Customer retention is often measured in repeat purchases, which plays a huge role in driving profits for a business. A business that excels in customer retention has a far greater competitive edge is better positioned for long-term success.
According to Marketing At Work, the average American business will lose between 10 to 25 percent of its customer base annually. Furthermore, Harvard Business Review found that American businesses lose roughly half of their entire customer base every five years.
This isn’t necessarily because the business doesn’t have a great product or service, but because they are spending more money on customer acquisition than retention. However, because the majority of profits to the average business comes from existing customers, it’s critical to keep them happy.
So, how do businesses master the art of customer retention? Although there are a number of contributing factors, superior customer service is considered the most effective. Here are three cost-effective ways to retain your customers:
VoIP & Salesforce Integration
Businesses in all industries should find smarter ways to sustainably retain consumers. Integrating VoIP with Salesforce can better customer service immensely. There are several ways this integration can be beneficial to the business.
For example, incoming customer calls will be automatically linked to full historical records, allowing the customer service representative to address the specific needs of the customer and allows for more personalized assistance. This way, reps aren’t starting each conversation from scratch, and can trace the origin of the issue. It also comes equipped with a built-in click-to-call feature that connects customers with agents and helps increases response times.
Start A Loyalty Program
There are many ways to integrate loyalty programs into your business to better the customer service experience. Loyalty programs have a positive impact on customer retention because they incentivize the customer to continue shopping. There are a variety of ways you can execute your loyalty program and make it unique to your offerings.
To help inspire you, take a look at how other companies are running their loyalty programs with this roundup of the best loyalty programs for 2016. You may notice similarities between some of the best options out there. There are two main aspects of running a loyalty program: 1) Don’t make it too difficult for customers to obtain rewards and 2) Structure the program in a way that’s beneficial for all parties and in tune with the business philosophy. Your rewards should make sense, and to do so, it’s important to understand your audience.
Set Up An Online Support Portal
Although on-call customer service is important, the majority of customers would rather be able to solve an issue on their own before they call or email the business. This is especially true for technology products. Set up an online portal that answers as many questions about your product or service, including screenshots, videos, and photos where necessary.
Content should be simple and to the point, too. Studies have shown that, while most customers will search online for answers before calling to speak to someone, the majority of them won’t spend more than 15 minutes trying to find a solution before taking further steps. To help reduce frustration, make your FAQs and help portals as succinct as possible. Doing so will also decrease the amount of money you spend on your live customer support, allowing you to funnel more profits into other areas of the business.
