Customer Retention Strategies and Call Centers
When it comes to running a successful business, it all comes down to repeat customers and customer retention strategies. It signifies your success at satisfying existing customers, boosting loyalty, and enticing new customers.
What is Customer Retention?
Customer retention refers to the efforts taken by a company to retain customers and keep them coming back for additional business. Customer retention strategies aim to help retain as many existing customers as possible, using tools such as targeted marketing campaigns and loyalty programs.
In terms of cost, it is much more beneficial to focus on retention compared to acquisition. Econsultancy states that 82% of companies reported retention being far cheaper than acquisition, even though many businesses spend unnecessary time and money attempting to acquire customers rather than foster the ones they already have.
As people become more familiar with and loyal to your brand, their retention will increase spending. Retention strategies are vital to a business because research shows repeat customers are likely to spend more than the average shopper. Respecting and nurturing existing customers affects your business’s bottom line. Those customers provide, on average, 65% of a company’s business. Additional research shows that increasing retention by just 5% can grow profits anywhere between 25% and 95%.
As if their money wasn’t enough, loyal customers often share their positive experiences. These customers tend to become what is referred to as brand ambassadors. According to a study conducted by Yotpo, 60% of customers discuss a frequently used brand online and with friends and family. Word of mouth marketing is priceless and often comes from quality retention strategies.
Customer Lifetime Value
Customer lifetime value (CLV) is a customer’s total worth to a business throughout their relationship. If a customer is loyal to your company for five years, their value equals the amount of money they spent during that time. Customer retention strategies aim to develop first-time shoppers into loyal customers to maximize their lifetime value.
CLV is a significant part of any company’s business plan. It can grow organically and be sustainable if the right amount of emphasis is placed on it. CLV is a great way to showcase your strategies’ return on investment (ROI). While acquisition-based growth requires consistent marketing spending and messaging, long-term customers require small spending amounts for loyalty programs which translates to increased customer value.
Customer Service and Customer Retention
There is a direct correlation between customer service and customer retention. After all, would you give your hard-earned money to a business that treated you poorly? Not only is it essential to have quality customer service and treatment, but easy access to service as well. It shouldn’t be difficult for customers to find contact details. A phone number, email address, or both should be simple to find online. Providing that information is a no-brainer, but displaying other channels, such as social media accounts, is also beneficial.
It’s critical to know that different customers have different expectations for customer service channels. It is essential to understand how to operate each one efficiently. When it comes to phone calls and live chats, most customers expect instant responses. Having a dedicated team to satisfy customer service, questions, and complaints can increase satisfaction and retention.
Techniques to Improve your Customer Retention
One of the best ways to improve customer retention is by instituting a retention program. Often called a loyalty program, these initiatives offer customers some reward or special service in exchange for their continued business. Another retention technique is to make a concerted effort to collect feedback via customer surveys. Surveys can diagnose potential issues or dissatisfaction within a particular aspect of your business and allows you to correct them before your bottom line is impacted.
Another way to improve customer retention is to create a customer communication calendar. Even if customers don’t respond with feedback after every purchase, your business should still take a hands-on approach to communicate with them. Consistent communication can establish or re-establish a relationship that ultimately leads to additional purchases.
Customer retention strategies are essential for your business to succeed. Customer service plays a key role in those strategies, and Gold Mountain Communications is here for all your call center and customer retention needs.