Starting a business is one of the most challenging things you can do. But one thing that’s even more challenging than starting a business is making sure that business keeps going and remains successful. When it comes to customers, one thing is true: customer retention is more important than customer acquisition. It’s a lot cheaper to sell to customers that you already have, so why is it that many businesses spend such huge percentages of their budgets on trying to get new customers? Here are some tips on how you can maintain the most important part of your business by working on your customer retention.
Provide Exceptional Customer Service
The number one reason that customers leave a company is because they believe that the company doesn’t care about them. It’s incredibly important to work on your customer service skills to ensure that your customers are aware that you appreciate their business and that you value your working relationship with them. Make sure that you check in with them regularly to ensure that they’re still using and enjoying your product, and if you think they aren’t making the most of it, why not schedule a meeting to demonstrate everything that they can get from it and everything that you can do for them? It’s important to be aware that not everyone is aware of everything you do – if they’re hiring you, they need your expertise. For example, managed service providers are a niche and technically part of the industry – and not even they might realize what exactly MSP marketing might entail. Talk to customers about what exactly you can do for them and how you can improve their profits. Finally, remember that although emails are convenient, phone calls and in-person meetings are personal and people will appreciate that you are demonstrating they are worthy of your time, effort and energy. Adding a personal touch is invaluable
Be Sensible With Deals And Discounts
It can be extremely tempting to knock a lot of money off your first-year pricing to entice new customers and clients, but the truth is that this isn’t always a great move. A lot of companies discount, and if your prices rise steeply in the second year, your customers may decide to look elsewhere for another company with a similarly cheap starting price. It’s important to ask for the money that your company and your expertise is worth right from the beginning. A small deal or discount is a great idea, but don’t start something that you can’t keep up or you might end up pushing away valued customers – and what’s more, you might end up making a loss. Practice moderation and it will be easier to keep that client relationship going.
Keep Improving What You Do
It’s important to make sure that you never get complacent. Pretty much every industry is incredibly fast-paced in terms of innovation, and tech is probably the fastest, with new companies and ideas evolving every day. It’s important to keep up with the others and to ensure that what you’re doing still fits what people need and that it doesn’t get stale. Innovation is key to your success: make sure that you do regular market research to see what else is up there so you know that other companies can’t offer a better quality of what you’re doing to your clients. Striving to be the best and to be a leading brand in your industry will ensure that you keep your standards up and it will also make people flock to you – both old customers and new customers.
Listen To Your Customers
Finally, it’s crucial to make sure that you listen even more than you talk. Even if you’re the expert, you shouldn’t speak over your client and you should listen carefully to what exactly they want from you so that you can do the best possible job in providing it. Communication is hugely important and they should feel able to come to you with any issues they might have and any ways that you can make what you’re doing even better to suit their needs. Listening to them will help you personalize what you provide so that you become invaluable to them – and it will help to build that close relationship that is absolutely vital in making you and your company stand out from all the rest. Being a person who is easy and enjoyable to be around is an underrated quality in business and surprisingly important: being a good listener as well as a good speaker is a great way to help your clients trust, recommend, and retain your services.
Providing high-quality and personalized customer service is the best way that you can keep going, fending off any competition, while building excellent relationships with your clients.