Customer Retention

[bobchrist]

Its really takes lot of times and efforts to obtain a new customer as to retain the one you have.

[cldnails]

Originally Posted by kristeejo

exactly.

I used to keep a log of all my clients childrens names etc. when I worked in sales. IT WORKS.

Same here, in another job I was 100% commission and information as simple as this was priceless. I had files setup for each customer that I kept newspaper clippings when they made the news, events, absolutely anything that could make the next visit more personal.

Buyers love feeling important, the better you are at conveying that the more likely you are to keep them as a customer. As for online, it's a whole different ball game. For instance, the time you have to make a lasting impression is significantly decreased. Mouse click, your gone, IRL you at least have a few steps before you hit the door.

I'd say, once you get a customer online it's important to keep an open flow of communication. I'm not talking about useless email, but perhaps follow up conversations. It would be important to make it not sound like a survey and genuine enough to make them feel important.

[riven_kalki]

That's a really great idea. Its sort of choosing to personalise each service or product (or in more encompassing terms, the whole experience of the transaction).

Its a return to the time when you know your baker from down the street, only now your baker might be a million miles away, and you can still talk to him. Its good people are realising how a bit of soft skills goes a long way.

[Kasparoff]

I think in order to keep your current customers coming back you should invest into following:

1. Superior customer service - additional expense for an organization
2. Superior technology in order to shrink turnaround time - also expensive
3. Follow up survers in order to see how you did
4. Follow up calls and emails if the customer doesn't order again and figure out why.

All of the above requires a careful planning. If you believe that your retained customers may bring a lot of business to you during their life span, then invest in customer service and technology. If you don't beleive so, invest in marketing and promotions instead and don't pay attention to your customers (example Google during 2002-2004). Try to automate customer service with FAQs and email submission forms where you reply with a template email.

[John Scott]

We got some good input here. Anybody else?

[kristeejo]

believe it or not - I always tell my clients the truth...even when it means less money for me. I actually tell them they don't need some of the stuff they dream up.

Because of that, they listen to me when I tell them to do something.

[Christopher Matthews]

CRM software is your bud!
Also do some follow up with your clients, send them a card.

Find out from them how you could improve your offering.

Christopher

[Chatmaster]

Excellent topic John!

Just a few of my thoughts.
We are talking online here, a place where technology is to our benefit imo. A few years ago I had to do research for a company that had the exact same problem. I also published a short article about it, I will summarize it here.

First of all, existing customers can be very helpful when dealing with possible PR problems. So in a way I look at retention program to include some kind of loyalty program. I am not crazy about reward programs as I feel that you give away your profits. In anycase, here are a few suggestions from me.

Data mining can be very beneficial when addressing issues related to retention. Keeping track of user behavior can be very useful here are a few examples:

• setting up customer models and categories
• creating solid demographics
• gathering behavioral data
• applying recency targets

By setting up customer models and categories, you should be able to target specific models with tailor made promotions or packages. These offers can be designed to their needs, interests and income. The more personal it is the better the chances of getting them back to your site.

Solid demographics are useful not only to apply lateral marketing techniques but also to do simple things, like sending them a "Happy birthday" card. Also think of little things like religion. Will it mean the same to a Jew if you send him a "merry Christmas" message as it would to a Christian? Knowing your sites demographics can also assist you with applying certain SMO features to the site and rolling out viral campaigns.

Behavioral data is very useful. Keeping track of a visitor's specific behavior can help you making visits much more pleasant. A stupid example would be to have a dedicated section of your site indicating to the visitor which articles he read last or maybe which product he bought the last time. Maybe asking him how he experienced the product, but making it as easy as possible for them to react to it. E.g. Just one click but the page do not reload. Knowing what interests the visitor have can also assist you in the SMO of your site. It can help you setting up networks whereby people can see what other people have in common with them. Although there is privacy issues and borders to just how far this can be taken, it gives you alot more control over the behaviour of your visitors and offcourse their retention.

Knowing all the above about visitors also makes it possible to identify when you are possible loosing them. You will notice for example the Jack didn't visit the site in the past 7 days, but previously he visited the site at least once a day. This should trigger a recency filter which will then react based on the visitor's data what to do next. Maybe a unique promotion, special offer, article about his hobby... the possibilities are endless because you know something about him that improves your chances of getting him back.

[John Scott]

*Greened*

[Brazzell Marketing]

Lots of great advice here. Here’s a couple more.

When used well, satisfaction surveys and other intelligence gathering tools help with customer retention. Without these intelligence gathering tools, business owners are often just guessing at what their customers want.

Know your strengths as well as your weaknesses. A couple of decades ago, Coke failed miserably at this. Repeated blind taste tests showed them that consumers greatly preferred the taste of Pepsi. In a bold move, Coke replaced their traditional formula with New Coke. Even though New Coke was the recipe that performed better in blind taste tests, loyal customers revolted. Coke lost immense market share to Pepsi. They quickly put traditional Coke back on the market, but they have never fully recovered from that error. What they learned the hard way was that Coke customers valued the image and tradition more than the flavor. Good focus groups could have told them that before they irreparably damaged the company. Similarly, small companies including design shops might want to be conscious of their image changes. Knowing your strengths will help you play to your strengths. Coke has since marketed the concept of tradition successfully.

Remind your loyal customers of why they purchased your services or products in the first place. For small businesses, this is typically done by some sort of newsletter. Even the brightest people are amazingly fickle and change core concepts. Conceptual and educational support from their vendors will help keep customers on track. In the case of websites, quarterly e-mails or bi-annual telephone calls discussing how many page views have happened and how many forms have been submitted will remind them of the value of the online presence. In addition, telling them what good search terms led visitors to their site often reminds website owners of the value of their online investment. Website developers can make this information available, but customers rarely check it. Developers need to present the supporting information to clients and take credit for their accomplishments.

[Brazzell Marketing]

Chatmaster reminded me of another cautionary tale in point. Moral of the story is ‘if you are using financial incentives for customer retention, track the results.’

I was once doing a sales analysis for a healthcare manufacturer. They used telemarketing and a standard 17% discount to get customers back on track when they were falling behind their normal schedule of purchase for cervical support pillows. I started setting aside pages of phone numbers that should have been called to make sure they didn’t get called. Then I tracked sales between the groups that did and did not receive telemarketing. Sales figures showed that, over the course of just three months, groups that did not receive telemarketing got back on track on their own and eventually caught back up with the sales of the groups that did receive telemarketing. The manufacturer had been using this telemarketing customer retention program for years, but the first time anyone had analyzed it, it turned out they had been giving away 17% of their revenues plus commission to the representative for no real purpose.

They had been giving away tens of thousands of dollars in product and commissions per year over the past several years for no measurable gain. Having finally done the tracking, the manufacturer was then enabled to better consider revising the program to wait longer before making calls or to invest marketing dollars elsewhere.

[droplister]

Read this on a marketing site and it's not exactly retention, but it's relevant.

Many people fail or stop partway through checkout mostly at payment, but you get their name and email usually first. 1 hour after failure email them and say you see they did not complete their checkout, but here is how you can continue, same thing 24 hours later. Then send a 3rd email that says that obviously they failed to signup because of an error your site made or whatever and offer them a discount to compensate for it. The guy I got this from had graphs and numbers to back it up and it worked extremely well for him.

[eXweso]

My dad told me something similar to what John said a week back, Here is what he said..
--

The 80:20 Rule..

While doing business, you must take care that you have good customer relationship as 20% of the customers you have will stay and give you orders and will support 80% of your income, whereas the 80% of new customers will include in only 20% of your income.

This is a universal rule, applicable even to students..

20% of the portion gives you 80% of the marks and the rest 20% gives you 80%
---
(Note: The figures are just an approximate ratio to explain the significance of the rule)

The old customers act as the best powerful advertising agent (mouth advertising as they say) and is better than ANY damn PPC in the world.

I like Google's way of sending its customers gifts along with its name embedded on it. One way to retain customers is to offer them prices at a discount and giving them tips to improve their site. NEVER ask them their budget.

Remember that 1 bad apple can rot the lot, so make sure you are doing good work all the time

[rembrant]

I think that charming them initially is important because you want them to remember you and come back. Once they have returned this is where you need to remind them how important they are and help them. Once you have made it past here they should be your for life. Just make sure to not ignore them or brush them off.

[schimis]

Hi guys, I totally agree with you on the above tips. In addition to those here are seven customer service tips to get your business up and running for exceptional customer retention.

1. Pay Attention To Complaints And Compliments
Work a policy into your business, take every customer’s complaint very seriously, ensuring that your business will never have to deal with the same complaint twice.
Use customer complaints to bring about new ideas and ways to improve your product or service. Use the same approach for customer compliments too, using compliments as a point of reinforcement for what your company is already doing right.

2. Ask Tactics
There isn’t a simpler method of retaining customers than just asking customers what precisely is it they search for from your business and how they want it given to them. Whether you ask them via a printed survey, an online survey, over the phone, in person, or via email, it is crucial that you just ask them. You’d be surprised at the detailed response you’ll receive, sometimes saving you the trouble of spending extra on expensive market research.
Consider conducting a focus group with your customers. With a customer focus group, you have the opportunity to tap into their collective needs and wants and reward them for their time with discounts on their next purchase, or anything that will demonstrate your sincere appreciation.

3. Boost Your Service With A Loyalty Program
Loyalty programs used efficaciously by businesses such as the airlines industry are extremely effective for outstanding customer retention.. A variation of a loyalty program can be in the form of offering specialty discounts for customers in your database sent via email.

4. Service With A Smile
Not every business owner believes that “the customer is always right,” or that the “the customer is king” and they’re quite right to believe so. But, in situations where customers are distraught and tend to seek attention through emotional outbursts, it pays to keep calm and take control of the situation by appeasing the customer with a smile and doing everything possible to pander to the customer’s frustrations.
It may seem over the top, but this approach will reflect positively on your business and an end-result will be outstanding customer retention.

5. Be A Solution Provider
Customers are a savvy lot and they can usually sense a sales pitch approaching miles away. Though they love buying, customers hate to be sold to. Instead, adopt the approach of being a solution provider, showing that you sincerely care about their needs.
Lend a listening ear to your customers and let them know that you’re not after their wallets, but instead collaborating with them to help get what they want in a way that will benefit both parties. This approach works almost all the time and is the secret sauce for high customer retention.

6. Be A Value Provider
Companies are always talking about providing value to customers, but very few of them really understand what it means. Providing value to customers simply means giving first and receiving second. Giving first could be as easy as offering a free email newsletter packed with juicy tips that other companies would have charged a premium for. It’s a great way of differentiating yourself from your competitors and at the same time, providing great value for free to your customers.

7. Let Your Services Be Remembered
Customers more often than not become fans of your business when they remember something extraordinary you did for them. This normally happens when customers have a problem with something they bought from you and need to be rectified. The easier you make it for them to get it fixed and solve their problems, the more contented customers become. It could even be as simple as providing human support within three rings of a customer calling instead of sending them to voicemail and a maze of phone menus.

These seven customer service tips are some of the easiest ways to make an impact on and keep your customers, time and again for life. But, don’t take my word for it. Set the ball rolling and you can decide for yourself, if your customer service is working by the number of repeat buyers appearing in your database.

[leahmarie]

Need advice to acquire new customers?

[joany]

I say give people value and over deliver and u will always have a customer for life

[Li Weng]

It's about building strong level of trust, and what joany said about overdelivering. You should always overdeliver value, and be completely honest in doing business. the customers will see the value in your products/services and stay a customer. Why not? it's a easy way to get high quality products/services and advice for them.

[jassim]

I do totally agree with the post though. This is why I think small shops do well, like smart local shops who understand this principle.