Customer retention is a key indicator of business success. As we wrote in our last blog, the most profitable businesses across sectors tend to focus on customer retention because it costs 5 to 25 times more to acquire a new customer than it does to retain an existing one. Here are some of the top ways you can retain the customers you have attracted.
1. Reward Loyalty and Referrals
Rewarding customers with special perks, discount deals, and freebies is one of the easiest ways of making them feel valued, as per a McKinsey study. An attractive loyalty program automatically encourages top-performing customers to come back and purchase more, which, over time, builds loyalty.
A loyal customer is also more likely to become a brand advocate who will refer your business to friends and family, and help you to fatten up your bottom line. This is why it makes sense to incentivize both the referrer and the referee.
2. Provide Experiences, Not Products
Having quality goods and services will always be important, but in today’s day and age, it is no longer enough. According to CNBC, people across age groups are now yearning for experiences instead of material things. This is why even an established brand such as Macy’s uses miniconcerts, yoga classes, and cafes as bait to draw customers through its doors.
The idea is that if you can make someone feel excited enough about your business to have them share their experience on social media, product sales will follow naturally.
3. Build a Community of Shared Values
In the digital era, where consumer awareness levels are at an all-time high, brands have a unique opportunity to be a powerful lever of change in the world – and they use this to their advantage. Ben & Jerry’s, for example, supports voting rights, racial justice, and climate justice, among others.
When a brand attaches itself to a cause, it can build long-lasting meaningful relationships with customers who share the same values. Interestingly, 64% of consumers cite shared values as a primary reason for having a relationship with a brand in the first place.
4. Don’t Ignore Post-Purchase Engagement
Maintaining constant communication is the key to customer retention. Staying top-of-mind increases both the chances and frequency of repeat purchases.
There are several ways to let a customer know you’re invested in them even after they have made a purchase:
- Offer them detailed care and maintenance instructions through newsletters.
- Send out targeted recommendations via mobile app push notifications.
- Promote digital coupons through text messages and more.
Here, at Weezmo, we connect the data from physical stores with online data so that retailers can maintain constant communication with over 80% of their in-store customers.
5. Offer a Personal Touch
Customers are more likely to come back to a business that doesn’t just understand their requirements but also makes them feel like a VIP. While for a small business owner, a personalization gesture could be as simple as slipping in a hand-written “thank you” note in an order, others can implement personalization technology to find the best fit for their customers. It does help that 83 percent of shoppers today are willing to share their data for a truly rewarding personalized experience.
The Bottom Line
Customer retention is a marathon, not a sprint. Be patient, consistent, and understand that improving customer retention metrics doesn’t have to be a costly or complicated task. Notable results can be achieved by offering the right motivations and using innovative digital tools to make some adjustments to the way you engage your customers both pre- and post-purchase.
