Customer Retention in Small Businesses and our 5 Secrets

Customer Retention in Small Businesses and our 5 Secrets

11 Aug Customer Retention in Small Businesses and our 5 Secrets

Experts in the business world agree that it costs 6 to 10 times more to get a new customer than it does to retain an existing one, and in the current economic climate it is more important than ever to be skilled at customer retention in small businesses.

Small businesses have to be creative and innovative to keep customers coming back for more, and there are some clever but simple ways of performing customer retention in small businesses to do this.

1. Go Above and Beyond

Customers are more likely to return to a business which goes the extra mile, whether that means delivering at a time which suits the customer, throwing in an unexpected small gift, or offering extras such as next day delivery or gift wrapping free of charge.

Consider what you could offer at little cost but that would make a big difference to your customers, and this helps with customer retention in small businesses.

2. Knowledge is Power

If you can identify customers who all of a sudden are ordering less or complaining more, prompt action can be taken by management to address any issues they may have and stop the business losing them as a customer forever.

Systems to log orders, calls or email can be put in place to do this.

3. Be Proactive

Too often businesses sit back and wait for a customer to contact them and tell them about any problems they are experiencing. Evidence seems to suggest that it is better to be proactive, and if a customer has made a large purchase, call them a few days later to check they are happy with the service received.

If there are going to be delays in delivery, text them before they contact you in anger when their parcel doesn’t turn up – all these little details help with customer retention in small businesses.

4. Target Staff

If the business operates a performance related pay structure, always include staff targets based around great customer service such as decreasing the time taken to respond to emails, or increasing the number of customers who come back to make a repeat purchase from the company.

5. Social Networking

Your company should have a profile on Twitter or Facebook, and using it to answer questions, tweet about new products or give your loyal followers special offers or discounts can help to build brand loyalty.

It can be time consuming to manage a company’s social networking activities, and it pays to have a dedicated member of staff whose job it is to monitor feeds at all times.

Follow the above advice on customer retention in small business website and you will have a good guide in place to happy customers!

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