4 Tips to Increase Retention and Drive Upsell
Brand switching is up 29 percent since 2010, and poor customer service is to blame. In the US alone, customers are taking $1.6 trillion in revenue with them as they swap from brand ‘A’ to brand ‘B’. If you want to be on the winning side of those numbers, it’s time to take a close look at what you can do to keep your existing customers coming back for more.
It’s all about forging strong relationships, and here are four ways your CRM solution can strengthen the ties that bind your customers to you:
1. Identify your at-risk customers. Right now you’ve got repeat customers who are thinking of jumping ship. Change their minds. By tracking key metrics like customer purchase patterns and frequency of calls to your support team, you can see which customers are at risk of leaving you and assess their individual concerns or pain points. Then, take the proactive approach. Reach out. Ask what you can do to improve their experience with your company, then follow through on your solutions.
2. Develop personal relationships with every customer. Every interaction you have with customers is a chance to show them how much you care. Create detailed customer profiles and share them with every one of your customer service channels so you can reduce the number of times your customers have to repeat themselves.
Update these profiles after every interaction, and take special care to add any personal details your customer chose to share with you. Go above and beyond customer expectations by simply sending them a birthday card or wishing their child a happy graduation.
3. Make your special offers special again. “Spamming” customers with offers irrelevant to their needs is a one-two punch right to your customer service department’s gut. On the other hand, taking a little extra care and sending out promotional offers to only those customers you know will be interested can have the opposite effect. Combine advanced customer segmentation strategies with each customer’s purchase history and that “spam” could morph into top sirloin.
4. Always be within arm’s reach. Many customers only reach out for help once before jumping ship, and you’ve got to be ready for them no matter what channel they choose. Use social engagement tools to listen for sentiment online. Track frequently asked questions as they appear via chat, phone, email, and video conference. Constantly add newly relevant solutions to your self-service channels.
The bottom line is, if you’re serious about customer retention you need the data, analytics, and drive to stand out from the crowd. You can start today by reading our white paper, Measure Your Impact: 5 key principles of analytics proficiency.
