13 Advanced Strategies For Retaining More Customers
The average customer today is constantly being harrassed by offers of products and services from different brands both online and offline. As a result of this, customers are getting smarter and more powerful as they have an ever widening choice of goods, services and brands to choose from.
Consumers now have easy access to information about a brand and its products from a multitude of sources. For example, before making a phone purchase, or a reservation at a hotel/restaurant most people would do some “research” that involves internet searches and checking out reviews on Amazon, ServiceGuru or Trip Advisor.
What this implies for businesses is that it is imperative that deliberate steps are taken not only to win new customers, but to retain the existing customers for the long term. This article highlights 13 mordern strategies you can implement in your business to achieve this.
#1. Deliver Quality Products (& Services)
This sounds like common sense but I have come across shoddily manufactured products from various brand that left me feeling cheated after the purchase. Needless to say, I never patronized such brands ever again, and I also discouraged family and friends from doing same.
Brands that try to maximize profit by producing cheap, low quality products are focused on winning new customers and making that one time sale, they don’t care if the customer comes back or not. Thanks to word of mouth, such businesses will never stand the test of time.
Ensure the quality of your products are within acceptable standards and that they work the way they’re supposed to. This would require defining quality standard for your brand and implementing strict Quality Control measures that will enable the brand achieve it.
#2. Be responsive
We live in a world of instant gratification and speed. When customers want something, they find a way to get it – fast. Today’s consumers cannot phathom why it would take days to respond to an email or hours to respond to social media engagements. They also expect to issues like refunds or product returns to be handled within the shortest possible time frame.
Ensure prompt attention is given to all complaints enquiries and other feedback recieved by the business via email, telephone or social media. As good rule of thumb is to ensure responses are given within fifteen minutes to one hour.
If the required action cannot be completed in a short time, a message letting the customer know you received their message and stating when you will get back to them will go a long way.
#3. Be Honest
If you ever give your customers good reason not to trust your brand, its only a matter of time before they spread the negative word of mouth to friends and family. Ensure honest communication between your business and the customers. and avoid indulging in any form of deceptive marketing or advertising.
You might make some quick bucks from such tactics but in the long run you’d end up with a ruined brand reputation and eventually go out of business.
#4. Listen
Pay close attention to what your customers say and think about your brand and its products (or services). Doing this consistently will help you improve various aspects of your business and build loyalty for the brand.
Take advantage of the array of digital tools available to make this seamless, from email surveys, to social media listening tools and user generated reviews on third party sites such as Amazon and Trip advisor. This makes it possible not only to review your services, it also helps you to identify exsisting pain-points and gaps that need to be addressed.
#5. Act on Feedback
Nothing wastes good feedback as badly as failing to take meaningful action on it. Don’t just amass feedback and do nothing, your customers will develop an apathy to giving feedback if you consistently fail to act on information they already shared with you.
Find more statistics at Statista
According to research by Statistica, only 52% of customers are confident about brands acting on their feedback. When you act on customer feedback you are not just differentiating your brand, but also demonstrating to the customers that their voices really matter.
#6. Become A Valuable Resource
Enhance credibility and build the trust of your customers by developing and sharing content which would be of value to the customers. This positions your brand as a resource which the customers can trust to provide useful information and updates.
Doing this requires understanding your customers their industry, locality, tastes and preferences. When customers see your brand as a key resource for their growth and financial health, you can bet they will continue to do business with you.
#7. Appreciate and Reward Customers
Your customers are the reason you’re in business today. Let them know you appreciate and value their decision to patronize your business over others.
Doing this makes the customers feel good about their decision to do business with you. The more your customers feel good about their experience with your business they are more likely they are to come back and make referrals. Check out this video on 5 ways to say thank you to customers
6 Advanced Retention Strategies [Infographic]
The following slideshow highlights 6 more strategies you can implement to retain more customers
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Never underestimate the value of an effective retention strategy. Businesses that wish to grow profitably and stand the test of time must strive to improve customer retention and loyalty.
By implementing these strategies at your business you’re bound to win more customers who come back again and again.
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