As a business owner, there are few things more unsettling than a high churn rate. Growth represents one of the most important metrics when it comes to success in business. So losing customers at a high rate is never something you want your company to be known for. That’s why customer retention is such a vital strategy to employ.
While acquiring customers was traditionally the primary means by which businesses sought success, the tides have changed in recent years. Retention marketing becoming the go-to strategy in most industries. Seeking to retain customers, rather than exclusively acquire them, has been shown to be more affordable and more lucrative. And it’s generally a more effective means of building a solid customer base.
So how can you go about retaining customers and lowering your high churn rate? Take a look at a few strategies below to revamp your strategy when it comes to developing a loyal following.
Look at Your Customer Support
A good customer service strategy cannot be understated when it comes to addressing high churn rate. After all, customers leave a business because they’re unhappy; the best way to deal with an unhappy customer is with a support team to solve a problem. And making sure they are consistently available to do so.
Unfortunately, many businesses miss the mark on customer support because there is no concrete means of measuring return on investment. However, considering it’s 5 to 25 times more expensive to acquire a new customer versus retaining a loyal customer, it’s hard to deny the value of keeping your customers happy as far as ROI is concerned.
Simply put, customer support is the first line of defense when it comes to churn rate. Fortunately, there are plenty of other strategies that can improve your brutal churn rate numbers.
Ask Your Customers What’s Wrong
It may seem obvious, it may seem simple, and it may even seem a bit intrusive, but the reality is that customer feedback is one of the most valuable pieces of information you can glean to better your company. Granted, you’re typically receiving it in the form of aggressive criticisms via social media, but hey – all information is helpful information, right?
To improve the quality of customer feedback, the best strategy you can employ is to actually ask customers what’s wrong. Whether through surveys, email requests, or reviews, feedback can help you understand what your customers enjoy about your business. And, more importantly, what they think you can do better.
Asking your customers what’s wrong makes them feel appreciated and paid attention to, which is undeniably important. Indeed, 68% of customers state that they’ll stop doing business with a certain company due to perceived indifference.
Personalize Each Customer’s Experience
Speaking of customer appreciation, there’s nothing that makes a customer feel better about your company than a little bit of personalization. From celebratory birthday coupon codes to recommended products based on past purchases, customers are 80% more likely to make a purchase when your platform has some form of personalization built in.
However, it is worth noting that too much personalization can have a negative impact on your customer retention efforts. After all, privacy concerns are rampant throughout the tech industry; flaunting your ability to know everything about them can be more unsettling than helpful.
Still, with 90% of customers believing that personalization inherently makes a website more appealing, it’s better to err on the side of employing the strategy than avoiding it for fear of creeping out a potential customer. After all, you definitely won’t be the only company taking advantage of customer data to personalize their experience.
Automate As Much As Possible
Installing all these strategies to address churn rate might seem like a lot of work, and it is. With your limited resources and strained budget, it can seem impossible to implement all of these helpful tips without taking a hit to your bottom line. However, by taking advantage of automation, you’ll be able to address all these concerns and more without running your business into the ground.
Whether it’s through business software or AI-powered chatbots, automation can help you tackle some of the more menial daily tasks. This saves you time and money in real time. Automation can help you address customer complaints immediately, organize finances, and generally address the small problems of the day, so you can focus on the big picture. And with 54% of executives saying that AI solutions implemented in their business have already increased their productivity, you’ve got a good reason to give it a try for yourself.
Email Is Your Best Friend
Email has been around for a while now, and it might not seem like the best tool when it comes to customer retention. However, studies have shown that email marketing is one of the most effective means of attracting and retaining customers. In fact, for every dollar you spend on email marketing, you can expect an average return on investment of $42.
Email marketing is about more than just return on investment, though. Newsletters can help you announce new products and highlight socially conscious initiatives. This builds a community of loyal customers that are not only willing to make repeat purchases, but also excited about supporting your business. Once you’ve got a solid, loyal customer base, you won’t be worrying about churn rate for quite some time.
