Not every business can be sustainable by relying on new customers. Even when you are starting, it is important to think about future endeavors. Unless you can ensure that there is a constant influx of new customers all the time, do not be surprised that there will be problems along the line.
It would be much better to focus on ensuring that your customers are returning. If nothing else, great results in customer retention will be another checkpoint for your successful business strategy.
But how does one ensure that the customers are happy and want to return to your store again and again? It would be worth your while to become familiar with this phenomenon. There is a great article about customer satisfaction, as explained by Oberlo on their website. Give it a read. And as for how to improve customer retention, the following methods should give you the inspiration to create a solid marketing strategy.
Method #1 – Prioritize Customer Support
A customer will not be happy if your business offers mediocre customer support. That is correct. Even being mediocre is off-putting to quite a few people.
Not having 24/7 customer service is no good these days. Customers want immediate responses. That is why more and more businesses are looking to invest in chatbots. The technology is at an advanced stage and is likely to become a norm in the future.
As for now, you need to make sure that there is enough staff so that they respond as soon as possible. Also, do not neglect to have a knowledge base. There are people who prefer to look and find information on their own.
Method #2 – Create Incentive With Loyalty Programs
Loyalty programs are a good way to ensure that a customer will not look elsewhere after they have made their first purchase. A loyalty program is a fun venture to take on. You can look for new ways to reward those who are spending money on your products or services.
A VIP point system is quite popular. For each activity, such as leaving feedback, purchasing, or visiting the website, users collect points that they can later exchange for various perks, such as discounts.
Sending special promotions and exclusive deals via emails is also a good method. Email marketing also works as a reminder to people who have not visited your online store for a while.
Method #3 – Take Feedback
Feedback should come from as many different sources as possible. Do not limit yourself with customer reviews. Ask someone that you know personally what they think of the store, even if they have not visited it before. It would be a perfect opportunity to get a fresh perspective.
Your employees should also collect data and pay attention to insights. There is no point in guessing how the situation is when you have an abundance of great insight tools.
Method #4 – Research the Competition
Taking some time and paying attention to your competition is also worthwhile. You do not need to become a copycat and use everything that they are doing, but some practices should be applicable to your business as well.
Method #5 – Pay Attention to Customer Complaints
Any complaints that you get from customers, so long as it is constructive criticism, is a good piece of learning material. Expecting everyone to be happy with what you are doing is a bit of a tall order. In fact, some would argue that you are doing something wrong if there are no complaints from customers.
Do not ignore complaints. Address these issues and look to improve things. Whether it is the lackluster performance of your customer support or poor quality product that a customer has received, you need to be at the top of these things and ensure that there are as few such instances as possible.
Method #6 – Communicate With Customers via Social Media
Engaging with customers is also a good incentive to have. Social media is the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about direct communication with customers.
Every brand should have a presence on the biggest social media platforms, such as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Organize contests and giveaways, respond to messages, and post interesting content that will keep people engaged. You may even want to consider starting and moderating a group, which is quite popular on Facebook.
Method #7 – Introduce New Products
Lack of new and exciting products will not keep customers loyal. You have to keep things fresh and interesting. Of course, this does not mean that you need to introduce new things just for the sake of introducing them.
While innovations and something that customers have not seen before are encouraged a lot, do not sacrifice that for the sake of quality. Otherwise, you will only end up in a worse situation.
