Even in today’s day and age, there are still many companies out there that think losing clients is really no big deal since the world is full of newer clients just waiting to fall into their laps. Not only is this untrue, but having this sort of a naive delusion about the reality of the worldwide market can be a lot more harmful for you in the long run than you think. Ideally, for all the businesses out there, the three most important goals should be sales, customers and leads.
Your biggest assets are your customers so if you want to retain a thriving business, you will have to take care of them and do whatever it takes to retain the existing ones while picking up newer ones along the way. For those of you asking “what is salesforce?”, it is one of the most top-notch CRM applications out there and since customers matter a great deal, you can be sure that you will be using it a lot more often than expected. Here are the top five things businesses do to retain their clients:
- The highest priority should be customer success: The fact that customer success is one of the highest priorities is true for over 70% of companies out there. This consists of a variety of factors such as customer support, quality services and guaranteed customer satisfaction, to name a few.
- The skillful use of automation: Nowadays, use of marketing automation is very popular and daily automation takes place. This includes aspects such as email newsletters and regular SMS. There are many marketing software options out there that will make these processes standardised.
- The aspect of Key Performance Indicators: KPIs are beneficial for businesses. They indicate the effectiveness of your service in achieving its business objectives across the board. By thoroughly studying each of the indicators, you will be able to create a roadmap of the best route for your clients.
- Be selective in your sales process: The plan of trying to sell and please everyone is more than likely to backfire badly. More than knowing your customers, you need to know who definitely aren’t your customers. Being selective will take you a long way and ensure that you don’t waste time on people who aren’t interested in your service.
- Make sure that you overdeliver on your promise: Many people often forget that in the world of business and marketing, a promise is a debt. Promising what you can’t deliver is very dangerous. A dissatisfied customer is more than likely to spread the word to over twenty people out there. When you underpromise and overdeliver, the process of exceeding the expectations of your customer will ensure that they stay by your side for a long time.
All in all, the main question that a lot of people have is, “Why is it better to retain a customer than to get a new one?” For starters, the overall cost is a lot less than trying to gain new customers, plus you will be rewarded with a much greater ROI. Hence, the above pointers are to illustrate what a great and well-planned customer retention strategy can do.
The sad truth is that a lot of companies think that lead generation is more important than customer retention. This is failing to take into account the fact that a good 65% of sales come from an existing customer base. On the other hand, you may have no idea about that customer who just randomly stumbled upon your site.
All of the above strategies have worked for the big companies time and again, but there is no such thing as an overnight success. The bottom line is — you will need to be patient, put in all the necessary hard work and understand that quick results are not a part of the game here.
