this is a very valuable strategy as the best businesses are built on a strategy of customer retention rather than one that involves constantly trying to bring new people through the door. The main message that you should take away is to always offer an experience for customers that they can’t receive from your competitors .
