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How To Improve Customer Retention
Irrespective of size, all businesses should prioritise customer retention. It’s no secret that the costs of acquiring new customers are exponentially higher than those of retaining existing customers. Or that returning customers are statistically likely to spend more with each transaction, and potentially bring others along for the ride.
At its heart, customer retention is all about customer satisfaction. The extent to which you’re able to meet or exceed the expectations of each and every customer will determine your retention rate. From start to finish, every aspect of the customer journey will influence your likelihood of retaining customers long-term.
With this in mind, here are the four most important steps every business should take to improve customer retention and leverage the value of the and their satisfied customers:
1. Map out the customer journey from A-Z
Mapping out the customer journey means making a list of every possible touchpoint from start to finish. Your website and its landing pages, your social media accounts, your marketing materials, your customer service telephone number, your emails, your reception desk, your shop floor workers, your physical or virtual storefront - all key contributors to the guest journey.
Once you’ve compiled a list of every possible touch point, you need to view them individually from the customer’s perspective. In doing so, questions should be asked as to whether each and every one of them delivers a positive and lasting impression. If you’re not nailing it with every single touchpoint, your customer journey isn’t all it could be.
2. Improve your use of feedback
The first step towards more efficient use of feedback is getting proactive with its collection in the first place. Contrary to popular belief, there’s nothing wrong with incentivising customers to leave reviews and ratings. Just as long as your request is neutral - i.e. you don’t directly ask for positive feedback - it’s an acceptable and advisable approach.
Direct face-to-face client satisfaction interviews can also be useful, as can more traditional surveys and questionnaires. When the feedback starts rolling in, it needs to be used in a way that enables the production of actionable reports and implementable improvement strategies. All ties to deadlines and clearly measurable KPI, rather than vague ‘intentions’ to improve the customer journey.
3. Prioritise digitisation
According to a recent report published in the Harvard Business Review, more than 70% of consumers believe digitisation improves connections between the customer and the company. Digitisation applies to anything you can and should be doing to enhance and improve the customer experience. Examples of these include the introduction of a live chat facility, the ability to place orders online 24/7 or an improved system to allow customers to leave feedback quickly and easily.
Far too many businesses make the mistake of assuming that simply owning and operating an online presence easy enough. In reality, there are hundreds of tools and facilities available to improve the customer experience and boost retention through strategic digitisation.
4. Never hide behind technology
Last up, under no circumstances should prioritising digitisation mean falling into the trap of hiding behind technology.
One of the most common examples of which being the unfortunate habit of making it all-but-impossible for customers to speak to an actual agent. Only after being passed from pillar to post and listening to dozens of recorded messages are their call finally answered. The key to consistent customer satisfaction lies in breaking down areas between you and your customer - not putting additional digital barriers in place.