Whether your business is brand new or years old, retaining your current customers is one of the best ways to be consistently successful. Not only do you want customers to remain loyal to you, but you also want them to feel so good about your company that they bring in new business as well. That's why it's so important for businesses to develop excellent retention strategies that will keep clients and customers coming back for more. If you're starting a new business, take a look at these strategies you can implement to keep your customers happy:
Focus On Customer Service
This strategy may seem obvious, but the truth is, nothing a company can do to keep customers around beats providing a perfect experience from beginning to end. That said, it's important to come up with specific best practices for your employees to refer to when managing clients. And remember: You want to provide a great customer experience, but what will truly keep folks coming back is being memorable. What can you offer customers that they can't find elsewhere?
Encourage Complaints
Consider this: You want your clients to feel taken care of, and to do that you need to reduce any "pain points" as much as you can. But you really can't do that without direct customer feedback, which is why customer complaints are actually a positive tool from which your business can really benefit. In fact, as a new company, you may want to encourage both positive and negative feedback right off the bat so you can immediately work on adjusting your services.
Provide Consistent and High-Quality Work
Like good customer service, doing work that's consistently high-quality is basic but essential. Whether you're providing a service or a product, it's important that your clients are happy with the end result, or they likely won't return. One aspect of this that some companies don't consider is being cautious about making promises: Don't agree to a deadline or product that simply isn't feasible or you'll develop a reputation for dishonesty.
Build Relationships
Part of providing a good experience for current customers (and ensuring they return if they need the service again) is building a relationship with them. If you have several employees who work with only a few clients each, they should try to get a little personal. Don't be afraid to ask about their weekend plans or families on phone calls, for instance. Companies with dozens (if not hundreds or thousands) of customers don't have that same opportunity to build one-on-one relationships, so take advantage of it. Additionally, make sure you're connecting with clients online. These days, being connected on Facebook or LinkedIn is a valuable way to keep your company visible to past clients you're hoping will return.
Be Kind to Your Employees
Your employees are the ones who will be interacting with customers and clients, which means unhappy employees could trigger a downturn in customer service. Just as you encourage clients to provide feedback, make yourself open to ideas and concerns from your employees – they'll feel appreciated and you can work together to improve your systems and practices.