5 effective customer retention strategies

February 24th, 2015

It's simple - your customers are among the most important people to your company. Without a large, stable and growing pool of clients, it will only be a matter of time before your business shrivels up and dies.

While aggressively marketing and selling to win customers is of course important, many small business owners don't place the same emphasis on client retention. This is particularly concerning as many studies show that acquiring new customers is several times more expensive than simply holding onto your existing ones.

So why not make full use of the customers you already have? Here are some tips.

1. Build relationships

Your customers aren't going to stay long if you don't keep in regular touch with them - and they begin to believe they simply don't matter to you.

With all the communication tools available today, there's no excuse not to be staying in contact with them. Reach out to them via social media, send out regular updates and offers and make sure you maintain those bridges between your business and its customers.

2. Get to know them

You can't hope to build a meaningful relationship with anyone if you don't get to really know them.

Take the time to get to know as much about your customers and their needs and preferences, whether interacting with them in-store or online. The huge range of CRM and customer database software available now is making this easier to do, allowing you to send personalised offers and communications, for instance.

3. Be proactive, not reactive

Speed is always of the essence in business - don't let tardiness put a sour taste in your customers' mouths!

Solving clients' problems is great, but have you considered going one step further and eliminating them even before they arise? Anticipate your customers' needs and any problems looming on the horizon - and address them before the customer does.

4. Offer exceptional customer service

Good old-fashioned customer service still trumps when it comes to client retention.

Train up your staff to ensure they deliver the best service possible to customers, and make this an active objective to work towards - with standards, goals and KPIs, for example.

Make it part of your company culture to put its customers first and go above and beyond to meet their requirements.

5. Set clear expectations early on

If you draw the right line in the sand at the start, you can boost your chances of satisfying your clients and keeping them.

Make sure you establish expectations early on in the relationship, ensuring you don't overpromise on anything. Failing to keep promises can be one of the biggest turn-offs for customers.

Instead, set your sights to a high but consistently achievable standard to make sure you can constantly deliver for your clients, staying in their good books in the process.

If your business needs any help with working capital management via a business line of creditdebtor financing or equipment financing, contact Earlypay’s helpful team today on 1300 760 205 or visit our sign-up form.

If you'd like to learn how Earlypay's Invoice Finance & Equipment Finance can help you boost your working capital to fund growth or keep on top of day-to-day operations of your business, contact Earlypay's helpful team today on 1300 760 205, visit our sign-up form or contact [email protected].