Customer retention has to be one of the most understated parts of running a business. Between more glamorous things like marketing, or product development, it’s far too easy to fall into the trap of neglecting existing customer relationships. Like, okay, we get it. You’ve got a lot on your plate, and some of these things are just hard to juggle. But you can’t keep putting this off forever.
According to HubSpot, 5% increases in customer retention can help raise your revenue anywhere from 25-95%. The logic here is simple– these people already believe in you, your brand, and the service you provide. If they’ve dealt with you before, and liked the overall experience, they’re more likely to purchase something from you again in the future. Why wouldn’t you invest in that?
There are ways of going about customer retention that are more proactive, like rewards programs, and better communication. Other approaches involve cutting back on any habits that may hurt retention in the long run, like overreliance on automation, or setting expectations too high with unwarranted hype. It doesn’t just stop there, though. You could work on both fronts AND still find ways to deliver a little extra to the customer experience. Let’s talk about added value!
Pleasant Surprises
We’ve previously suggested leaving a little nudge to get site visitors to convert– this follows along the same logic, but extends to your existing customer base. Previous online transactions may give you an opportunity to send follow-up emails or content– use them to send periodic value adds their way. Exclusive promo codes for previous customers would be great, as would links to free, downloadable resources like templates, wallpapers, or tools.
Onboarding
If there’s one thing you need to learn from this whole deal with customer retention, it’s the idea of getting used to maintaining relationships. Onboarding is an especially good tool if you’re offering a service that needs you to foster a good client relationship. On top of giving them an overview of what you do, you could also use this as an opportunity to build good relationships with the person directly.
Tiered/Gamified Rewards
In spite of how cerebral we’d like to present ourselves– praising reals over feels, we don’t necessarily live on a steady diet of facts and reason. We’re STILL beholden to human urges and responses. This has great implications on the way we process reward– we’re suckers for it! Try incentivizing or gamifying parts of your site, rewarding customers for actions like browsing through their first product, adding something to their cart, or maybe even making their first purchase.
