Acquiring a new customer costs much more than retaining the customers you already have. If you have been in business for a while, you probably know this. What you may not know is how to keep the customers you do have. While there are many excellent customer retention strategies, the following three are among the most effective.
Create Customer Loyalty
Customers that enroll in rewards programs generate more sales than non-enrolled customers. These programs reward loyalty by offering discounts and first access to sales and other deals. Customers begin to think better of your business because of the deals you offer, and less of other businesses that don’t offer similar things.
Rewards program offerings can include point-of-sale coupons, frequent flyer miles, dedicated customer service lines, or VIP lounges and other perks. These programs have been highly successful for airlines (like Delta) and coffee shops (like Starbucks). So it should be easy to see why so many businesses use them.
Be True to Your Values
Forming core values can increase retention rates, and increasing retention rates can increase your profits. Here’s how. Think about companies that have a great deal of customer loyalty, like Apple. One of the company’s core values is to remain aspirational, which allows the company to be constantly innovating their products. These products include computers that are resistant to viruses and smartphones with amazing capabilities.
People love these products because they know they can count on them and because these products solve problems that consumers didn’t even know they had. This sort of customer response is possible because Apple remains loyal to its values, and as a result, people continue to buy up each new product when it comes out.
Employee Engagement
Many employees feel expendable. As a result, they don’t engage with customers effectively. Customers can feel this. It’s a much different experience to get help from someone who knows the business and who wants to be there than it is to be helped by someone who is just biding their time. Your employees are your first line of defense against customer loss. Make sure you treat them well. Your customer retention will improve as a result.
Final Words
As we said in the beginning, losing customers costs big bucks. Replacing them costs even more. That’s why it’s critical that you create a solid customer retention plan. Companies that manage to boost customer retention benefit from having a loyal customer base and a healthier bottom line. And those that don’t, well, they tend to struggle.
To make sure you can attract and retain customers, you’ll need a good marketing plan. Visit our website or contact us directly to learn more about how your marketing plan can be made more effective.