4 Strategies You Should Implement To Avoid High Customer Churn

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Businesses have long known the value of retaining their customers. However, 44% of companies have a greater focus on acquiring new customers rather than keeping the ones they already have. This results in millions of dollars being lost to competitors, and even more, money being spent on trying to attract new customers to make up for the ones lost.

During these uncertain times, small businesses do not have the luxury of losing their already established customer base. They no longer have the room to lose so much revenue or have the ability to fund large marketing campaigns to attract new customers. They’re relying on their current customer base to remain loyal and to continue spending their money on them.

But what’s to keep them from wandering over to your competitors? Below are four strategies you can implement in your business to reduce customer churn and increase the lifetime value of your buyers.

#1. Figure out why customers stop buying

The first step to prevent your customers from leaving is to understand why they want to go. A customer can look elsewhere for any number of reasons— whether it be poor product development, high prices, poor customer service, or genuine curiosity in your competitor. However, it can be unwise for you to just assume you know why they left without doing further research.

Once you know for sure the reason that your customers are leaving, you’ll be able to make the necessary adjustments that will make them want to stay. Both your current customers and your previous customers may be willing to give suggestions on how to improve your product or service— all you need to do is ask them.

The simplest way to do this is to create and send customer surveys. Surveys should be dispersed across different touchpoints, including after they receive customer service assistance, immediately post-purchase, or even in your social media feeds. This will help you gain insight from your customers throughout their entire journey, which gives you a bigger picture of where you can improve your business.

While developing your surveys, be sure to include questions about their entire experience as a customer. A few questions to consider are:

  • Are there any improvements that can be made to your products or services?
  • Are your goods adequately priced?
  • How convenient was the buying process?
  • Were there any confusing aspects to your store or website?
  • Would they recommend your brand to others?

Pay attention to any recurring themes or feedback you’re receiving, and respond accordingly. This will show your customers that you value their opinion.

In addition to finding out what your customers don’t like about your company, make sure that you also understand what they like about the company as well. Identifying why people choose you over your competitors can give you insights on the aspects of your business that you should amplify during your marketing efforts.

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Spend time nurturing these aspects of your business to ensure that your new and existing customers never want to leave.

#2. Invest in customer service technology

Poor customer service is one of the top reasons that people stop doing business with a company. Businesses lose 71 per cent of their customers due to poor customer service— equating to a loss of trillions of dollars per year. If you want to prevent your business from suffering the same fate, then you need to be proactive and ensure that your customers are treated fairly and have their concerns met in a timely fashion.

The internal and external tools your customer service team uses, are indispensable assets that assist in providing a pleasant experience to your shoppers. In the age of the internet, long wait times, limited choice of communication channels, and being unable to answer questions are simply unacceptable to customers.

To meet these demands, businesses often turn to customer support software. These solutions allow customers to reach your business from any platform of their choosing, help keep employees organized, and even automate repetitive tasks— giving a smooth and seamless customer service experience.

In addition to upgrading your tools, you also want to make sure that your employees are properly trained to handle any issue that may arise. Every person on your team who interacts with customers should understand how they should represent the company and the importance of their role in the business.

It’s important that these employees receive an immersive customer service training course that will help ensure your customers are getting a pleasant and consistent customer service experience.

While investing in your customer service is crucial in creating loyal customers, it’s no secret that some of these tools can be a bit pricey. Especially for smaller businesses, where adding expenses can be difficult or outside of the budget.

If you find yourself in this situation, there are multiple types of small business loans that can help you finance these upgrades. Online loan options make it easy to find the loan that works best for your situation and have reduced approval times, letting you quickly start improving your business.

#3. Build Relationships with your customers

People are loyal to those with whom they have a positive relationship, and this extends to their loyalty to businesses as well. 89 per cent of customers stay loyal to brands they feel share their values. Customers want to be seen and treated as individuals— which means your company needs to treat them this way.

One of the best ways to bond with your customers is on social media. These two-way channels are great for humanizing your brand because it allows customers to interact with your company in real-time, and they offer a space where you can show off different facets of your company.

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The most important thing to remember is that, unlike traditional marketing channels, social media is meant for two-way engagement. Take the time to respond to relevant comments, questions, or messages your social accounts may receive.

While it’s unlikely that you will be able to acknowledge every share, comment, or mention, you should try focusing the bulk of your attention on interactions that are extremely positive or extremely negative.

Responding to users who are praising your company lets them know that you appreciate the time they took to share your company praise. Concurrently, addressing negative comments shows both the commenter and the witnessing public that you care about your customer’s concerns.

As your following begins to grow it can be difficult for you to stay on top of who’s interacting with you and when. If you’re having trouble manually managing your social media accounts, try using a social engagement software that helps you monitor your accounts. These tools can help automate responses and can elevate your social media strategy.

#4. Encourage Loyalty

If you want your customers to buy from you again, then you need to encourage that behaviour. Reward returning customers with discounts, birthday gifts, early access to new products, and reward points that can be used to aid future purchases. These don’t need to be given out often, and can even be reserved for those who pay to sign up for a membership with your brand.   

These incentives not only show customers your appreciation for their loyalty, but it also encourages them to continue spending money with your business and deepen their relationship with you. Your customers will be excited to shop with you when they feel like they’re getting a reward in return.

Final Thoughts

The ability to retain customers is a key measurement of how well a business is satisfying its buyers. These strategies will help encourage existing customers to continue spending their money with you, as well as attract new customers who want to experience your greatness for themselves.

Kelechi Okeke
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