You are hyped and ready to launch your new business, but what steps can you take to stand out from the crowd when you are operating in a highly competitive sector? Let’s take a look at some ways you can become distinctive in your field and generate customer loyalty.
The US business magazine Forbes has reported extensively on customer retention versus acquisition. The main finding is that it costs more to acquire a new customer than it does to retain an existing customer. But there are other compelling reasons which demonstrate the importance of customer retention. Your existing customers spend an average of 31% more than new customers and they are 50% more inclined to try out your new products. Forbes also reports that the cost of customer acquisition grew by nearly 50% in the five years up to 2020.
Promotions and offers
With this in mind, if you have profiles on social media, you can complement your Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram profiles with promotions and offers to new and existing customers.
Free samples and trials are a tried and trusted formula to increase the levels of both new and existing customers. Free trials are a popular device used by streaming services to encourage customers to subscribe to platforms such as Netflix and Paramount+. The same applies to Apple services in the competitive fields of streaming, music, and online gaming, with the company regularly offering free monthly trials for all of these services.
In the iGaming sector, another highly competitive industry, online casinos combine customer support, which is available 24/7 to ensure constant service to its global customer base, with generous welcome bonuses and ongoing promotions to encourage customers to play slots for real money. If you can offer your customers promotions in the form of buy-one-get-one-free offers, free samples, or free trials for services, you will be making great strides in your mission to achieve customer loyalty.
Become a customer service champion
Clearly, customer service plays an essential role in customer retention. Costco Wholesale regularly performs well in the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), which measures customer satisfaction in the US. In 2022-23, the company came out on top among general merchandise retailers with free samples being just one of the compelling reasons behind the high levels of customer satisfaction.
There are plenty of lessons to be learned from the annual findings of the ACSI. In the 2022-23 rankings, Trader Joe’s emerged as the supermarket with the best customer satisfaction, with the quality of service highlighted as a major factor behind the success of the company. You can learn from companies such as Trader Joe’s by ensuring your customer service is on point through polite and professional communication with customers. It is particularly important to respond positively when you receive negative reviews on your Google business or social media profiles. If you apologize for the negative experience and offer to rectify the issue, you could even turn a negative into a positive.
Hopefully, these suggestions will give you some inspiration when it comes to customer retention. The economics of customer loyalty mean it will have a big effect on your bottom line.
