We all know that in order to stop customer churn, there has to be a fundamental shift in the way relationships are built and maintained. By utilizing retention marketing techniques, marketing and sales teams can work together to advance the common interest of customer satisfaction. When customers feel a brand is responsive, caring and timely, they’ll value the connectedness, stick and stay.
Here are 5 great retention marketing techniques that you can start implementing today to stop customer churn in its tracks.
5 Retention Marketing Techniques to Stop Customer Churn in Its Tracks
1. Personalization – Your customers are bombarded daily by other companies trying to sell their goods and services. Often, their marketing materials will include generic calls-to-action and the advertising equivalent of “Dear Sir or Madam.” A great way to set yourself apart is to personalize the experience for each customers and prospect.
While that doesn’t necessarily mean having to hand write the monthly newsletter a thousand times, something as simple as a personalized email subject line can boost click-throughs over 25%. To understand the significance, consider this- how can you build customer loyalty and reduce churn if your emails aren’t even being opened? Do your clients a favor and apply that same critical level of analysis to all aspects of your marketing. When the communication is tailored and personalized, the messages get received and happiness is born from the understanding. More happiness = less churn.
2. Create the Wow Factor – Make a mental list of your most ordinary customers. No not the new ones that you’re vying to impress or the big accounts that are driving your growth, but your meat and potatoes reoccurring revenue. Ask yourself when was the last time you did something genuinely nice for them while expecting nothing in return. If you can’t remember, you’re missing out on the wow factor.
For example, something as simple as delivering a bottle of diet Pepsi can create a customer for life. If you truly understand customer lifetime value you know how important that can be. When you go the extra mile just because, you’ll not only reduce customer churn but you’ll create brand evangelists who will go on to tell the world how great your company truly is. While that level of brand loyalty can’t be bought, it can certainly be earned in a cost-effective way. Customer satisfaction is a mindset that builds from the ground up.
3. Connect Socially – When you consider how valuable each customer and their word-of-mouth is, social media is bound to come into the equation. It’s becoming more and more common for customers to tweet at a company for customer service, complaints or an accolade. As a business, it behooves you to be as responsive as possible. According to research, 42% of people who use social media for customer complaints expect a response within 60 minutes. That small window of time can make or break an experience and leave ripple effects throughout a customer’s network. Companies that respond quickly and rectify the situation have everything to gain, and those that don’t leave themselves vulnerable to their competition.
4. Focus on #1 – By the time you finish reading this sentence, you should be able recall who your number one customer is. If you’re quick enough to know that all of your customers are #1, make sure they feel that way. Treating each customer like royalty ties into creating the wow factor.
Your primary objective isn’t to sell to them; it’s to enhance each of their lives through valuable products and services. While it’s easy to assume that the customers solely focus on what you offer, it’s actually the packaging of customer service that determines whether or not they’re satisfied. Failing to follow through via poor customer service is a failure in retention marketing and leads to unhappy, churning customers. If customer success concerns you, consider investing in customer success automation tools that react the leading indicators of unsatisfaction.
5. Ask Why – Why did your customers choose you over your competition? Was it the price? Was it the ease of use, word-of-mouth or just the first Google result that sufficed? Through detailed questioning, you can identify the drivers for future customers and then focus on those areas. If during exit surveys you find that customers are churning for similar reasons, those areas become big red flag that needs to be addressed. Beyond feature updates, some companies have even seen great success by adapting their business model based on customer feedback.
When you align sales, engineering and marketing around the “why,” the answers to your business decisions will be clearer. The teamwork and insights will help to bolster your strengths and improve your weaknesses.
What’s the most important thing a customer ever told you? Share your answers in the comments section below.
Image via Flickr
Originally posted at Apptegic’s Customer Success Blog
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