Winning over new customers can be difficult, but keeping them is no small feat. Don’t expect customer retention to happen on its own. Every industry is an increasingly competitive marketplace. You simply can’t rely on your business’ affordability alone to retain your customers. Here are some strategies that every business operator needs to employ to promote customer retention.
Keep the Positive Reviews Coming
Negative reviews can be extremely damaging to a business. Even when people are relatively satisfied with your products or services, your reputation based on other customers’ reviews can dissuade satisfied customers from continuing to work with you. You should strive to highlight everyone’s positive reviews on your website. Ideally, you can also work towards generating positive reviews on third-party sites. Comments on social media pages can also go a long way towards shaping the image that you want people to see in your customer feedback. Many businesses that don’t spend a ton on advertising have managed to capture significant attention and build a strong customer base with this strategy. For example, Thrive review posts on a number of platforms have helped the company win a strong number of ongoing sales in the health and wellness industry, which is a highly competitive arena. Remind your customers to leave their feedback for you with follow-up emails soon after purchase. In addition to supporting your broader efforts to enhance your overall credibility through reviews, you’ll be showing your customers that you value their business and their feedback matters to you.Address Customers’ Concerns Promptly and Effectively
If you invite feedback and a customer reports that they’re less than thrilled with your products or services, you need to respond quickly. Identify what you can do to help and make it happen in short order. If the problem pertains to product quality, you should offer a replacement or a credit. If, for example, the features of a particular product are problematic for a customer’s needs, suggest an alternative that would work for better for the customer. If the customer’s problem relates to customer service, however, you need to advance a meaningful remedy that reflects how seriously you take your customer service provision. Even if a customer has a negative customer service experience, an expedient and attentive resolution can outweigh the harm done by any actual or perceived shortfall in service.Stay in Close Communication With Your Customers
A strong customer relationship needs to be nurtured. Stay relevant with your customers when they’re not actively making purchases by communicating with them via email and social media. When you reach out to existing customers through digital marketing efforts, you need to make an effort to sustain a personal connection. Correspondence should include a customer’s name, and it may be helpful to focus on your products and services that are related to customers’ prior order history. Use data metrics that can assist in pinpointing customers’ area of interest and apply them to your communication. Suggest products or promotions that you think customers would be interested in based on their transactions.Don’t Treat New Customers Better Than Your Existing Customers
In general, customers want their business and loyalty to a business to be rewarded. It can be somewhat discouraging to your existing customers when they learn that new customers are getting better rates. It makes them feel as though their business isn’t valued or they aren’t being treated fairly. A one-time use discount code for new customers on an ecommerce website isn’t cause for significant disdain. However, a deep discount on an ongoing service or a new contract order that’s available only to new customers can create sharply negative sentiment. This dynamic is exemplified in internet providers’ contract structures; this contemptible tactic causes customers to continually jump from one provider to another so that they can get the best price available.Enhancing customer retention requires a commitment to outstanding customer service. Establish and maintain a positive company image, and show customers that you appreciate their business.
