To grow your business, you must employ many tactics and plan everything ahead of its time. For example, how to market your products/services, what offers you're giving for the holiday season, ensure everything is running smoothly operation-wise, etc. All these ways are in service of one thing, maintaining customer retention. "What is customer retention?" you might ask. This blog will discuss customer retention 1-0-1 and the strategies you must apply to boost your business.
First: Let's define customer retention.
Customer retention is the percentage of customers staying close to a company over time.
It's about engaging existing customers to continue buying products or services from your business.
Second: The Importance of Customer Retention.
Keynote to point here. Retaining customers is much easier and more cost-effective than acquiring them. Not to say that gaining a new line of customers is less critical, but allegiance and loyalty within already received customers are more potent to a brand's longevity. They are the unofficial spokesperson for your brand and why your business is still running. So paying lots of attention and planning how to maintain their retention should be addressed and must be a priority.
So here is a list of reasons why customer retention is significant.
- It's less expensive to keep your current customers than to find new ones.
- Loyal customers tend to be repeat customers, meaning they're impactful. Increasing customer retention can significantly boost profits: more satisfied customers = more loyalty.
- You can gain new customers through recommendations from satisfied customers.
Third: How to calculate your customer retention rate
ATTENTION, THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION INCLUDES A MATHEMATICAL EQUATION. PLEASE PUT YOUR GLASSES ON AND WRITE EVERYTHING DOWN, FOR THINGS MIGHT GET CONFUSING.
The customer retention rate (CRR) measures the percentage of customers a company retains.
Here's how you do it
1- subtract the number of new customers acquired from the remaining customers at the end of the period.
2- calculate the percentage by dividing that number by the total number of customers at the start and multiplying by 100.
CRR = (Customers at the end of the period - New customers during this time) / Total customers at the beginning of the period) x 100
Now, after all the mathematics talk is out of the way, let's talk strategies. What are the tips you need to do to increase customer retention?
Forth: Strategies to maintain customer retention.
A) Use client feedback to improve and remove any weakiness
Customer retention can be increased only by incorporating user feedback. To understand what works and doesn't, you need to hear directly from the customer. When knowing how customers think and perceive your brand, you can see and determine whether they will stick around or go elsewhere.
Customer feedback can be collected from forms or a feedback section on the website or app where customers can leave comments while using the product.
B) Create a map for the customer journey
Each customer's journey is different than the other. You need to ask these questions to understand where customers come from or how they've heard of your business.
- How did people learn about your company?
- Do they follow you on social media?
- Do you happen to frequently receive referrals?
From this information, you can improve your customers' experiences by better understanding the many routes clients take to make a purchase.
C) Use Social Media to Get Personal Connections with Customers
You'll lose their attention if you fail to communicate with your customers online. Social media has brought us closer and opened many gates to send news and updates and create bonds.
Customers will be able to experience a connected and unified experience with it.
D) Create a Loyalty Program
Loyalty programs offer the opportunity to build personal connections with customers while giving something back.
Despite their simplicity, loyalty programs can be very effective at retaining customers. Rewarding your customers for returning to your online store will make them feel compelled to shop again.
Wrapping Up
You must always communicate even if you have the perfect product/service. Customers come first, and by following these strategies mentioned above, everything will be a piece of cake.
