Customer retention is a task that companies of all sizes and types must engage in if they are to thrive. While there are many different programs, seminars, and strategies that provide insight into how to go about retaining customers, most approaches center around a few essentials. In order to hold on to a customer base, businesses must offer quality products at prices customers can afford, establish and maintain a relationship with those customers, and motivate the customer to feel personally invested in the company.
At the heart of any effort at retaining customers is the necessity of offering clients what they need or want at a price they can afford. In the bargain, those products must also compare favorably with anything the client can buy elsewhere. Strict attention must be made to maintaining customer satisfaction by keeping the quality of the products from decreasing to a point that customers no longer see those goods and services as worth the cost. At that point, customers are likely to begin looking around for a new supplier.
Along with quality and price, building rapport with customers is very important. This means making it a point to get to know clients and proactively discuss what the products offered can do to help meet customer needs. One way to secure that information is to engage the client in conversation. Most people enjoy talking about themselves and what they do. During the course of those conversations, connections can be built that open the lines of communication in ways that allow salespeople and customer relations personnel to pick up on little things they would probably miss otherwise. This ongoing line of open communication can do wonders for retaining customers, who are more likely to turn a deaf ear to competitors, simply because of the personalized attention.
One common approach to retaining customers is to create an environment that allows the customer to feel invested in the business. This can involve something as simple as asking shoppers at the local grocery what they would think about moving the produce closer to the front door, or asking a client to help test drive a new product that has not been released to the general public. Proactively asking the client for their assistance, with the implication that their opinions are very important, helps to strengthen bonds and minimizes the chances that a customer will stray.
Keep in mind that while relationships and building loyalty are very important to retaining customers, the bottom line is that undesirable shifts in quality and price will undermine even the closest of ties between suppliers and clients. Attempting to cut corners as a way of increasing the bottom line is fine, as long as those cuts do not impair the quality of the finished product. In like manner, customers will often tolerate a price increase, as long as that price remains within a certain range, and the quality is still there. Maintaining a foundation of quality at a great price, enhancing that foundation with strong and open communications, and topping off with steps that help clients feel valued and important for reasons other than their money will go a long way toward minimizing customer turnover, and encouraging good word of mouth that leads to bringing even more customers in the door.
