First-time customers are great. Longtime customers are better. So much better, in fact, that recent studies indicate businesses that increase customer loyalty and retention by as little as 5% can expect a 25% boost in profits in return.
The Only Question Is: How?
Unfortunately, cashing-in on the cash cow that is a devoted customer base isn’t as simple as just closing the sale. Building a clientele that not only makes repeat purchases (known as customer retention), but also loves your business so much that they recommend it to other buyers as well (or, customer loyalty) requires a strategy all its own.
Ready to Build Yours?
We’ll give you a head start. Here are a few, smart ways you can increase customer loyalty and retention:
Stay in Touch
Communication is to customer relationships like air is to fire. In other words, they simply cannot survive without it.
Keeping in constant contact with clients throughout the sales process, during issue resolution, and even post-sale is essential to building bonds that last. This includes, but is not limited to: sending purchase updates, reaching out when new features are available, checking-in on service success, and even just saying, well, “hey!”.
Set Expectations
Every business has its limitations. But while your team may be perfectly aware of what they are and are not capable of, that doesn’t mean your customers are.
Get your relationship off on the right foot by setting expectations early and often. This applies to agent availability, anticipated results, and even pricing structures. If you happen to exceed those expectations, great! But the more your clientele knows about what to anticipate, the more they’ll come to trust your business – helping you increase customer loyalty.
Create Consistency
Having a presence on social media is a great way to show off your company’s unique personality. But whether it’s online, on the phone, or on Instagram, ensuring that your communication stays consistent is key to boosting customer retention.
Today’s consumers expect a seamless experience no matter how they choose to contact a business. Try creating communication guidelines for agents and moderators, or using customer service tools to help aggregate messages from multiple locations for sustaining dependable relationships.
Value Information
Do not – and we cannot stress this enough – fail to keep details about the history of your relationship with each customer on hand.
Creating a knowledge base with detailed information about past purchases, issues, preferences, and further profile information will show your customers that you care about them. If your business cannot connect them with the same employee each time they reach out, make sure this knowledge base is easily accessible to any agent interacting with the client.
Ask for Opinions
Asking for feedback on your performance can do much to increase customer loyalty on its own.
Your customers want to be heard, so checking-in periodically, sending satisfaction surveys, and following-up after any issues have been resolved will let them know you actually care about what they have to say.
Together, Forever
To increase customer loyalty and retention, you have to invest in yourself first.
Deskware’s suite of service management tools offers smart solutions to help you reach your customer relationship goals. A combination of automated and manual processes, Deskware’s software features can improve communication, consistency, and results, all without installation costs. To learn more about what Deskware can do to keep your customers coming back time and time again, visit us online today!
Want to stay connected? Give us a follow on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.
