The secrets to customer retention [infographic]
Your customers are the backbone of your business and are absolutely essential to ensure your business grows and reaches it’s potential. In fact, without customers your business is nothing.
Many businesses still focus their efforts on winning new customers, but with a recent survey by Gartner finding that 80% of future profits will come from 20% of existing customers, it’s further proof that business success lies with keeping your current audience sweet.
While new business is an essential component of your business growth strategy, neglecting your current customer base can ultimately put your business jeopardy. Sadly, some businesses still put their focus on acquiring customers and soon after forget the value retaining them can bring to their business.
So, how do you ensure you that put your existing customers at the heart of your business? DMC Software recently created an infographic detailing just what you can do to ensure your current customers keep coming back. Below is just a few of the ways you can begin the journey to customer retention.
Understand your customer
If you don’t know your customer, then you truly aren’t serving your business correctly. We’ve already mentioned how customers are the backbone of your business, so take the time to get to know them and understand them beyond their names and contact details. Creating a human connection with your customers can help you to reap the rewards back into your business.
No one likes to feel sold to, or be provided with a one size fits all package. Focus on truly understanding what it is your customer wants. Why is it they’ve come back to you? What did you provide them with previously? How can you improve their next investment with you? A great relationship with your customers will ensure you remain top of their go to list.
Stay in contact
Make sure your customers know you’re there to help them whenever they need you. If you lose touch, it can be hard to regain a trusted stream of communication once more, and the seed of doubt may already be planted that you’re not always around in time of need.
You don’t need to be in contact every day, but a carefully planned and timed check-in phone call, email or meeting can help to ensure customers are aware you’re thinking of them and ready to assist if they need it. The dialogue shouldn’t stop once a purchase has been made, it should be the start of another avenue of communication.
Utilise feedback
Many companies only celebrate the positive feedback they receive, but it’s how you deal with the negative complaints which can set you apart from the rest. Don’t leave bad reviews unattended. A response can make the difference between losing and keeping a valued customer.
You could do all the market research in the world, but reviews allow you to tailor what you offer to consumers on a different level. Hearing from the people who use your products or services and finding out what works and what doesn’t is invaluable information. Without it how can you improve what you’re offering current customers?
Build trust
Trust is an essential component of most relationships, and it’s essential you gain customers trust from the start. It’s not just imperative that new customers trust you when they make a purchase, current customers should also feel safe in the knowledge that you’ll continue to do right by them.
Most companies offer their best deals to new customers, but you also need to remember to incentivise current customers to stay with you. If customers can’t trust that you’ll always value their custom, then you can expect them to go with a business that will. You can’t put a price on the value trust can bring to your business.
Whilst setting your sights on new customers is essential to business growth, don’t forget to nurture and embrace your current clientele. You’ll certainly notice the hit financially if you do leave them behind so implement a strategy or revamp your current efforts to ensure no customer goes unattended.