Living in a world that’s not short on options, the one thing that can guarantee your success is customer loyalty.
Your brand’s success depends on more than making one sale per customer – you need your customers to keep coming back for more.
That’s where customer retention comes in.
Customer-Retention: The Best Marketing Strategy
Regular customers can make or break a business. For one, they already know your brand. They know the kind of service and products you provide.
Every time you release a new product, you won’t have to ‘sell’ it to them. They know it’s going to be good, which is why they already have their credit cards ready to purchase new items as soon as you release them.
Attracting new clients on the other hand? Now that’s a tough job. No sane person would readily hand over their hard-earned money to you on a whim.
They need a reason and you might just have to provide them with multiple reasons – considering that your competition is doing the same.
In short, customer retention is much more profitable and easy than attracting new customers.
Here’s a couple of steps you can take to ensure your customers stick around for the long haul:
Put Your Clients’ Needs Ahead of Your Own
You can retain clients only if your product is useful to them. Understand your clients’ pain points and aim to provide them a solution for their problems.
Know your customers. Know what they need and will spend money on, time and again.
If you can’t determine which product will help them out the most, conduct surveys and offer them incentives and discounts in exchange – this will drive interest, make you more memorable, and provide you with important insights.
Anticipate What They Will Need
Identifying potential products and services is a skill not many brands possess. You can either give them a product that multiple companies on the market are providing, or you can give them a unique solution to a problem they might face in the future.
How do you anticipate what your customer base needs? You understand market demographics and use the data at your fingertips.
Pay attention to social media insights and use other analytical tools to understand customer buying patterns, then formulate your products accordingly.
Show Genuine Concern
We’re humans. We all make mistakes. As a business, you have two ways to respond to a mistake you made.
- Act indifferent. After all, ‘it’s just one customer’.
- Take action. Apologize for your mistake and show genuine concern.
No matter the size of your brand/business, you should never resort to the first option. Remember, customer acquisition is hard. Retention Is much easier.
You can fix your mistake in multiple ways:
- By providing them with a replacement
- By issuing a full refund
- Giving them discount coupons and codes
- Go beyond what the customer would expect from you
For a small investment, you’ll likely garner massive goodwill and possibly hold on to that customer.
Appreciate Your Customers, Value Their Choices
Your customers need to know they’re not just a number to you. They need to know they’re an important part of your business, that they’re appreciated. Customer retention will become easier when you start rewarding your clients for their loyalty.
Positive reinforcement works wonders. Most successful businesses on the market will tell you a client’s first order is really not as important as their second one so make sure you give them a reason to make a purchase again. ‘Buy 1 Get 1’ offers are the norm – rise above it. Give your customers multiple options and let them choose.
Conclusion
Whether you’re a small business or freelancer, customer retention will always top customer acquisition. Happy customers market your brand without any additional cost on your part. People are more likely to purchase a product from you when others have vouched for it.
Customer retention can take your business to new heights and give you an edge over other businesses. It will effectively set you apart from all the others.
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