Customer retention should be a choice – by your customers!
Every business owner wants a loyal customer base, but customer retention isn’t just about selling to the same people repeatedly. Your customers should genuinely want to avail themselves of what you have to offer. And while you might not realise when they’re looking elsewhere, sometimes they might not realise it either.
It’s so important to stay in dialogue with your clients – indeed, it’s the first step towards effective customer retention. Blindly sending out an email newsletter and hoping for the best isn’t the answer; you need more information. How many people have opened it? How many people click through from the email, to visit your website? Do you even have the right email addresses any more?
It’s worth investing some time in communicating personally with your clients. Find out who your top spenders are, and give them a call (you know, pick up the phone and talk to them, like we all used to). Make sure they’re genuinely happy with your service, and know that you’re there to help them. This is such an important part of customer retention; don’t assume that because your clients haven’t gone elsewhere, they’re over the moon with everything you do. Ask them if there’s anything extra you could be doing. Find out what they’re doing in their industries, to see if you can come up with some new ideas.
One of the most dangerous characteristics, for vendors and buyers alike, is apathy. Comfortable familiarity can quickly become an attitude of “well, that’s who we use, so we’ll stick with them for now”. It only takes one of your go-getting competitors to dazzle your passive customers with a few shiny treats, for you to suddenly lose valuable clients overnight – and customer retention suddenly becomes a far more pressured matter for you.
Leave nothing to chance. Keep your customers interested in what you have to offer, by making yours the best set of products and services that they could want. If you get this right, your clients will make the effort to seek you out, to show that they love your products. It’s an approach to customer retention that has paid off handsomely for many global brands… wouldn’t you like a share of the success?
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