Customer retention – top tips

 

    1. Make sure you offer the service your customers want. If you aren’t sure how to do that, check out the rest of the toolkit or download our book here. Service is important. 68% of customers who stop doing business with a firm do so because of poor service.
    2. Contact customers who stop using you, either by cancelling, lapsing or not buying again. Ask them why they don’t want to do business with you anymore. This will start to show where you need to make changes.
    3. Ask your staff, especially those who deal with customers. They tend to be the ones that know what is going on!
    4. Map out the journeys customers take through your business. Note where you are losing them – do they cancel when you send the product? Do they leave after making a complaint? Do they cancel when they have to renew? And so on. If you are not sure how to do this, check out our information on journey mapping or get in touch
    5. Start to make changes (don’t forget to tell customers about them) and track the results.
    6. If you don’t do it already, start to collect customer feedback. There is more information here
    7. If someone does stop doing business with you, make sure you thank them for their business. Let them know that you would welcome them as a customer again at any point in the future.
    8. Check out our advice on turning one off purchasers into loyal customers. Using these ideas will mean that customers won’t want to stop doing business with you!
    9. Important: You won’t be able to save every customer – but you can win back those you lose by:
    10. 1) Making it easy to stop doing business with you. I know this seems strange, but making it difficult to cancel a contract just annoys people. That is all they will remember if they ever consider doing business with you again) and

    2) Keeping in touch with them. Send occasional reminders about your products and services or any changes you have made. Try to personalise it for each former customer.

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