How To Retain Your Clients & Boost Repeat Business Online?

While a business needs new customers to survive, the key to growth and success lies in its ability to retain its current customers. 

As a new startup or established business, there comes the point when your primary focus should shift from gaining new leads and clients to ensuring that customers keep purchasing from you.

According to Marketing Metrics, selling to a current customer has a success rate of 60-70%, whereas the success rate of getting a new customer to make a purchase is only 5-20%.

It therefore makes sense to focus more than half of your time and resources on marketing campaigns and strategies towards getting customers to return to your store or website and buy your products. 

One of the most critical areas to focus on is customer support as it plays a vital role in customer retention.

There are a lot of benefits attached to customer retention, most of which directly influence your company’s revenue and growth.

Studies have shown that repeat customers are more likely to spend more money than new customers.

Repeat customers are also usually responsible for a more significant percentage of a company’s profits.  

If you want your business to succeed, you need to employ customer retention strategies that fit your company’s goals and visions.

Whether you want a loyal customer base or you want to make your business model relatable to consumers, Below are some proven techniques for retaining clients. 

Build Customers’ Trust 

People find it easier to part with their money when they know and trust a business. As a business owner, building your customers’ trust in your brand keeps them from patronizing your competitors.

The most effective way to garner trust is to adhere to your promises and meet your consumer’s expectations.

Stick to your brand’s vision, make good on delivery times and do not deviate from the value you have placed on your products.

If possible, make sure to over deliver on your promises and exceed your client’s expectations. Going above and beyond to satisfy your client shows them that you have their best interests at heart.

Use Feedbacks and Complaints

Feedback and complaints from customers can be compared to test or examination results. They grade your products and services while giving insights into your shortcomings and strengths.

Your client’s response to your product is a handy tool that can help you elevate your offerings. Customer feedback serves as a guide that helps you detect problem areas in your products and solve them adequately.

You can get feedback through surveys, discussion forums, business text messaging service,and focus groups where you encourage clients to give details about their experience with your company and product.

Analyze the results and distribute them to relevant departments in your company while keeping track of improvements and solutions.

Boost Site Activity

Whether you have a physical location or run your business purely on the internet, your website significantly influences people’s willingness to patronize you.

Ensure that your website is easy to navigate on mobile devices and desktop with clean graphics and well-spaced paragraphs. Include a directory that contains all the main pages and make them accessible with a click.

Use designs and graphics that are interactive and engaging, as these will keep visitors on your site longer and encourage them to browse through your offerings.

Create sign-up sheets, display special offers and discounts, collect emails and administer surveys by using an online form builder.

Keep track of your site metrics to analyze the performance and determine areas that need improvement.

Court Customer Loyalty

A loyal customer base is the bedrock of any successful enterprise. People who have built a rapport with your brand and can identify with your vision are invaluable to your success.

Not only do loyal customers make bigger purchases than new customers, but they are also more willing to tell people about your products.

Strategies such as customer loyalty rewards programs, VIP offerings, priority access and personalized experiences can be used to make your clients feel special and recognized.

Go the extra mile by acknowledging special occasions in the client’s life by sending gifts, offering discounts or including notes and cards with their purchases.

Boost Customer Contact

People’s overall experience with your business is an essential factor determining whether they would be repeat customers or make a one-time purchase only.

Apart from offering high-quality products, your customer service must also be top-notch. Clients can get frustrated when their enquiries and complaints are not rapidly and efficiently attended to, causing them to abandon your products and go elsewhere.

Therefore, you must have adequate measures to respond to and interact with clients through their preferred channels.  

Consider using a hosted contact center which, unlike other call centers, allows your customer service agents to talk to clients through calls, email, messages and social media platforms.

Automated chat boxes and self-service options are valuable additions as they allow your customers to troubleshoot and find solutions on their own, thereby freeing your agents’ time to attend to more pressing matters.

Communicate Effectively

With people being bombarded with so many offers and innovative offerings every day, it is important to keep your brand fresh in the minds of your clients.

Create a communication schedule that employs emails, social media posts and notifications to keep your customers aware of your products and services. Send carefully curated emails tailored to an individual’s previous purchases and preferences.

Post about product launches and upgrades and special offers on your social media pages. Include discount codes and coupons into your newsletters and advert campaigns to increase engagement.

Take advantage of holidays to create and send special messages that evoke positive emotions and sentiments.

Practice Empathy

The way you treat your customers when they encounter a problem with your products can have a significant impact on them.

Mistakes and errors are bound to happen even with the most thorough precautions. However, your methods of handling these occurrences determine whether you will gain a life-long customer or an antagonist.

For example, if your product malfunctions while in use, send sincere apologies to those affected, inform them about the steps you are taking to rectify the mistakes and offer them replacements free of charge or at reduced prices to make up for their losses.

When people encounter negative issues with your store, always ensure to do whatever it takes to make the customer happy and satisfied. 

Impart Knowledge & Add Value

People are always attracted to things that increase their knowledge and add value to their lives. Giving out to your customers and your community can foster positive attention and help to solidify your place in people’s minds.

Offer courses and training that teach people how to use your products for better results and additional knowledge and alternatives that will help them maximize their experience.

Blog posts, webinars, podcasts and discussion forums can help you create a community for your company.

Carry out projects, big or small, that give back to people and make their lives better in one way or the other.  

Use Customer Reviews

Studies have shown that the majority of consumers today consult reviews, both positive and negative, before purchasing. 

Since reviews give potential customers an idea of how a product or service would work, they are one of the most common tools that buyers utilize and are responsible for most of a company’s sales. 

Encourage your clients and users to submit testimonies and reviews about their experience with your products.

Call for pictures and videos featuring your customers using your goods. Collate their responses and post them on your website and social media pages, ensuring to include their names and social media handles.

Final Thoughts

Today’s customers have high expectations that they expect the brands they purchase from to meet.

Giving them a reason to trust you, listening to their feedback and complaints with empathy, rewarding customer loyalty, and providing stellar customer service and a seamless website user experience are just a few ways to boost customer retention and increase your bottom line.