What it Takes to Retain Customers

Whether it’s an 8-year-old girl trying to sell Girl Scout cookies or a 17-year-old boy selling popcorn for his football team's fundraiser, it’s always a welcome surprise when a child shows up at your doorstep to raise money for a worthy cause. Plus, having a face-to-face interaction makes you want to buy from them even more! It takes courage for a kid to walk up to a stranger’s front door and ask for money.

While it may feel a little awkward or embarrassing for some, this personal touch adds the charm that consumers appreciate. With all the new gadgets and social media platforms available today, kids could easily advertise their items on Facebook and ask customers to send payments via Venmo. But where’s the fun interaction in that?

The saying “a little goes a long way” rings true. The personalized experience at a customer’s front door is unique and resonates much more deeply than a simple post on social media. This concept applies equally to how businesses treat their customers. Making customers feel appreciated is absolutely paramount. Loyal customers should never be taken for granted; it only takes one “better opportunity” for them to switch to a competitor, and you could lose a valued customer.

So, how can you acknowledge your customers and show them they are valued? It’s easier than you think… if you’re a good salesperson. This blog will cover what it takes for businesses to retain customers and keep them happy.

Customer Perspective

Let’s start from a customer’s perspective. All too often, a salesperson finalizes a sale, and that may be the last time their customer hears from them. Does this sound like the type of salesperson you would want to trust with your business? Absolutely not. Instead, imagine being able to honestly tell your salesperson, “I have had several vendors in my office trying to win my business, but it’s because of you, your support teams, and management that I have never switched from your company!” That is sweet music to a salesperson's ears.

Fortunately, it’s not all that difficult to achieve. You just have to genuinely care about your business! If you care about the number of sales you’re making, you need to care about your business. If you care about your business, you need to focus on customer retention. And if you care about customer retention, you care about the genuine relationships you have with your customers. It’s that simple.

Similar to the concept of a kid selling something at your front door, having face-to-face interactions with your customers is crucial. While regular check-ins via email or phone calls are important, face-to-face meetings build a foundation of trust and respect. To further develop this relationship, you need to treat all your customers equally. Typically, salespeople tend to invest more time and support in their larger customers while placing smaller ones on the back burner.

However, regardless of a company's size or the importance of its needs, a fair and successful salesperson will prioritize all their customers equally and never play favorites. In fact, 77% of customers surveyed in the 2021 Customer Experience Trend Report reported being more loyal to companies that provide a good customer experience, and 73% are willing to spend more on companies that do the same (Olson, 2021).

If you play your cards right and follow these tips, you will achieve a high customer retention rate. Always knowing your retention rate is important, as it helps you evaluate your performance and identify areas for improvement (and unless you’re at a 100% rate, there’s always room for improvement!).

Maintaining a Steady Retention Rate

How do you maintain a steady retention rate or even increase it over time? The answer is simple: instead of focusing solely on lead generation, shift your attention to customer retention. While attracting new leads is important, keeping your existing customers is essential. Why? Did you know that 55-70% of your sales come from existing customers? Or that 78% of loyal customers are likely to recommend your product and business? Furthermore, 54% refuse to buy from competitors (Gaille, 2017). You NEED to keep loyal customers to keep your business thriving.

Consider the scenario of going on a first date. You likely enter the situation with your best foot forward, eager to impress the person you’re meeting. It’s exciting and fun to learn about someone new, but there’s a lot of pressure to ensure they’re interested in a second date. Attracting new customers is quite similar; you have to build their trust from the ground up. To do this, you focus your efforts on marketing, branding, and advertising in the hopes of piquing their interest in your business.

However, did you know that it costs 5-7 times more to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing one? Think about it: you don’t need to spend a fortune on marketing efforts to turn existing customers into repeat buyers. Why? Because they’ve already utilized your business and trust it enough to return. New customers, on the other hand, require more convincing to become loyal.

Customer loyalty not only leads to repeat business but also helps expand your business through word-of-mouth recommendations. The key to keeping customers happy and satisfied—and ensuring high customer retention—is to deliver fast support, personalize interactions, invest in employees, meet customers where they are, gather customer feedback, and incentivize loyalty. 

Even if your services or products are more expensive than those of your competitors, they are worth every penny if you provide the support and service your customers expect. Hopefully, these tips will prove useful as you start to build your customer base and work toward a successful career in sales.

References:
Gaille, Brandon (2017). 27 Surprising Customer Loyalty Statistics
Retrieved from:
https://brandongaille.com/25-surprising-customer-loyalty-statistics/

Olson, Sarah (2021). What is customer retention? 11 examples and strategies to retain customers
Retrieved from:
https://www.zendesk.com/blog/customer-retention/