It costs five times more for companies to earn a new customer than to retain existing customers. It is just not enough to offer the best prices and products for your customers. You have to make them feel wanted to earn their loyalty. Loyal customers are more likely to spend 15 times more than high-risk customers. Given these statistics, it seems prudent to keep your existing customers satisfied. A few techniques can help.
Instructions
1. Listen to your customers. Set up a phone number with a customer service representative(s) handling it and have online contact forms on your websites for customers to place their requests and suggestions. Follow them on social networking websites to know what they are saying about your company, products and services. Address their grievances fast and act on their feedback. Keep in touch with existing customers through regular follow-up calls on upcoming products and services, newsletters and brochures.
2. Offer personalized service. If you are an online retailer, consider offering personalization tools that track customers' purchase choice and offer similar products for their reference, as Amazon.com or the online grocer Peapod, for example, do. So, if a prospective buyer is browsing for books related to cooking, this system should automatically suggest other books on cooking thereby easing his search, increasing his choices and the chances of purchase.
3. Make your employees happy. It is happy employees that make happy customers. Recognize their achievements and reward them regularly. Train employees to answer positively to customers irrespective of the circumstance.
4. Show your appreciation for your loyal customers by giving them perks such as special discounts, previews of new products or services and exclusive toll-free phone numbers for customer support. Call them often to just thank them for being your customer for a long time. By giving just two minutes of your time, you would be earning their invaluable loyalty.
5. Follow your customers on social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter and know what they are saying about your brand. These platforms can provide you with invaluable insights into what your customers are really expecting from your brand, according to the Forbes article "Harnessing Web Chatter About Brands," dated 24th March 2009.
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