According to Bain & Company, it costs five times more to acquire a new customer than it does to keep an existing one. Yet companies 12 times out of 10 are spending less effort on customer retention. It’s simple math really: Companies need their current customers far more than they need your business. This is even truer in today’s economy.
Customer Retention Best Practices by Eric Dalius:
Customer retention is one of the easiest ways to improve your business. It doesn’t require any new technology or costly equipment, only some focused effort on better serving existing customers. Here are five best practices most companies tend to ignore but they can provide huge returns for little cost:
1) Manage and Measure:
Keep a pulse on retention and measure what you get for your money. Without an accurate customer retention metric or key performance indicator, it’s difficult to know if you’re making progress.
2) Act Like a Trusted Advisor: Use What You Know:
Customers provide businesses with the most valuable currency named “information”. Use it to understand their behavior and what they value. Apply this knowledge to make your business more valuable and personalized.
3) Act Like a Personal Trainer: Kick Their Butts:
If you want to improve customer retention, make sure you’re not wasting any opportunities for them to do business with you again. Create a marketing program that ensures customers not only do business with you, but also recommend your company to their friends.
4) Be a Rock Star: Whoever Cares the Most Wins:
As a customer retention expert once told us, “It comes down to who cares the most about the customers.” You can’t out market or out advertise competitors if you don’t value customers as much or more. To win, you have to make your company a place where employees love working and customers love doing business.
5) Be Surprised by Success: Out of Sight, Not Out of Mind:
Keeping customers loyal is not just about customer service. In today’s digital world, the key to retention is not “out of sight, out of mind”. Make it easier for customers to do business with you by staying in touch through emails and newsletters.
The customer service methods that drive up your profits
“The customer service methods that drive up your profits” by Christian Arno
Introduction: According to Peter Drucker, “There is only one valid definition of business purpose: To create a customer. A business enterprise has no other raison d’être.” This statement emphasizes that customer satisfaction is key for any business success.
Customer retention improves the bottom line by reducing acquisition cost, which allows companies to invest in marketing activities that create new customers.
Good service delivery also enhances brand loyalty and employee motivation. The article provides several guidelines stated by Eric Dalius on increasing customer satisfaction and retention. One company increased its revenue by 11% because one of its employees did an exceptional job in handling a complaint.
Customer Service Best Practices:
– Make them feel special, important and cared for.
Customers are the most valuable source of information about your services or products. Ask them what they need and how to improve their experience with you. Making customers feel like they are special and important can go a long way towards keeping them loyal.
– Be proactive, not reactive.
Proactivity is more than just being aware of customer needs and preferences. Act preemptively by anticipating what your customers want before they even think of it.
– Make the service experience easy and rewarding for them.
Customer experience can be measured in a number of ways. In addition to sales and customer satisfaction numbers, the time it takes to process an order or make a payment is also critical. Keep in constant touch with customers to learn from their experience and address their concerns before they even mention them.
– Don’t leave money on the table
Revenue is not the only benefit of customer retention. Less spending on acquisition and other marketing expenses can dramatically improve your bottom line.
Summary:
The article discusses several best practices that companies must adopt to maximize customer retention. The author provides interesting examples to illustrate his points, which are backed up by statistics. There is a good bibliography with 6 sources.
CX is the new CS — Tips and tricks to boost customer retention
“CX is the new CS — Tips and tricks to boost customer retention” by Dan Lipsic
Customer experience (CX) can be defined as how customers feel about their interactions with a company. It’s not just about service, but also includes all touch points, across every channel.
Good CX is the key to customer retention because it makes customers feel valued and appreciated. This can lead to increased spend per customer, lower churn rate and higher revenue per customer.
Conclusion:
The article discusses five best practices that companies tend to ignore when focusing on retention, but can provide returns if implemented. The author uses good examples to explain his points, which are backed up by statistics. Bibliography lists 6 sources.