5 Tips To Retain Customers During A Global Crisis

Let’s begin with an example: Suppose there is a bucket with several holes in its base and walls.

A hose is put into the bucket to fill it with water.

Since the bucket has holes, the water will leak.

Here, the water going into the bucket represents new customers that are acquired by a brand.

While the water that is lost represents the customers lost by the firm.

The amount of water in the bucket represents the total customer base of the brand at a given time.

Image Credit: MarketingStudyGuide

This is quite an apt analogy to understand the dynamism of customer influx. Businesses are constantly gaining and losing customers; the size of the customer base is never constant.

Additionally, this analogy also highlights the two approaches a firm can adopt to maximise the amount of water in the bucket, that is, maximise the size of its customer base: 

• Increase the water flow into the bucket (increase the number of customers acquired)
• Reduce the number of holes in the bucket to prevent loss of water (customers) 

In truth, every company needs new customers. But let’s get real; the easiest and most profitable source of revenue is right under your nose: your existing customers!

The second approach concentrates on retaining your existing customers instead of investing in enormous marketing expenditures on acquiring new customers.

Here are five simple strategies that can help you retain your existing customers:

1. Prioritise customer experience

To retain your customers, you need to start by providing an exceptional customer experience. Customer retention is considered a by-product of customer service and experience.

So, how does customer experience influence your retention strategies?

Well, it’s quite self-explanatory.

When you constantly address their pain points, they are naturally inclined to use your services repeatedly.

If you offer a consistent, hassle-free, and convenient buying experience, then it’s quite apparent that your customers will return to you. Keep customer satisfaction at the focal point of your business and you retain more and more customers.

2. Make your customers happy through offers and loyalty programs

To make your customers happy, you need to know and understand who they are. That means doing intense data analysis to see what attracts them to your brand.

How do you delight your customers and persuade them to come back?

The answer is simple.

Reward your customers for showing with valuable discounts, special offers and exclusive access. By doing this, you not only encourage your customers to return but also go beyond their expectations in delivering stellar customer experience.

Here’s the key: Send them an offer which shows that you care and haven’t forgotten about them after the sale.

Let me take you through another example:

Starbucks has one of the most popular customer reward programs, with its classy tagline and smart marketing, “More ways to pay. More ways to get rewarded.“

It rewards customers with free food and drinks whether they pay in cash, credit card or gift card. 

3. Ask for feedback and conduct surveys

Have you ever asked your customers what they think about your brand?

Having this insight gives you clarity on what strategies are working and what needs tweaking.

Knowing your customer’s likes and dislikes can help in a lot of ways:

• It makes your customers feel that you value their opinions.
• It helps you understand where your customers are struggling and how you need to improve their experience.
• It makes it easier for you to develop customer retention strategies and programs.

Online customer surveys are a convenient way of gathering customer opinions in a hassle-free manner. Conduct monthly or yearly surveys and let customers voice their concerns.

Expedia’s Customer Survey After A Trip 

Courtesy: Expedia

And guess what? This can fetch you brownie points as it will increase loyalty and help you retain more customers.

4. Add the touch of personalisation

This one’s something where most of the brands fall short. It could be because you are automating all services, using chatbots excessively, and are forgetting to add human touch and value in your services.

The simplest way to annoy your customers is to always sound like a bot when they prefer personalised interactions.

With all the data stored in your CRM, it is easier to curate customer information and interact with them better.

So, before you deal with your customers, go through the contact records and take in every interaction; including pain points, products purchased, interests, etc. Addressing the customers personally and sending personal invites can do wonders in reserving your loyal and frequent customers. If you haven’t tried this yet, now is the time to make your CX more curated. 

5. Develop creative content as per customer’s interests

Don’t rest once your product is sold. There is so much more to do!

When your product keeps evolving and undergoing upgrades and modifications, your customers must be kept in the loop. The best way to do that is to engage with them on social media.

You can spark a customer’s interest in several ways: 

• You can publish articles and blogs on your website, informing customers about the latest market trends. Fashion brands do this quite well. They incorporate the latest trends and talk about the freshest colours and prints.
• You can even make ‘how-to guide’ and ‘free training videos’ and send them as part of newsletters. Exciting, no?
• Use significant customer complaints and frame FAQs out of them.

This can help you in keeping your customers engaged and encourage them to visit your website for another purchase. People need care and attention. Customers want you to cater to all their needs on time and even give a little extra.

Empathy is of the utmost importance, always.

The more you prioritise your customers’ happiness, the better will be their product experience. They will return whole-heartedly and reward you with loyalty. The best bit? They might engage in word-of-mouth publicity. What else could you want? Now enhance your customer experience skills today! Check out Acefone’s content repository to know more about customer service, CX tips, and more.