Best Tips for Customer Retention for a Small Business

A business to be successful requires one asset, that is, customers. No business can run without customers. Customer retention, especially for small businesses, plays a very vital role. Most of the businesses these days are more concerned with lead generation and not about customer retention. It is perfect to be concerned about generating new customers in the business, but you should also think about customer retention at the same time. This is because more than 50% of the businesses generally come from existing customers in most businesses.

Small business owners can benefit a lot from the modern technologies developed to retain customers. Offering the latest technology to keep the experience swift and safe is one-step to retain your customers. Many small businesses have adopted the latest technology to stay ahead in the game and keep their customers retained.

Below mentioned are some tips that business owners can take to grow their business by retaining customers.

Total Automation

Offering customers a total automated experience will keep them coming for more. Services such as customer care, complaints, customer login, and payment process should be automated, offering highest level security possible. Some of the solutions that small businesses can adopt are VOIPs, AI chatbots, fast payment solutions, and AI-based identity screening.

VOIPs will allow your customers to directly contact customer service and solve their issues in real-time. VOIPs are fast, economical, and a very appropriate fit for small businesses to retain their customers.

Chatbots are a very innovative method of interacting with your customers and offering them results without any professionals' supervision. The chatbots are capable enough to generate solutions themselves.

The identity verification solution has revolutionised the customer experience as it offers a safe and swift procedure to recognise your customers. When you can offer your customers a safe and secure onboarding, your customers will be retained, as they are satisfied.

Connect With Your Customers

Every customer should be served satisfactorily by the small businesses if they want to retain customers. The only way to offer services to your customers is by connecting with them. One best way to connect with your customers is through the survey model. You can offer your customers a survey or ask them to rate the company’s services. This way, you will come to know what customers feel about your service and what steps can be taken to improve the services.

Machine learning and AI have drastically changed how we interact with our customers. Through some technologies, business owners can build an algorithm and connect to customers offering them solutions instantly. When small businesses interact with customers, they feel valued, which helps in customer retention.

Marketing has evolved over the years allowing businesses to adopt several channels to retain their potential customers. Several marketing strategies have been adopted by a large number of small businesses to tackle the customer retention issue. These businesses can retain customers using marketing techniques. Digital marketing is the new trend from which small businesses can benefit a lot, as they are economical and successful.

Below mentioned are some of the marketing techniques that can be used by small businesses to retain their customers.

Surprise Gifts and Discounts

As the businesses are taking over online platforms, it is now much easier to reach potential customers. One way to retain customers is by offering them surprise gifts and discounts. When you offer surprise gifts and discounts to the customers, they feel valued and tend to spend more time on your website. You can offer your potential customers discounts on products that they frequently purchase. You can also go for VIP discounts by listing some of the most VIP customers and offering them a discount. Adopting these measures will make your customers feel valued and come back for your products and services again.

Keeping your Customers Informed

One significant way of retaining customers is by keeping them informed about the  sales, discounts, promos, and other similar information. There are several ways through which you can inform your customers. Email, calls, and social media are some of the platforms that you can use to keep your customers informed. You can inform your customers about a product launch, new partnerships, exciting milestones, and other similar information.

Gamification

Gamification is a very innovative marketing technique adopted by several small businesses to retain their customers. This strategy is like a game where customers are rewarded for their loyalty towards the brand. You can offer discounts and gifts to your customers when they refer other customers to your company. This strategy is very successful and used by several companies.

Customer Survey

Customer Survey is an essential technique used to retain customers and is regarded as one of the most traditional methods. It is quite true that not every customer will be satisfied with your services or product but offering them a survey will let you know the reasons for their dissatisfaction. You can design a strategy in which you can plan to send a survey to your customers periodically.

If you are looking to start your own business, then understanding the market is vital. Several steps have to be taken to start a small business successfully. Small businesses thrive on customer retention, and it is the business owners' primary duty to keep their customers satisfied to exist in the market. Below are some tips that will show you how to retain customers or make them loyal to your company.

Understanding Your Customer's Problem

Only businesses that understand their customers can survive. This is because, having a perfect product is not the end, but making your customers understand its benefits and what problems it can solve is the key to customer retention. You have to determine which of your customers will be benefiting from the product the most.

Educating Your Customers

Generally, companies that are willing to educate their customers about their products and services get more customers. This can be done by sharing excellent content with your customers to get started with the product or service. When you educate your customers about the products and services, customers tend to buy products from you, as it is feasible and informative.

Start a Loyalty Program

One of the best ways of retaining customers is by starting a loyalty program for your customers. Loyalty programs significantly impact customers as they make them visit and shop for your products, as they know they are being rewarded. The rewards do not necessarily have to be expensive; make sure they add value to your customers. You can start by offering points to your customers on every purchase. These points can be later redeemed for something exciting or a gift.

Ask for Feedback

Asking your customers for feedback on their experience of the product or a service is a great way to retain customers. The first reason is that asking for feedback makes the customers feel valued. Secondly, it offers insight into how your customers feel and think about your products and services. Based on this feedback, you can work to improve the customer experience.

Also read:
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10 Best Ways to Promote Your Small Business
Best Tips For Marketing Your Brand

FAQs

Q. How to attract and retain customers?

Ans:
- Surprise gifts and discounts
- Excellent customer service
- Informing customers
- Surveys
- Gamification

Q.How does customer retention create loyal customers?

Ans: Customer retention techniques, such as feedback and stories encourage other potential customers to try the products and services. This way, a community can be built of like-minded people.

Q. What is a retention strategy?

Ans: Retention strategies are some of the policies that companies follow to retain customers. The main aim of the strategy is to retain existing customers and, at the same time, look for new potential customers.

Q. What is a reasonable customer retention rate?

Ans: Retention rates depend on the industry. For most industries, the average retention is eight weeks. For media and finance companies, eight-week retention over 25% is considered acceptable, whereas, for e-commerce companies, 35% retention is considered adequate.

Q. Is it cheap to retain customers?

Ans: There are several strategies you can adopt to retain customers. Some of the strategies adopted are very cheap, like email and survey. Offering discounts and gifts to a large number of loyal customers can be expensive. It depends on what strategies are being adopted by you to retain your customers.

Q. How to fix customer retention issues?

Ans:
- Monitor your customers always
- Always be there to support
- Make new strategies that can drive your customers back to you
- Start promotion

Q. How to retain customers who are leaving?

Ans:
- Build a customer database
- Be in touch with your customers
- Offer multiple communication channels to customers for accessing your support
- Offer support to customers round the clock
- Target the most valuable customers
- Offer excellent customer services

Q. How to retain online customers?

Ans:
- Email marketing
- Social media presence
- Offer reward programs
- Personalise their experience
- Offer faster delivery and easy return options

Q. What questions should I ask in a customer survey?

Ans:
- How often do you use the product?
- Does the product fit your purpose?
- What is your favourite part of the product? What would you like to be improved?
- Are you satisfied with the product?