If someone chose your products or services, this doesn’t mean your mission is done.
Yes, it is great that you managed to get one more client to your business’s portfolio, but you should also focus on retaining that customer. Why is this so important? Customers that remain loyal to your business will bring in other clients.
And no advertising method is more effective than recommendations coming from your existent clients. Retaining your customers can help your business grow and, above all, it will boost its reputation. Also, believe it or not, it is one of the best approaches to business valuation in the long term.
No matter how you put it, finding effective ways to help you retain your customers is a must for every business. If you want to run a profitable and successful company, this is something you should not disregard. To make things easier for you, we came up with a list of the best 7 ways to retain your customers.
- Make sure communication is a priority
We live in an era when communication is extremely important. Fortunately, current technology favors it in very many ways. In other words, it is very easy to stay in touch with someone, even if that person is one of your clients. Some people may not be aware that they need your services or products, so keeping in touch will make them think about your company once more. How to stay in touch with your clients fast and effectively?
E-mails are probably the best tools to do this right. In spite of what many think the e-mail is not an obsolete method. It is accessible and allows you to reach a high number of people at once. And if you use an adequate CRM system, you can create personalized e-mails, tailored to the needs and preferences of each type of customer.
- The business’s presence on social media should be outstanding
If you have a business these days, you must create a social media profile for it. Even if you don’t have a website just yet, being present on an important social media network will bring so many benefits. First of all, creating a business profile on social media is more than affordable. Then you will allow people to find all about your business in a fast and effective manner. Not to mention that it will help you stay in touch with your customer niche and will stimulate engagement.
Many people find out about businesses and new companies while checking out social media feeds. SO, before you invest in a marketing campaign, consider social media first. Social media will not just help you acquire new customers, but will also allow you to reward loyal clients and retain most of them.
- Personalized services of an exceptional quality
These days, if you want to make it on the market and set yourself apart from your competition, you need to treat clients like they are part of the family. This means that besides offering them high-quality services, you should also personalize them based on their needs and requirements. To be able to do this, you will have to know your customer niche. So, running a survey and analyzing both the market and groups of customers you target will provide valuable information.
Use analytics to create personalized offers based on the behavior of your potential customers. This method is more effective than making predictions by using general demographic information. When it comes to loyal customers, make sure to offer them special coupons or offers tailored just for them. Of course, offering a “thank you” note and asking for feedback should be an approach used for every customer.
- Always address the problems or inquiries of your clients
No one wishes to think about the existence of problems, but they can happen, no matter how hard to try. Even negative advertising is still a form of advertising. So, when you have a customer that makes a complaint, brings a problem forward, or expresses his discontentment, make sure to address every problem fast and effectively.
Avoiding communicating with these clients is not a good idea. Ideally, you should give them a call or do whatever you can to make them feel that you’re interested in addressing their issue. Even an upset customer can be turned into a happy one if you take care of his matter.
Problem-solving should be something everybody adopts in your company. Whether it’s about addressing an inquiry or issue, all your employees should address each of these in the best way possible. Your company’s reputation will gain a lot if you show that you care by handling even the most unpleasant parts of running a business.
- Be prompt when offering a response
A good number of potential customers prefer sending an e-mail or message to request details about the products or services you offer. Time and patience are valuable to many of us, so make sure you take the time needed to answer all of these e-mails and messages as soon as you can. Of course, you don’t have to do it personally, but make sure that customer services are well set in place and that the employees assigned with this task do it well. As a general rule, it shouldn’t be more than 24 hours before you answer an e-mail or message.
- Stimulate a good engagement rate
One of the best ways to retain customers is to make them feel that their opinion matters. So, encourage their involvement and engagement in the community formed around your business.
Ask them to share stories and experiences, and even organize contests to stimulate their participation in various activities. Also, keep their levels of interest high by alerting them when new products are released, when there are updates when rewards or special offers are available, or by offering interesting content.
- Ask for feedback
Requesting feedback from your clients is a must because it shows you how the business is doing. Some of your clients may have issues, but may not want to bring them forward.
So, you will have to stimulate them through feedback requests. Identifying a problem in its incipient phase will help you solve it faster and make the necessary improvements before it ends up affecting a higher number of clients. You can ask for feedback in an e-mail, at the end of a transaction, or by simply sending them a message to ask about their experience with your company.
About the Author
Aron Martinez is a business and financial journalist and value investor with more than seven years investing experience. As an entrepreneur, he concentrates his efforts on finance, economics and investing. Currently he is working as a chief advisor of FIBOPIPS which is proudly providing forex signals, trade copier and managed account service to both us and non us traders. Aron spends most of his time reading investment books, writing about finance and looking for stocks that have significant growth potential.
