Customers expect more than ever today. Whether it be an amazing product, the lowest prices, or the best customer service on the market, you can be sure that if they don’t find what they want from you then they’ll see if your competitors can offer it instead.
Statistics
90% of customers that find themselves dissatisfied with the service they receive will not return nor purchase from you again.
Moreover, only 4% of these dissatisfied customers will even bother to complain. The remaining customers will be lost as their complaints will go un-communicated to the company that they have an issue with.
These unhappy customers will then go on to tell their story to at least 9 others and that simply isn’t the word of mouth you should be aiming to spread.
If a complaint is resolved, it is estimated that between 54-70% of customers will consider doing business again with the organisation they felt slighted by. However, this number can go up to 95% if they feel the complaint was dealt with quickly and efficiently.
68% of customers that do quit doing business with a company, though, do so due to company indifference. Feeling like an organisation doesn’t care is a good way of pushing away customers and should be avoided as much as possible.
However, sometimes employees find themselves unable to resolve customers’ issues. This can be due to broken processes or even disconnected systems preventing them from providing the customer service that they otherwise would.
Although, this doesn’t mean that a customer isn’t still 4 times more likely to buy from a competitor if their problem is service-related as opposed to involving price or the product itself. It just goes to show that customer service is one of the most important things to look out for when it comes to retaining your customers.
5 steps to increase customer retention
Not all is lost, however. There are ways to make sure you don’t lose your customers to your competitors. In fact, there are 5 key points to consider when it comes to customer retention.
The first would be to analyse customer statistics as well as their behaviours and habits. Especially before starting any new promotions or offers. This is because 82% of customers are more loyal to businesses that go the extra mile to personalise all their offers and events. That’s a large number of consumers that you could prevent from joining your competitors just by tailoring the customer experience to them a little more.
Secondly, be sure that, when you’ve analysed these statistics and are ready to go ahead with the event, you advertise it properly. Get news of your promotion out there effectively and efficiently. Also, educate your staff well on said promotions. How will they be able to effectively promote something they know little about? By educating them properly, they’ll be allowed to do their jobs to their fullest extent.
Next, communicate with your customers. Your customers like to feel heard and that their needs are being attended to. A great way to accomplish this is with successful communication. When a customer leaves complaints or comments on what changes they’d like made, you should confront these issues quickly and with the resolve to change what needs to be changed. A customer will appreciate that what they’ve said matters and a good method to avoid that 68% of customers leaving due to company indifference.
Additionally, meeting the expectations of your customers is a massive point to consider, especially if you wish to prevent them from moving onto your competitors’ sides instead. It’s important to not get overconfident or conceited in your approach to dealing with your customers. And it’s important to know that you shouldn’t only rely on just your sales and customer service representatives when it comes to providing for the needs of your clientele. Making sure your products are replenished in a timely manner, so your customers aren’t waiting too long also goes a long way. Research and development is also an integral part of making sure your customers are provided with the best products, for the cheapest price on the market. Of course, marketing towards the correct demographic in an effective way is also crucial.
Finally, attention to detail is key. Information is power and all information can be useful if correctly used. Keeping an ear out for comments or reviews given by customers will help significantly. So too will looking at and analysing any details given by them. The more you know, the more you can tailor the customer experience to better fit each of your clients.
It should also be stated that taking on tasks like this can be difficult and should you ever need help then outsourcing is always an option and has been proven to help significantly. For more details visit the Excelify Solutions website (https://www.excelifysolutions.com/) or contact us at Contact@ExcelifySolutions.com.
Comments