Do you know how the Big Companies compete and win their customers? asks Aron Govil.
How much does it cost if they steal your customers? What would be the difference in your business if you let them, or prevent them from doing this?
Customer Loyalty is very important for every company. There are commonly 5 ways to keep your clients at all times. The following customer retention strategies will help preserve an existing satisfied clientele which can save you up to 40% on every new customer acquisition.
1) Account-based marketing
2) Customer engagement system
3) Retention automation
4) Customer insight
5) Account-based selling
Customer retention strategies:
1) Account-based marketing
In today’s business world, it is very important to maintain client relationships. In the age of content marketing and hundreds of ad networks, potential customers are flooded with offers from different advertisers. Apart from getting a customer on board efficiently, you need to keep him on your side as well. According to a survey by Aberdeen group “The longer a sales cycle is, the more technical matters”.(Aberdeen Group) 35% of new clients first learn about a company through their existing clients or contact.
Does this mean that if you don’t have satisfied customers then how would you get new ones? So companies should be proactively engaging their previous customers to stay connected with them. Companies can reach out to their past customers through personalized email campaigns, events, etc. Aron Govil: Account-based marketing is a new approach where companies focus on their best accounts and spend most of their time, money, and energy on them. It’s an effective strategy that has the potential to increase sales by 40% within one year.
At the last stage, you send personalized emails and newsletters to your target customers and offer them something in return such as free reports, etc. (An ebook on how to improve business through new techniques). If you find good results then send follow-up messages with similar offers.
2) Customer engagement system
Every customer today expects a quick response from a company when they have a query or problem about their product/service. You might lose some clients if you do not respond quickly enough, so it is important that every customer gets a quick answer from your end on their problems/ queries. It is best if your team members are empowered to resolve complex issues on their own rather than forwarding them to a higher level of management for resolution.
3) Tiered customer loyalty programs
Customers usually get excited when they get multiple offers on their purchases. For example, A client might be really happy to hear that if he spends $10000 then he can get free shipping and an extra 5% off on his purchase, etc. Aron Govil says the more benefits they get from a company, the more likely they are going to stay loyal and come back for repeat purchases even for new products/services. Tiered loyalty programs offer upgrades or benefits at different levels of spending allowing customers to select one according to their need such as tiered pricing based on the volume of purchase etc. (example: buy 1 diamond ring and get 25% off, buy 100 diamond rings and get 50% off).
4) Customer feedback and reviews
This is a great way to know your products/services from the perspective of your customers. You might be providing top-notch service or product but still, you might be losing business if they do not know about it. Most businesses today have started publishing customer reviews with ratings on their website, this helps potential clients trust a company more plus it gives a good impression of the overall rating of a company. Such rating systems allow companies to improve their service quality by getting direct feedback from their target audience which helps them in identifying shortcomings as well as strengthening points. ( for example, XYZ manufacturing company provides a 100% money-back guarantee with every purchase it makes). They can use this information as a marketing strategy as well.
5) Email marketing
No business can survive without email marketing if they want to stay on top. It is one of the most frequently used tools for communication. Where you send weekly or daily newsletters with special offers or new product/service information etc. ( If this is not done then people will stop visiting your website and may also spread negative reviews about your company). Also, companies need to be aware of the deliverability rate of their emails. This basically implies the number of emails that get delivered into clients’ inboxes. As compared to those who land in the spam folder. Sending 100 emails but only 10 making it to inbox due to low deliverability rate means 90% chances that recipients may unsubscribe from your newsletter. This ultimately translates into a loss of potential customers.
Conclusion:
Every business, no matter how big or small should be aware of these customer retention strategies to stay ahead in the game says Aron Govil. This is particularly important for online businesses where competition is high. The more you retain your old clients. The less you need to get new ones and that’s what brings success in the long run. Also reducing the churn rate means that several other factors. Such as staff salaries, infrastructure costs will also get reduced significantly. Which ultimately increases ROI (Return on Investment).