Create a customer journey map

One of the first customer retention strategies to apply is to use a customer journey map. This helps you dig into the customer’s point of view to improve the business. It’s a visual representation of different ways customers interact with your company, such as in-store shopping, online shopping and customer service calls. Mapping can help you identify problems with the journey, so you can make changes to improve the process and optimize the customer experience.

Improve customer service

If you want customers to make repeat purchases, you have to offer exceptional customer service every time. One bad experience can wipe out every positive interaction a customer has had with your company. Many people will also talk about the bad experience to anyone who will listen, which can hurt your word-of-mouth marketing strategy.

Implement expectations and guidelines that support a positive experience for your customers. This might include things like replying to online customer inquiries within two hours or following a standard checkout procedure in your store. Train employees on the importance of exceptional customer service, and give them examples of what you expect.

Having multiple customer service channels also helps. In-store customer service is a start, but making it easy to contact you through social media, email, phone calls and online chat allows people to choose their preferred method.

Handle complaints well

Even with an emphasis on customer service, your customers might occasionally have a bad experience, or you might get a grumpy patron who will always find something to complain about. Addressing complaints quickly and appropriately can help save those customers and convince them to give your organization another chance.

Apologize and accept responsibility when your business makes a mistake. Then, do what you need to correct the issue. If a customer receives a faulty product, replacing it with a new one or doing repairs free of charge can smooth over the situation. Learning from those difficult encounters can help you improve your processes for future customers, which can reduce lost consumers.

Deliver a unique product or service

When you offer the same thing as everyone else in your niche, you don’t give your customers as much of a reason to stick with you. Being distinct from your competitors, whether it’s the product or service itself, the quality or how you present it to customers, you encourage them to come back since they can’t get that exact experience anywhere else.

Establish expectations

When you have clear policies and procedures, your customers know what to expect. This can reduce disappointment or conflict. For example, having a clear, written return policy can prevent an upset patron who tries to return something outside of the policy. By preventing these conflicts, you keep your customers happy and increase the likelihood of them returning.

Build trusting customer relationships

You won’t likely know every single repeat customer, but building relationships with your consumers to some degree helps build loyalty. Listening to your customers, asking questions and responding to their comments can show them that you care. Regular communication also helps build relationships, especially when you use social media platforms where you can have two-way communication. Following through with offers and sticking to your word also helps build trust.

Develop an onboarding program

You likely have an employee onboarding program, but developing one for your customers can be an effective retention strategy. The goal of a customer onboarding program is to ease them into using your product or service instead of leaving them to figure it out themselves. This is effective for large purchases or complicated products. You might offer a free setup service if you’re selling something that needs to be installed or configured. Other examples include in-person instruction on how to use it, an email with next steps or online tutorials about using the product effectively.

Surprise your customers

Unexpected touches make lasting impressions on customers. You might include a handwritten thank you note or a small extra product with an online order. A birthday card with a special offer is another example. These surprises don’t have to be costly or big. It’s the idea of getting a fun little surprise for free that appeals to people.

Along with this, follow the common advice of under-promising and overdelivering. If you ship products, you might list the processing time as five to seven days but make it a goal to process all orders in one to three days. Customers will be pleasantly surprised when their wait is much shorter than expected.

Personalize the shopping experience

A personalized experience makes customers feel like you care and notice them. For in-store experiences, that can be as simple as using active listening to identify what your customers want or need.

For your email list members, software tools can help you personalize the experience. Simply inserting the recipient’s name in an email marketing campaign is a quick way to make it personal. Segmenting your email list makes it easier to send targeted messages to different types of customers. This can be based on past buying habits, demographics or how familiar they are with your company. You can easily create separate email campaigns for various groups to give them content and offers that are more meaningful to them.

Online shopping can be personalized by using an app or website that suggests similar items based on previous purchases or shopping habits. This can also help with upselling when customers are already shopping your ecommerce store.

Make it easy

Customers appreciate a convenient, fast shopping experience. Offering more convenience than your competitors can give you the edge. Some examples include:

• Easier checkout: Streamlining your checkout process, whether you have a physical location or ecommerce store, keeps customers happier.
• In-store pickup: If you sell both online and in person, consider offering online ordering with the option for in-store pickup.
• Customer app: Adding an app with ordering options can also help. For example, if you have a coffee shop or restaurant, using an app can make it convenient for customers who prefer ordering with the touch of a few buttons.
• Subscription service: For consumable products that customers need regularly, offering a subscription service adds convenience. They automatically get their products without remembering to reorder, and you get recurring sales without any extra effort.

Collect and use customer feedback

You can use purchasing data to analyze customer retention and habits, but getting feedback directly from your shoppers is also important. When you receive and use customer feedback to make your company better, you’re creating a positive feedback loop. You’re listening to your customers’ opinions and experiences, which influence whether or not they’re likely to return and recommend your business to other people.

A customer survey allows you to collect feedback. You can go simple with a scale that customers can use to rate their experience or go more detailed with questions about various parts of the shopping experience. However you collect data, don’t forget to analyze it and put it to use. If you get feedback that your brick-and-mortar retail store is cluttered or customers have difficulty finding things, create a better layout and organizational system.

Reward customers

Rewarding loyalty encourages more of the same. The incentive gives you repeat business and keeps them hooked. An example is a punch card program where customers receive holes for each purchase, or per session if you offer a service. After so many purchases, they get a discount or a free item or service.

You can also create a customer referral program to reward people for referring new customers. This is a low-cost approach to acquiring new patrons. You might offer a free item or a discount when a referral purchases from you. These reward programs show your customers that you value their business and referrals.

Rewards don’t have to be formal. You might simply send out a random discount, coupon offer or sale that’s only for existing customers.

Engage with automation

Marketing automation makes it easy to engage customers who’ve been absent for a while. Automation software lets you create re-engagement campaigns to get those past customers to notice you again. Some ideas that you might send to these customers include:

• Short survey or question about why they haven’t engaged lately
• Special discount to encourage a new sale
• Updates on new products or improvements you’ve made since the customer last engaged
• Option to purchase something again they’ve purchased in the past
• Message acknowledging the lack of engagement and asking if they want to continue receiving emails from you

Educate your customers

Offering educational opportunities shows your customers that you care about more than just making a sale. You’re there to support them before and after you get their money. You can also use these educational opportunities to teach customers about other products and services you offer.

Content creation opportunities to educate customers include:

• Email newsletters
• Blog posts
• Social media posts
• FAQs or a customer help section on your website
• Community forum
• Educational video series
• In-store demonstrations or classes
• Live webinars

These educational opportunities should provide valuable information with no strings attached. Getting feedback from customers through these channels can tell you where they’re confused or what type of educational content they need.

Rally around a mission

Do you have a company mission that helps the community as part of your organization? Maybe you have an eco-friendly company that minimizes waste and uses only sustainable materials. Perhaps you give back to the community with a portion of each purchase going to a charitable organization. You might value diversity and hire veterans, people with disabilities and employees from traditionally marginalized groups.

By making this mission a core part of your messaging, you attract like-minded people who want to support those ideals. Consumers will support businesses that align with their core values. Buying products and services they want anyway is a simple way for them to support the cause.

FAQs about customer retention strategies

What is customer retention analysis?

Retention analysis means you’re using available metrics to understand your current customer retention situation. It helps you look at customer churn, which refers to consumers who stop using your business, and helps you identify why they leave. You can use this data to improve your customer retention strategies.

How do you write a customer retention plan?

Identify which areas need the most work in your business. Not every customer retention strategy is ideal for your business. If you already do well with customer service, focus on new programs, such as a customer loyalty program. If you don’t have a formal system for handling customer feedback or complaints, work on creating one. Assess where you are and where you can improve to create your customer retention plan.

What are the benefits of using customer retention strategies?

Taking a proactive approach to customer retention helps you get repeat business from patrons you’ve already attracted. You don’t have to spend a lot of money on advertising and other customer acquisition strategies to make these sales since the customers have already found you. They might spend more money on subsequent purchases if they’re happy with their previous purchases. These strategies emphasize giving your current customers a positive experience, which means they’re more likely to recommend your company to other people.