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.

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Customer retention is ultimately a matter of maintaining relationships. If you neglect them, they’ll probably reject you or brush you off later on. As with most things, prevention is always better than cure. A proactive approach is an investment that in this case, ultimately helps us build stronger relationships, and in turn, better returns.

On top of active steps for customer retention, there are also more passive things we could do to ensure that we don’t botch our potential sales. You know, the small stuff– it all piles up, so we can’t really afford to let that slide in light of bigger things.

Now, what could we do to drastically improve our chances of building a good working relationship with our customers? Well, we’ve discussed some basics in the past, but it’s also worth looking at some negative habits we might want to address. Let’s look at some of them, so we know what to avoid.

Bad Customer Support

Now, you’re probably thinking, “Of course it’s bad, dummy!” And you’d be right, but let’s explain why first. When we say bad customer support, it could be for a wide range of things. Reading off a script and inability to communicate a sense of empathy and care to customers is a huge reason people stop patronizing brands. About 82% of a company’s former customers would’ve dropped because they think they’re not being seen or heard. Make sure you give them the time and attention they need.

Misplaced Automation

You know how we opened with the whole idea of workplace tedium? Don’t get us wrong, that stuff’s terrible, but an indifferent approach to customer relations can and will hurt you– even under the guise of efficiency. If we circle back to our point on bad customer support, the lack of a personal connection to your customer will definitely contribute to that sense of distance people have towards your brands. Know which processes to automate, but always make sure there’s a human presence when and where it counts.

Over Promising (and Under Delivering)

While we understand the need to hype one’s own set of product offerings, do understand that as a brand, you’re under more scrutiny for these claims than others. If at any point, a customer begins to feel like they’re not getting their money’s worth, the likelihood of them dropping off greatly increases. It’s okay to have standards, but try to set a fairly reasonable bar. You could just as easily outline the best parts of your baseline services, so customer expectations don’t stray that far. If you’re looking for a value add, the positive perception you garner may offset any apprehensions they may have. You don’t have to say it– they’ll feel it!

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Chances are, you’ve completely forgotten about that store– or what was in that cart. Sure, you might passively want it, but it’s not in front of you now, is it? Out of sight, out of mind. So you let that potential purchase language in data hell, never to be bought. Now, imagine how frustrating this is for a store owner– being that close to a sale, and missing out anyway!

This is why we take customer retention seriously. Data, by way of the internet’s robust e-commerce systems, allows you to give potential buyers a much-needed nudge. Some will shrug it off completely, sure. But you’re looking out for those who just need a little bit more of a push. If they don’t follow through now, maybe next time they will. If they do, you’ll remember– and reward that!

The ultimate here is to build relationships– strong ones, ones that convert. 

Here are some of our favorite ways to strengthen customer retention.

Give them a one-off treat for starters

Whether it’s for site bounce or abandoned carts, try to nudge them over the purchase threshold by incentivizing them with a one-off treat. This could mean little reminders throughout their site visit, a warning for when they close the tab, or for customers who registered for your site but didn’t make a purchase– a follow-up email for their abandoned items. Free shipping or a discount coupon is usually a good way to start!

Be stoked on interacting with them

Customers tend to not patronize brands who don’t seem interested in interacting with them. Try and watch out for your response time, and the tone you take when replying to product inquiries. They’re much more likely to purchase if they feel like they could speak to you on human terms. Go out and make a real connection first, and everything good follows.

Reward their loyalty

Always stay in touch with people who’ve purchased from your site previously. They’re arguably the most important demographic you have access to. Customers who are both satisfied with the product and the service you’ve provided are likely to seek you out again. Think of offering free shipping and extra coupon codes for every successful purchase– maybe even implementing a rewards program. Loyalty is earned if you reward it.

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For the lot of us, there’s not much else to do than maintain proper social distance, ensure proper hygienic measures are taken, and hope for the best. Given the situation, where’s the mind to wander from here? In the din of something as uncompromising as a literal pandemic, the future may be the only place to turn to– a place yet unrealized, but may still hold the promise of better days.

Surprisingly, people are still holding out hope that when the global quarantines lift, there’d still be a semblance of normal to go back to. Others would posit that there is no normal after something of this scale. Whichever way you swing, it’s still apparently possible to imagine a post-COVID 19 future.

Either way, while the biggest brains (or egos) in the world go about their solutions for the pandemic, the future is the one thing we can all work towards building. Imagination is the first step to actualizing that future, so what could we imagine for society and the economic systems we live in?

The new normal

Strange things happen when you stuff people inside a box for a couple of weeks. At its worst, you get the setup to a 70s slasher. If we’re going to wax optimistic about things, there have been some surprising turns that may point towards a renewed sense of domesticity. From people learning an instrument, to taking up arts and crafts, or even things like baking bread from scratch, the new normal might make home life a bit more interesting than it used to be for most.

There is understandably a lot of discourse on the way governments and their health services addressed the pandemic, and the public, at least in some pockets of the internet, appears to be a lot more engaged than they’ve otherwise been. The ingenuity rising to the occasion, while hampered by individual resources and donor fatigue, shows that communities could come together to help solve major crises alongside government involvement.

Apart from essential on-the-ground service, the sudden shift to home-based employment for many office workers may have longer standing implications. If this continues after the quarantine lifts, remains to be seen. In areas with strong postage and courier systems, this could be a portend of things to come– digitally connected, and closer to home. There’s an obvious barrier for widespread acquisition due to the need for bolstered online infrastructure, and a need to supply workers with machines for remote work as needed, but untethered labor is becoming increasingly viable moving forward.

Will our supply chains keep up with quarantines left and right? Would people even still need to report for work when the option to work from home is made present? There are little glimmers of hope to the idea. But we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. Until then, we’ll stay safe, and wash our hands.

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