Customer Retention in the time of Cost of Living Crisis

A recent study suggests that even a slight increase of 5% in customer retention can significantly increase profits. In addition, returning customers signify customer satisfaction and assures business owners that they are providing value to their customers.

Here are just a few top tips to help increase customer retention:

Build trust with your customers: providing reliable, quality service and excellent customer service are just a few ways of building trust.

Customer loyalty programme: Reward your customers for showing brand loyalty by offering anything from a discount code to inviting them to a pre-launch viewing of a new service or product range. This week Waitrose announced that it would bring back providing hot drinks for loyalty card customers, a subtle but friendly way of retaining customers when everyone is affected by the cost of living.

Regular communication: This can range from monthly newsletters to a communication calendar where various ways of engaging with customers are scheduled, including phone calls, emails and face-to-face visits at different points within the annual calendar. Online companies could also try abandoned cart emails (sent to customers who have added products to their cart but failed to check out) to persuade or win back potential customers.

Admit and apologise for mistakes: Occasionally, all businesses make errors. Saying sorry and rectifying mistakes can go a long way in helping to increase loyalty and trust.

Contact person: Assigning a named human can do wonders for customer retention. A direct person to contact instead of a generic email creates value for customers, making them feel valued. Customers are much more likely to contact a named person if they have any concerns or issues they need to discuss, especially if they know their message won’t just drop into a general inbox.

Shared values: Increasingly, consumers are intrigued to understand brand values and the need to feel connected with companies they purchase from. Sharing business social, ethical, and environmental values is an excellent way of building customer loyalty.

Build a forum/community: Building an online community is a great way of increasing customer engagement and making customers feel that special connection to your brand. In addition, it will provide insightful data on what people are saying about your products and services.

Customer feedback: Regular feedback is an ideal way of learning what your customers like best about your business and highlighting areas for improvement, as well as products and services customers maybe be looking for which you may not currently offer.

To recap, there are various ways of increasing customer retention, and adopting just a few could save your business money. Remember, even a small percentage increase can significantly affect your bottom line.
We hope you found this helpful insight. For further business support, please visit our websites for blogs, case studies and more.