How to increase Customer Retention
Nothing is more valuable to a buyer for your business than a solid customer base. Why else would they buy a business for any other reason when they can set up one from scratch? Buyers love it when a business’ sales are made up largely, if not entirely, from referrals and repeat customers, or directly via their website; and why wouldn’t they? Getting new customers is hard work and can cost a lot of time and money!
Customer attrition (especially where a business’ sales are largely dependent on a number of key clients), is a high risk factor when buying a business so owner’s need to build long-term, loyal customers that are likely to come back to the business (not to you – remember, you’re selling your business so the customers may leave when you go!).
This past month, we have received all of our sales and new business listings from past buyers and sellers so, we wanted to share with you our three greatest tips in customer retention.
(1) Meet basic expectations and needs before you attempt to exceed them.
Customers expect you to solve their problems quickly and easily however sometimes you can’t predict hiccups so transparency and communication is important. Don’t make them chase you (this is perceived as hard work and a bad experience) instead make them feel that the process of doing business with you is easy. For example, Online browsing/shopping can be overwhelming for some users so rather than wait for them to complain (or lose them completely at the first step), why not provide a prominent “help me!” form on the page, or alternate way to complete the task.
(2) Demonstrate value.
Customers come to you to fill an immediate need. When we deal with buyers and sellers, we look to satisfy them for the long term. A few posts back you saw that a buyer (Allison) came back to us to sell her business instead of going through the broker who sold her the business. She “thought of us straight away” because she “really appreciated the time and effort” we put in. So, her perceived value in our service compelled her to come back.
(3) Start a “Subscription” business.
We find that subscription campaigns eclipse any other marketing campaign generating not only rapid results but also the best return on investment and fastest growth path for organically grown new customers from referrals, “sharing” and “liking”! Whether it is Email, SMS, or social media –subscribers are pre-qualified for your product/service already indicating that they want to engage with you and sometime in the future (whether they know it or not), intend to do business with you just by subscribing! This in itself is a very, very valuable asset to a prospective buyer!
Because this is a very valuable asset, it is imperative that you regularly create a “win-back” campaign. A high rate of bounce backs can result in your emails being blocked as spam, or even worse, your website knocked down in ranking for being associated as a spam site! The trick is to think like your prospect/customer. Make it compelling for them to open your campaign, make it personal, allow them to update their contact information, and “bribe” them to resubscribe (offer them a reason to stay tuned)!
We didn’t want to babble on too long but hope that this article has inspired you.
DISCLAIMER
This is an opinion and should not be taken as professional or legal advice.
