Customer retention and customer service have been forever changed by companies like Amazon and Apple. These companies put their customers first in all aspects and have benefited from this strategy greatly. Some strategies they employ are pretty basic, such as free shipping and free returns. Other customer retention ideas seem downright crazy, but end up working in the end.
In this article, we are going to explore a few customer retention ideas that seem crazy but actually work. By doing this, we are asking you to trust us that we know what we are doing. None of these ideas are new and untested, so you are not the guinea pig here at all. They are, however, unconventional, which is why they might seem a little bit crazy at first.
If you are able to overcome some initial hesitation, these customer retention ideas might be the difference for your company. Instead of talking more about it, let’s get started.
1. Offer 100% Money Back Guarantee
This might seem like a scary or even crazy thing to offer your customers, but you would be surprised how far something like this goes. The reason for this is that this customer retention idea is not about the money or the guarantee. In reality, your customers will be drawn to what the guarantee means.
By offering your customers 100% of their money back, you are showing them your integrity. Along with that, you are showing them that you believe in your product. Why would anyone offer 100% percent money back unless they believe only a few people would actually use it? It shows confidence in your product, your company, and that you can deliver the value you are promising.
2. Host a live webinar to educate your customers
Customer retention ideas are numerous and have varying degrees of success. While online webinars can be difficult to do well, when they are they can be very successful. By taking time out of your day to host a webinar with the purpose of educating your customers, they will see how much you care about them and their success with your company.
Before hosting your first live webinar, consider writing out a script and practicing it a few times. Customers will often have a short attention span and you need to work with the time they give you. Another key here is a PowerPoint or some form of visual aspect of the presentation. Use GoToMeeting.com or Join.me to show your customers everything they need to know.
3. Treat complaints like they are worth their weight in gold
A customer complaint might not seem like something you should treasure, but it is. For every customer who brings you an issue they are having, there are 5, 10, 20 more who never spoke up. This is an opportunity to turn an upset customer into a lifelong client. When this happens, use the following guide to address the issue with expert skill and speed.
- Respond urgently to their complaint: Speed is not the most important thing to consider here, but it does help tremendously. Make sure you have the systems in place that allow you to respond urgently to a customer complaint.
- Fix the root problem, not just the symptoms: Customers might have filed a complaint about something that is not truly the problem, merely a symptom. Investigate what happened and if need be, attack the root of the problem to prevent further difficulties and complaints.
- Once the issue is resolved, ask again immediately how you can help: Something that often happens with companies who mishandle complaints is that they don’t perform the proper follow-up. Once the issue is resolved, ask again immediately how you can help them out. This will be an excellent opportunity to either solve another problem they are having or prove your value to the customer. Either way, they will leave the encounter feeling like they were heard.
By simply treating your customers well, you will be turning customers who may have recently considered ending your agreement with customers who are now walking advertisements for how great your customer service is. Take advantage of this opportunity.
4. Offer free delivery
Again, taking a page from Amazon’s book of customer retention ideas, offering free delivery can be a valuable incentive. Depending on exactly what you are delivering, you may need to reevaluate your product pricing structure to work this incentive in. But trust us, your customers will not mind.
There is something about the word “free” that people respond too. Harness the power of free to present your customers a treat they may not have been expecting. In so doing, your customer might order additional products or tell their friends about your company, the ultimate goal of retention marketing.
5. Be everywhere at once
In the digital age we live in, customers spend a large portion of their time online in some capacity. As a brand, it is your job to be everywhere that your customers are in this space. You need to be on social media, in their inbox, running ads when they do a Google search, and everywhere you can think of.
Customers who are constantly reminded of you and your brand are more likely to stick around. For instance, if they follow you on a social media channel, that’s great. But, it would be even better if they followed you one multiple channels and you were sending them targeted emails.
The more places online that you are interacting with your customer base, the harder it will be for them to forget about you. Your customers are busy, just like you, sometimes they just need a reminder you exist.
Customer retention ideas
As we said earlier, there are hundreds of customer retention ideas out there that you can take advantage of. The 5 that we have covered are often ignored or done incorrectly. However, when you have the wherewithal to follow through on your promises and deliver your customers value through these different strategies, you will be setting yourself apart from others.
This is what customer retention boils down to in the end: you are doing it and your competitors aren’t. Customer service is one of the easiest competitive advantages to have and it’s hardly ever taken advantage of. Take advantage of it. Be the ruler of customer retention. The crown is there for the taking, what are you waiting for?
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