In an increasingly competitive digital world, retaining customers is essential. Once lost, it is likely they will never return, and they will most likely have gone to your competitors. This makes keeping them and driving repeat purchases as important as new leads. In this article, we discuss the main strategies for customer retention.
Get the First Steps Right
You only get one chance to make a first impression. Get it right, and it can set you up, creating a customer that will return time and time again. These early moments, when a customer has their first touchpoint with you, will form how they think about your values, your brand, and your product. If it connects with them, they have no reason to go elsewhere. After all the schemes like shiny new products and sales are gone, this initial moment will be the default they resort back to.
Start by getting your customer onboarding process perfect. Make it as personal as possible and remove any bottlenecks or friction. Ensure the customers know you, your product, and your brand in the first few moments. Focus on making it welcoming, instead of pushing it toward a conversion as soon as possible.
Reward Repeat Interactions
It is important to reward customers who interact with your business regularly. This is more important than rewarding those who solely make a purchase. By doing so, you form a relationship with a customer.
Even if they have not become a conversion, rewarding them now will yield results.
You can find a perfect case study for this with online poker websites and the online casino industry as a whole. They have introductory offers to get people signed up but also provide bonuses and offers as people continue to play, to bring back players, and to reward VIPs. By giving these incentives at various stages, they are rewarding those at different points of interaction. This has helped the industry to grow to astronomical proportions over the last ten years.
Focus on Customer Service
One goal should be to focus on customer service. No customer likes to be left waiting when a problem needs resolving. If you can respond to your patrons timely and successfully, then they will be more likely to return.
This goes further than just problem-solving. Try asking your customers for feedback. This will make them feel invested in your business, and they will feel a part of it. However, if you ask their opinion you have to act on it, even if you are only letting them know why certain suggestions can not work.
Even bad reviews can be turned on their head. If you have negative results at online review sites, which will happen, then don’t ignore them. Addressing them professionally and offering to resolve them, shows the public that you respond and deal with issues. This can often make you stand out more in a field of five and four-star ratings.
These tips are not guaranteed to retain all customers who do business with you. Some will naturally fall off, due to not needing the service anymore. However, by building more than a product for sale and forming connections, you lay the foundations for the future of your business and a solid customer base.
