Customer retention is one of the main metrics in any customer success strategy. Surveys show that the cost of acquiring a new customer is way higher than keeping an existing one, and if that one is a loyal customer, you will have a free marketer who refers his/her connections to your business.

The actions you take to keep your customers change according to your business type, way of communication, and customer personas, etc.

In this article, we mention 8 strategies that will help you retain your customers.

8 Customer Experience and Retention Strategies

– Personalization

In your marketing research, you create customer personas. After a while, you may forget that those personas are different people with different priorities, needs, social lives, and believes.

That’s why you should treat each customer like the only customer you have, make them know they are not a number; they are more than that to your business. Use the data you collected about them to do little things that count, like a “Happy Birthday” message, a “Happy Holiday,” or “We missed your comments on our FB page.”

Those little things matter and will help you add a new (Person) to your business family frequently.

– Loyalty programs

Loyalty programs reward those who introduce your business, buy from you, give you good reviews. It would be best if you had a way to push them to do these things; this push can be an offer most of the time.

Also, let other customers know you appreciate those guys and that they are dear to your business. You can do this by labeling them with a nice classification or sharing their stories, if possible.

– Take care of customer service

According to surveys, customer service highly affects churn. One poor customer service experience can damage your reputation (if you were wrong).

So, invest in your customer service agents by training them and taking care of their mental and physical health, or use a done-for-you service that can do all that for you.

– Educate your customers

Sometimes customers don’t know how to use your service (especially in the software world), or they don’t know all your products, services, or plans you provide. 

If you already have leads, if you got an email list, then keep nurturing them by sending educational materials and providing the proper information for them when needed.

– Enhance the first impression

The onboarding process is when customers first use your product and interact with it; the first experience matters as people usually need to taste the value fast. Thus, make the first experience worth it. It should be smooth, easy, enjoyable, and fun, if possible.

Long, boring onboarding is the way for customers to leave you.

– Keep contacting your customers on the proper channel

According to your market research, you properly know the best channel that your segment use. Thus, this should be the channel you interact, post, comment, and send messages through.

– Ask for feedbacks

Feedbacks collect critical data, which is essential for improving your customer success strategy. It also gives the customers the feeling that they are heard and their opinion matters.

– Go beyond expectation

Think of ways to surprise your customers, thank them, apologize(when things go wrong), and appreciate their interactions and trust. That’s how real bonds and relationships are built, and that’s how you should build yours.

Which of these customer experience and retention strategies do you think will be the most effective for your business? Let us know in the comments.