customer retention tips

Divorce is tough on everyone. All that time and effort and nothing to show for it! Just like that, its just you standing there alone wondering what happened. Now how do you think your customers feel? Customers? Yes, customers. Every business transaction can be looked at as a mini-marriage where two parties enter into an agreement, put trust in each other and make every effort to make it a lasting relationship.

Sure, the relationship may not be legally binding, but with the amount of time and effort used to get a customer to walk through your door, visit your website or call you to place an order, it should be. What can you do so they don’t end your business relationship? Simple, keep dating them.

The latest, and proving to be the most effective, form of marketing is customer retention marketing — which is simply marketing to the customers that already frequent your business. Don’t get us wrong, getting new customers is always great for business, but the lifeblood of any successful business is keeping the customers you have coming back again and again.

Recent reports by the Gartner Group say 80% of your future revenue will come from 20% of your existing customers. With that in mind, it might be time to rethink where you’re putting your marketing dollars and make sure you’re including retention. As the old adage goes, it’s cheaper to keep a customer than get a new one.

To help you out, Humboldt Merchant Services has complied a list of effective customer retention ideas that should help you get the best return in your investment.

  1. Say thank you! Simple, but sending a quick note to a recent customer (old or new) will help reinforce their purchase decision and might spur them into telling family and friends about your level of service.
  2. Keep in contact. Having a sale? New inventory hitting the shelves soon? Then reach out to your customers who might be interested. Offer up an exclusive time, or promotional code that gives them a level of exclusivity that the general public doesn’t get.
  3. Be better than the next guy. Customer service is truly the best customer retention tool. Help resolve any issue on the first call or email. Never ignore a complaint, use it as a learning experience and be better tomorrow than you were today.
  4. Provide fresh content. It might not be easy, but you need to keep customers engaged as often as possible without being pushy. Blogs and social media are the easiest, and least expensive, ways for you to stay top of mind. Make it interactive by asking your loyal base what they might want covered on future blogs, or post a poll on social media on what they’d like to see on sale in the future. Flash sales promoted on social media are always a good way to increase people walking through your door.

There are countless ideas on how you can master customer retention, you just need to make the effort to build the best relationship with the customers you already have.

To learn more about the services offered by Humboldt Marketing Services, visit www.hbms.com, or call 877-387-5642.

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