Customer retention is something that every company wants. We'd all love a long and healthy relationship with our existing customers, because it's easier to keep a customer than win a new one (in theory). But is that true? And how do you go about encouraging first time customers to stay?
1. Are you in an industry that even has customer loyalty?
The first thing to work out is how likely you are to keep a customer in the first place. A local garage might see real customer loyalty. But a chocolate brand is likely to see little or even none at all. Depending on what industry you're in, loyalty can be either difficult or even impossible to achieve. The well worn theory that acquisition is more “expensive” than retention is not particularly helpful. Sometimes you do need to get out there and win more customers because loyalty is difficult. But where a level of loyalty does exist, how can we tap into that?
2. Talk to your heaviest users
It might seem bizarre that your top customers can tell you about how to keep those who are less interested. But it's true. Your best customers are a North Star of what the brand could be for everyone. What made their experience so great? What kept them coming back for more? Now flip the question around and talk to the people who don't use the brand as much. Why did they lapse? Did something not come across well enough? Talking to your biggest and best customers can give you insight into how you can re-engage and grow within your existing customer base.
3. It's never a marriage
Let's be honest, who spends ages thinking about the type of toilet paper they're buying? People shop around and use many brands. For example the supermarkets found in research that the M&S shoppers also go to LIDL and ALDI (and vice versa.) And in the most extreme example, customers switch for good. We've seen this recently when Yorkshire Tea became the number one tea brand in the UK. In a market once dominated by Tetley and PG Tips, Yorkshire Tea got people to switch and they never looked back. Or in other words, remember that people who buy Coke also tend to drink Pepsi. This is one example of how people have a handful of brands they might choose depending on the situation.
4. Ways to make it work (start small)
One of the simplest questions is to ask whether you have an email database. We're often surprised at how often the answer is "not really." Email can be a powerful tool for new product talking to people about new product launches, events and more. A system like this can also tell you who actually buys your stuff, with simple data capture. Even this simple information can give you useful demographics that can help you understand your audience. From there, you can layer more elements such as location, age range, birthday and more when they buy something. You can use this information to work out whether your current plans marketing and product range is working.
5. Give a little TLC
From there, you can give true loyalists a pat on the back and a little something back. This can be something as simple as pre-release access to new products or exclusive events. It's always good to nurture committed loyalists with a little TLC, so they continue to shout about your brand. True loyalty should be rewarded.
Outside of that, the challenge is how to get more people to feel the same way about your brand as your best customers do.
