Customer retention is the key to higher profits for your business. Existing customers bring in most of your revenue, and these same customers will bring in the majority of your future revenue too.&nbsp;&nbsp;Acquiring a new customer is often more expensive than keeping an existing one, making it more cost-effective to focus on building your customer loyalty and keeping customers happy.&nbsp;By focusing on your existing customers, you are investing in the long-term success of your business. This guide will explore how you can retain customers effectively, boost clientele, and keep them coming back for more.&nbsp;

<h2>What is customer retention?&nbsp;</h2>Customer retention is a business’s ability to hold on to a customer, even after a transaction or interaction is complete. As a business, you want to retain every single customer to keep them from choosing your competitors and to allow your business to grow.&nbsp;You must deliver an experience that is built on trust and helps customers to see and appreciate the value of your product or service. The next time they’re looking to buy or renew, or you’ve got a new feature that you want to upsell, there shouldn’t be any doubt in the customer’s mind who they’re going to choose.&nbsp;<h2>Why is customer retention important?&nbsp;</h2><h3>1. More revenue through the door&nbsp;</h3><a href="https://hbr.org/2014/10/the-value-of-keeping-the-right-customers" target="_self">Increasing retention by just 5% can boost revenue by 25-95%</a>. Existing customers have already bought into your brand once before; they understand the products and services on offer and are much more open to spending money with you, especially if you provided a great experience the first time around.<h3>2. Save money across the board&nbsp;</h3>Returning customers tend to spend more and buy more often, without your business needing to spend time and money on expensive marketing or sales campaigns. Loyal customers are more likely to start doing your selling for you.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.superoffice.com/blog/customer-experience-statistics/" target="_self">On average, 72% of customers will share a positive experience with 6 or more people</a>. Capitalise on this by regularly asking for feedback from your customers. The more happy customers you have, the more positive reviews you’ll have coming into the business.<h3>3. Build customer loyalty&nbsp;</h3><a href="https://khoros.com/blog/must-know-customer-service-statistics" target="_self">65% of consumers head elsewhere as a result of poor customer service</a>; while <a href="https://www.insiderintelligence.com/insights/ecommerce-industry-statistics/" target="_self">66% of people say the quality and features of a product or service were the number-one reason for customer loyalty</a>. Once you start taking customer retention seriously, you’ll start to notice why certain customers are leaving you and be able to take action to do something about it.<h3>4. Retained customers provide valuable feedback&nbsp;</h3><a href="https://www.apptentive.com/blog/2016/03/16/feedback-and-loyalty-on-the-mobile-frontier/" target="_self">97% of consumers are more likely to stay loyal to a brand that takes their feedback on board</a>. Collecting regular feedback from your customers can help you paint a picture of your overall customer experience, and also give your customers a chance to let their voices be heard. Every piece of feedback is an opportunity to listen, learn, and improve to help your business build stronger relationships, improve customer retention, and boost customer loyalty.

<h2>What is a customer retention strategy?&nbsp;</h2>A customer retention strategy is a business strategy created to encourage increased customer loyalty, increased profitability, and decreased turnover.&nbsp;It should be as detailed as possible and include:&nbsp;&nbsp;<ul><li>Analysis of current activity and its progress&nbsp;</li><li>Areas for improvement</li><li>Research into industry standards</li><li>Competitors and market trends</li><li>A full tangible, targeted plan&nbsp;</li></ul><h2>What is a positive customer retention strategy?&nbsp;</h2>Positive customer retention strategies include actions that will increase customer loyalty while reducing customer turnover.&nbsp;&nbsp;By rewarding customers for remaining in a relationship with you, your business can build your customer relationships and maximise the revenue you get from each one.&nbsp;<h2>Eight examples of positive customer retention strategies&nbsp;</h2><h3>1. Responding to reviews&nbsp;</h3>Customer reviews can tell you so much about your business, from what people think about the quality of your products, to how your customer service team deals with complaints.&nbsp;Take the time to read, respond, and take on board what your customers are saying, both good and bad. Address all negative reviews efficiently and quickly by first offering an apology and then providing them with a solution. Your customer will feel like you value their opinion, they will feel heard and are likely to come back to a business that they trust to follow through with a plan.&nbsp;If you want to improve your customer retention, you need to know why people are leaving. Start asking for regular feedback across your entire customer journey. It could be that people love your products, but your delivery company is consistently letting you down with lateness or poor service. The earlier you spot these trends and take action, the easier it is to prevent customers from going elsewhere.&nbsp;<h3>2. Starting a loyalty programme&nbsp;</h3>A loyalty programme rewards customers' devotion to you and provides them with an incentive to return to your brand.&nbsp;Discounts, special offers, and freebies are great, but usually a one-off. Many cafes and coffee shops provide a loyalty scheme based on devoted shopping habits. Consider offering customers a loyalty card to prevent them from being tempted to shop elsewhere. Providing them with a free drink after nine transactions keeps both you and your customer happy and in a long-term relationship.&nbsp;A referral scheme will also attract new customers while retaining existing ones. Your customer will be rewarded for marketing your business and you will receive guaranteed sales from more people.&nbsp;<h3>3. Enticing customers with offers and exclusivity&nbsp;</h3>People want to be treated like they’re special. An exclusive VIP club, membership to hidden product launches, and limited-time offers are fantastic ways to grab a customer’s attention. These schemes play on people’s ‘fear of missing out’ (FOMO), enticing them to join in to avoid missing opportunities.&nbsp;Identify your highest-paying customers and find a way to retain them by offering them a unique product or service. Making them feel special, and rewarding their loyalty, will ensure that they stay patrons of your business continuously. It’s also the highest spenders and exclusive members who will talk highly about your business to others.&nbsp;<h3>4. Personalising their experience&nbsp;</h3>Developing a personal relationship with your customer starts by offering them a personalised shopping experience. An impressive <a href="https://www.salesforce.com/solutions/industries/retail/resources/retail-personalization/" target="_self">57% of shoppers will willingly provide you with their personal data</a> if there’s a chance that they’ll have access to personalised offers and discounts.&nbsp;&nbsp;Encourage your clients to provide you with their date of birth, email address, and likes and dislikes. This will help you recognise areas of personalisation to make them feel valued and special. Always use their name when speaking to them, even on emails and SMS campaigns. Offer a birthday discount to celebrate their special day with exclusive deals on their favourite items.&nbsp;<h3>5. Staying in touch&nbsp;</h3>To ensure customer retention, you need to be memorable. You want your business to be at the forefront of your customer's minds when required, and this means you need to keep in touch, stay relevant, and be unforgettable.&nbsp;Create a detailed communications calendar to help you stay in touch with your client base at regular intervals. This can include a mix of phone calls, SMS campaigns, email newsletters, live events, and even hand-written notes. Organise them so you have a good balance of communications across pre-sales and post-sales journeys, with sufficient touch points along the buying process too.&nbsp;Remember to stay in touch without appearing too needy or spam-like, or you run the risk of getting blocked.&nbsp;<h3>6. Offering exceptional customer experience (CX)&nbsp;</h3>A good customer experience starts with anticipating your customer’s needs and wants and providing it to them before they ask. Identify any pain points and enhance their experience.&nbsp;&nbsp;Happy and satisfied customers will spend more, come back to you more often, and will leave you glowing reviews for everyone else to see. Invest in training all your customer service staff so that they interact with customers professionally and patiently.&nbsp;&nbsp;<h3>7. Publishing interesting and share-worthy content&nbsp;</h3>Customers should be able to turn to you first for news, updates, and guidance, not just about your products, but your industry as a whole. Therefore, you need to position your business as a figure of authority and knowledge.&nbsp;&nbsp;Leverage a variety of content techniques like videos, blog posts, how-to guides, podcasts, infographics, and case studies. Ensure that everything you publish is authentic, alluring, and educational.&nbsp;&nbsp;Simplify technical jargon into bite-sized information so customers know that you care about their experience as a whole.&nbsp;<h3>8. Diversify your offering&nbsp;</h3>One of the best ways to keep your clients and customers returning to you for more is to offer them more options. Even if you offer one product, think of different features, upgrades, or even colour options that can encourage the customer to come back for more.&nbsp;&nbsp;For example, if your business sells rucksacks and nothing else, you can offer a range to cover men’s, women’s, children’s, travel, back-to-school, work, and even smaller sizes. Market these in a way that entices the customer to shop more and complete the full collection from only you.&nbsp;

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Customer retention: How to effectively build and measure customer loyalty

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