In the next section, we will discuss various approaches that can help businesses strengthen their customer retention goals.
1. Build customer loyalty through shared values
Is your company environmentally friendly? Do you donate a portion of your profits to a specific charity? Does it relate to wealth and abundance, or to youth and TikTok trends? Not only should your company have its own easily identifiable values, but it should also aim to share these with its customer base. When customers understand and identify with your values, they will identify and feel connected to you.
2. Ask for feedback often
Don't be afraid to ask customers how their service was, even if the answer wasn't as pleasant as you expected. Positive feedback feels good, but negative feedback often carries more weight. If customers aren't satisfied, they won't buy from you again. In a survey, dissatisfied buyers are asked about their decision before they leave. Their answers can help you improve poor service and make it easier to retain customers in the future.
One thing you should avoid is conducting a single survey or poll and using the results forever. Times change, and so do shoppers' needs and wants. Make it a point to ask regularly and compare the latest results with previous feedback requests.
3. Let your customers expect change or let them decide not to change
If your rate of returning customers has decreased due to brand fatigue, one way to reinvigorate your customer base is to change something. A simple makeover of your storefront or website can be enough. Customers can feel like they're experiencing a new store, even if your brand remains the same in every other way. Be careful with changes, as too many or too sudden changes can lose customers.
The success of “New Coke” is still talked about decades later. Coca-Cola hoped that consumers would be excited enough to buy the new product. However, attempts to change the flavor led to significant backlash and continued pleas to keep the beloved recipe.
Although Coca-Cola's new product was ultimately a failure, the publicity generated by the event was a success. The situation demonstrated that sometimes the best way to get customers excited about change is to decide not to change anything at all.
To a lesser extent, McDonald's has occasionally tweaked its menu and brought back the McRib for limited periods in an effort to make the sandwich an enduring favorite. These limited-time offerings play into the fear of missing out, but promising to bring back a favorite also guarantees returning customers who will be excited to try it again.
4. Treat your customers as people, not as data
It's no secret that customers don't like AI chatbots. A common complaint is that these bots don't understand the customer. AI typically responds to keywords and specific scenarios, not individual human experiences. They can't provide the empathy that customers are looking for, and that can only be obtained by speaking to a human. With this in mind, it's important to remember that your customers are people, not data.
While analytics may help you understand things hypothetically, interacting with your customers directly and empathetically will give you the most accurate insight into their happiness or dissatisfaction. Customers want to be engaged and listened to. Treating your customers as people, not numbers on a screen, will go a long way to keeping them coming back for more.
5. Make it easy to understand
It's easy to think that having the best product on the market automatically gives you an advantage, but this isn't necessarily true. Your competitors may be able to outsell you with an inferior product because their descriptions and marketing materials are easier for customers to understand. After all, the easier you make it to understand what your company is all about, the faster your customers can decide if they want to buy from you or not.
Complicated and excessive descriptions can scare shoppers away, but people who know exactly how your business meets their needs will feel comfortable buying from you again and again.
6. Offer fast shipping options
While many customers are willing to wait weeks to receive their products, some want or need their items as soon as possible. Offering the option to receive your items a few days or weeks early can encourage some customers to buy from you again, knowing they'll receive their items sooner than your competitors.
7. Make returns and refunds easy and streamlined
Mistakes happen, but one way to discourage customers from buying from you again is to make returns nearly impossible and refuse to offer refunds. The returns and refunds process is part of your customer service, so it's important to make the process hassle-free and streamlined.
Customers will be more likely to trust you with future purchases if they know they will be treated fairly after the sale, rather than being ignored after their money is taken.
8. Encourage word-of-mouth support
The impact of word-of-mouth advertising is often associated with acquiring new customers. However, it's important to note that word-of-mouth customer advertising can also be used for customer retention. After all, positive word-of-mouth about a product or service builds consumer trust.
For example, a customer may hear from a friend who has repeatedly purchased from your company that they are satisfied – in which case this not only potentially brings in new business, but also creates a domino effect where retained customers spread positive word-of-mouth messages about your brand to their friends, on social media, etc.
You should actively encourage word-of-mouth support wherever possible – share positive customer feedback through retweets on Twitter, encourage customers to share their experiences on TikTok and Instagram – the more your loyal customers feel visible and recognized, the more likely they are to share their impressions of your company using online and in-person channels.
9. Make your customers feel good about interacting with you
Though they may not be publicly recognized, there are some brands that the public wants to associate with, while others are embarrassed by them. In addition to sharing your values with your customers, another great strategy for retaining customers is to make them feel good about associating with you.
When shoppers know that a portion of their purchase will go to fighting childhood cancer or rebuilding the Amazon rainforest, it gives them a sense of long-term satisfaction and encourages future purchases.
10. Provide direct, empathetic customer service
Some companies are notorious for terrible customer service, in large part due to how difficult it is to speak to a real person – for example, this could be due to an over-reliance on AI chatbots or phone service, or a lack of easy routing for customers to the right department.
Good customer service is key to customer retention. Providing empathetic, easy-to-navigate, and direct customer service goes a long way in building lasting, positive relationships with consumers.
11. Create customer profiles
Instead of focusing on new customers, creating a profile based on your existing long-term customers allows you to concentrate on attracting customers who are more likely to become part of your loyal customer base. Look at all the things your retained customers have in common. Try to understand what sets them apart from one-time shoppers.
Information like age, income, gender, lifestyle, and more can be crucial to more precisely market to customers who are likely to buy from your company multiple times.
12. Offer “Buy now, pay later” options
It's no surprise that the “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) model has exploded in popularity in recent years — after all, a 2018 study found that 76% of consumers are more likely to shop where payment plans are available, like Delta customers who pay for their flights through Affirm or retail shoppers who buy through Klarna or Afterpay.
The BNPL model offers a budget-friendly and transparent way to purchase, and its growing popularity suggests that customers may prefer to shop with companies that offer such payment options.
13. Use gamification to keep customers engaged
Gamification is a crucial customer retention strategy, tapping into customers' desire to engage and be rewarded beyond a single transaction. Retailers use gamification by converting dollars spent in-store into points that can be applied toward future purchases. This approach gives shoppers a good reason to return: money spent yesterday becomes a discount on tomorrow's purchases.
Customers can accumulate points through repeat purchases and purchase products they wouldn't otherwise be able to afford at deep discounts. Through fun little rewards and missions, mechanics typically found only in online role-playing games, you can turn the shopping experience into a long-term adventure for shoppers.
14. It becomes harder to replace
Being unique and hard to replace can be a great strategy for customer retention. After all, it's easier to retain customers if they know that the positive experience they had with your brand can't be easily replicated elsewhere in your industry.
Conclusion
Depending on the type of company you own (e.g., brick-and-mortar or online store), one approach may be more effective than another. The key is to develop a customer retention strategy that works for your business.
Creating profiles, leveraging gamification, overhauling customer service, and other steps are essential to improving customer experience. Happy customers will come back, dissatisfied customers will not.
