Customer retention is crucial. Especially for new businesses that are just starting up. Without solid customer retention, your business will be working harder than it needs to in creating and maintaining an annuity stream.
There are numerous strategic approaches for maximising revenue by providing good customer service that leaves a positive and lasting impression on consumers of your product or service. Here are our 5 top tips for building a strong customer retention policy for your business.
Communication is key
The importance of being in touch with customers cannot be understated. The easiest way for a customer to drop off the radar is for them to be ignored after their first purchase. Why not build out an emailing list that consistently updates customers with upcoming products and services, or seek their permission to share regular day-to-day happenings of the business in a newsletter? The idea is to remind them of how enjoyable your product or service was the first time.
Additionally, social media is an effective tool for communicating any improvements to your business offerings. Along with email, social media, especially for certain products and services, can be the primary means of communicating with current and potential customers. It might be worth saving some of your marketing budget for these social media platforms if you haven’t already.
Loyalty needs rewarding
Loyalty rewards are another effective way to keep your clients happy. Everyone enjoys a bargain, and by discounting clients who’ve already invested in your business, you’re ensuring they stick around for the long haul and don’t lose interest in your company. Another marketing tactic is creating VIP lists. While this isn’t for every business model, certain studies have shown that playing the ego card can make customers feel more important, strengthening their ties to your business. An add-on to loyalty programs, and something that any business would benefit from, is the use of thank you emails that precede any purchase. You might want to set expenditure targets with gift packs attached to each level, a great way to show how much you appreciate their trust in your product or service.
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Sales will increase if your product is easy to find and buy. This explains why e-commerce provides such a dynamic platform for any business. The Internet has enabled easy access of products and services, and nowadays people buy everything (they can) online. The convenience of purchasing online sometimes outweighs the advantage of the hands-on approach, even it the products won’t arrive for several days.
Impeccable Customer Service
Customer service is an area all staff should be trained in. It’s the cornerstone of customer retention and should form part of the training of new employees. It’s not a pleasant experience when an employee doesn’t offer to help, or does offer, but can’t solve your problem. Take Apple, for example. Its products are fantastic and its customer service is second to none. Supporting your customers shows them you care, and in turn they should support your business.
The life span of a customer will depend, to a large extent, on how enjoyable the customer experience is. Have complaints been handled? Are problems being solved? Is the company reliable? Failure to deliver solutions in an efficient and responsive manner will damage your businesses reputation and eventually impact negatively on your sales.
Get Feedback
You might think surveys and questionaries are burdensome and spam-y, but engaging customers to provide feedback (positive or negative) can tell you a lot about your business, and the areas that need attention. How will you gauge what your’re doing successfully and where you’re lagging if no one tells you? Sure, you could analyse profit margins and try to understand the data, but the answers to a survey will answer specific concerns you might have about the business. The key is to keep it short and sweet in order to increase the response rate.
If you’re after legal advice on how to market your business, call LegalVision on 1300 544 755, and speak with one of our commercial lawyers today!
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