10 Steps To Boost Customer Retention

The only thing better than acquiring a new customer is to retain an existing one. Keeping your customers coming back will always result in a greater ROI, and it only costs a fraction of what you'd spend on winning a new customer. To help you achieve this, we've broken down 10 key steps you can use to boost your customer retention.

1. Use A Personal Touch

Customers love to be treated as people, rather than mere statistics. Think about encouraging them to speak directly to you through social media or email. That way, you can engage people directly and make them feel valued as individuals.

2. Referral Programmes

If you offer people a reward towards their next purchase for referring a friend, as well as a small discount for the friend's first purchase, you encourage both new and repeat customers - two birds with one stone!

3. Set Yourself Apart From Your Competition

By showing commitment and integrity as a brand, you can attract customers who might directly advocate your message. Be bold in your marketing and stand out from the crowd.

4. Subscriptions Can Bolster The Experience

A subscription programme is a novel approach to a commodity-based organisation. Even with a free subscription programme, you can encourage customer loyalty by offering exclusive content and events.

5. Create Experiences Outside Your Main Products To Evoke Positivity

Be creative in finding ways to create positivity in the form of customer experiences beyond your products and services.

6. Social Proof Is Powerful

Customers trust online reviews and testimonials. Encourage happy customers to write them to attract new visitors and inspire existing ones to stick around. Loyal customers are a great asset.

7. Offer Education To Increase Engagement

Your company has expertise and skills that people would love to benefit from. By offering training/educational materials for your customers, they could learn valuable knowledge and become more loyal to your brand.

8. Delight With Surprises

Surprise reciprocity, in the form of spur-of-the-moment gifts, cards or messages, can delight customers and make them feel valued. These gestures are memorable and can have a big impact.

9. Offer A Good Level Of Customer Support

You need to learn where and when your customers use your products/services, and what type of support they will need most. When things go wrong, they need to know you have their back.

10. Always Show Gratitude

Taking the time to thank customers will help build a lovable, memorable brand. Thanking people is a simple customer retention strategy, but an effective one.

Customer retention is one of the cornerstones of a good business. Think about these steps, and what other strategies you can implement to maximise the efficacy of your customer retention efforts.