Customer retention is one of the most important concepts in business (particularly for SaaS companies) and yet it’s also an area where many companies get it wrong says Aron Govil. I’m going to share with you 5 of what I believe are some of the best ways that you can start improving your customer retention today!
1. Make them feel special
Make sure you’re thinking about how to make each customer feel like they’re getting extra attention, not just another number or another email in their inbox. How might you be able to do that? It could be something as simple as responding really quickly to chat requests, giving them a heads up if there is any downtime on your service or even sending out exclusive discounts once in a while. However, you can also think about making your customers feel special by offering them a personalized welcome when they sign-up. This might seem like something small but it can go a really long way!
2. Be Transparent
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again if your customers don’t trust you then there’s no way in hell they’re going to stick around. That’s why transparency is so important and something that most companies often overlook. If there are any issues or things that people need answering, do what you can to answer those questions as soon as possible even if it means interrupting other workflows. Whatever you do, try not to keep them waiting for more than an hour because trust us, nothing good will come of that!
3. Embrace the wow factor-Aron Govil
I don’t care if you’re a SaaS company, an e-commerce store or even a brick and mortar business, if your customers are disappointed with what they get from you then there’s a good chance they’ll leave. You might be thinking “But I’m not Apple!”, but this doesn’t mean that you can’t have some level of “touch magic” in your product. For example, does your website have a nice animation when someone enters their email address? Do you show them some marketing material after they sign-up? If you did then congratulations, that’s a small touch of magic right there which is something we all people love (even if they won’t admit to it).
4. Make sure your product is actually USEFUL
I know what you’re thinking “My product is solving a huge pain point for people, so how could they leave?” That might be true but the harsh reality is that if your customers don’t think that your product is easy enough to use or isn’t doing exactly what they need then there’s no way they’ll stay says Aron Govil. You might already have some “power” users on board but these might not be very typical of your average customer who needs convincing, which means that you should really do whatever you can to make sure that anyone can use your product. If something isn’t clear or takes too long to figure out, then you should try changing it as soon as possible.
5. Don’t be pushy
This is something that I see all the time and it never fails to make me cringe! If you use some kind of “email drip” sequence or set of emails then for god’s sake, NEVER send one which tries to get them back in again. I can promise you that this will come across like a desperate sales email and they might even report you for spam (which we definitely don’t want). Instead, try building relationships with your customers by communicating with them when they actually need your product or benefit from it. This way, they won’t feel spammed and will be more inclined to stick around instead.
Here are some FAQs recently asked in the comments:
Q: How do you deal with a customer who is constantly complaining?
A: Firstly, I would definitely listen to your customer and see if there’s anything that we could improve. If they’re not happy then it’s our job (yes, this includes you!) to make them feel like their issue has been solved. One good platform for this is Zendesk because it allows you to add in notes about what happened when things were resolved which means that your customers will never wonder what was done on their behalf. Another great way of handling complaints is by setting up email alerts whenever someone leaves a new contact message which makes it easier for us afterwards to respond!
Q: Do you have any tools that automate your workflows?
A: Yes! We use tools like Intercom which is great for sending messages based on certain triggers such as when someone signs up or logs in for the first time. However, my favourite thing about this platform is how it lets us add relationships so we know who our customers are so we don’t have different conversations with each one. It also adds a level of personalisation because everyone knows that they’re being communicated to by real people!
Conclusion:
Customer retention is so important but it isn’t rocket science says Aron Govil. If you can think about how to make your customers feel special, communicating with them in the right way and making sure that you’re offering them something which actually adds value then customer retention will be on its merry little way!