Most companies always try to increase sales numbers by generating more customers. Although it’s a great strategy, it’s not sustainable in the future.
Retaining old customers is five times cheaper than making new customers. While having more customers means that you have a broader audience, it’s expensive to acquire new clients rather than retain your existing ones.
If you’re running an online store, you know that keeping one customer is relatively easier than acquiring new ones. As there are tons of choices to shop online, customers can jump into another brand in no time, making it harder to get their attention even with a good marketing strategy.
On the other hand, once you have loyal customers in your pocket, communicating and nurturing relationships with them will be more seamless.
The Reason Why Customers Leave
Existing customers account for 55-70% of store sales when compared to purchase behavior from new customers. That being said, having good relationships with your old customers is imperative to your sales performance.
Without maintaining a cordial relationship with existing customers, it becomes more challenging to get sales.There are some reasons why customers choose to leave your brand and pick another store.
Bad Customer Service
Customer service is a critical aspect you need to improve in your business. It’s also the representation of your company where people can connect with you in the first place.
When people reach out to your store, they expect a friendly answer that will help solve their problems. If your customer service isn’t helpful, people will rather go to another online store.
Existing customers choose to stay with your brand because you have delivered good products and great customer service. When something changes, especially the latter, they won’t hesitate to leave your brand.
Lack of Interest
Remember that existing customers stay for a reason. Besides loving the way your business handles a problem (good customer service), they also like that you always have something to look for.
You may produce a highly unique product at some point that brings you many customers. People can be bored relatively quickly. If other brands offer something out of the box, they won’t hesitate to move to your competitors.
That’s why it’s essential to innovate in products to retain your existing customers and attract new ones.
How to Boost Customer Retention Effectively
1. Understand your customers
The first thing you should do is ensure that you understand what your customer needs. Customer preferences and interests change over time. It’s crucial to learn more about the current demand on the market.
When you make your brand relatable to the audience, it’s hard for them to leave your store. That’s because they have found their needs right from your service.
Also, it’s wise to listen to your customers. Customer voices are important for improving your business performance. They are a sign of problems that occured with the product or the business structure itself.
2. Respond to customer complaints
Complaints are inevitable for every business. When you receive feedback, you should be happy because people have spared their time and effort to voice their complaints.
The feedback is critical for you to evaluate your business thoroughly. Most of the time, companies don’t go through a bi-weekly or monthly evaluation when they see no problem. With customer feedback, they can quickly check the matter that has clogged their business streamline.
The key to retaining your existing customers is to respond to the complaint fast. Customers will find it helpful when you’re there to help them solve their problems.
When you deliver their inquiries, people can build more trust in your brand. Hence, allowing them to stay longer with your store.
3. Create interesting content
Talking with customers is different from having a professional conversation with colleagues. Tips to better communicate with existing customers is by speaking in their languages.
Attractive content is vital to retain customers to purchase only from your store. If you regularly update content on your social account, customers can engage with your brand better. They won’t quickly forget about your store when you keep posting new content.
You can begin with creating engaging content, like explainer videos, to capture their attention in a short time. Videos help them process your marketing information faster. Moreover, they are easy to digest when compared to written content like blog posts.
4. Create a loyalty program
The customer loyalty program allows people to connect with your brand stronger. This program gives them a reason why they need to stay with your online store to get more benefits they can’t get from other stores.
With a loyalty program, customers can be a part of your brand’s persona, giving them a sense of ownership that makes them proud of being your customers. It’s something they can brag to the others and possibly allow you to acquire more customers from this event.
You can make a bonus referral program where existing customers get incentives for asking their friends to buy from your store. You can also implement gifts or special offers for those spending products with a minimum price. Be creative to make your own program.
Bottom Line
Working on generating new customers is great, but neglecting the existing customers is a bad move for every business. Old customers have contributed to over half of the business’ sales. Ignoring their presence means that you’re ready to lose your revenue.
Make sure that you’re nurturing the relationship with your existing customers in a proper way. Focus more on how to engage and listen to their complaints. Once you’ve mastered understanding your customers, getting new ones will be much easier.
About the Guest Author
Andre Oentoro is the founder of Breadnbeyond, an award-winning explainer video company. He helps businesses increase conversion rates, close more sales, and get positive ROI from explainer videos (in that order).
- Twitter: @breadnbeyond
- Email: andre@breadnbeyond.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreoentoro/