In Episode 19 of EmpowerBiz: MSME Growth Mindset, we explore customer retention strategies to help you maintain and grow your client base. Retaining customers is not only more cost-effective than acquiring new ones but also essential for building lasting relationships and fostering brand loyalty. This episode discusses the importance of trust, understanding your customer, and delivering consistent value. We also explore actionable techniques such as creating a seamless customer experience, implementing loyalty programs, and offering exceptional customer support to ensure your clients keep coming back.
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Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to episode 19 of EmpowerBiz; MSME Growth Mindset.
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Speaker 1: I am Abanibhusan Bera, your host, a business growth strategist and sales coach.
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Speaker 1: Today we are going to discuss something that every entrepreneur
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Speaker 1: should focus on. That's customer retention
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Speaker 1: while attracting new customers is essential, maintaining your existing client
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Speaker 1: base is just, as if not more, important for the
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Speaker 1: long term success of your business.
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Speaker 1: It's been said that acquiring a new customer can cost
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Speaker 1: five times more than retaining an existing one. But beyond
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Speaker 1: the financial benefits, customer retention is about building lasting relationships
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Speaker 1: with people who believe in your brand. In today's episode,
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Speaker 1: we will explore strategies and techniques to help you keep
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Speaker 1: your clients coming back time and again, let's dive in
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Speaker 1: Before we jump into specific strategies, l et's take a moment
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Speaker 1: to really understand why customer retention is so important. Imagine this,
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Speaker 1: you have worked incredibly hard to build your client base.
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Speaker 1: Your marketing has brought people in and your product or
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Speaker 1: service has won them over. But what happens after that
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Speaker 1: first purchase? If you are not nurturing those relationships, there's
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Speaker 1: a chance they may not return
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Speaker 1: retaining customers means fostering loyalty, increasing lifetime value and building
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Speaker 1: brand advocates. When your customers are happy and feel connected to
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Speaker 1: your brand, they not only return for more, they will
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Speaker 1: tell their
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Speaker 1: about you. Word of mouth referrals from loyal customers are
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Speaker 1: incredibly powerful. Moreover, loyal customers are more forgiving. If something
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Speaker 1: goes wrong, they trust that you will fix it and
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Speaker 1: continue to meet their expectations.
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Speaker 1: At the heart of every successful customer retention strategy is
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Speaker 1: trust and value. People need to feel they can rely
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Speaker 1: on your business to meet their needs consistently. And more
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Speaker 1: than that they need to see that you value their loyalty.
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Speaker 1: Let's talk about a few foundational pillars of customer retention
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Speaker 1: that you can build upon.
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Speaker 1: You can't retain customers. If you don't truly understand them, it's
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Speaker 1: essential to get to know who they are, what they value
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Speaker 1: and how they experience your product or service. What keeps
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Speaker 1: them coming back, what challenges do they face and how
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Speaker 1: can you be the solution to those challenges?
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Speaker 1: Taking the time to understand your customers allows you to
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Speaker 1: personalize their experiences, personalized experiences, make your customers feel special
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Speaker 1: like your business is tailor made just for them,
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Speaker 1: whether it's through personalized product recommendations. But the discounts or
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Speaker 1: even a simple check in email to ask how they
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Speaker 1: are doing. Personalization creates stronger emotional connections between your customers
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Speaker 1: and your brand.
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Speaker 1: I think this is a point we can all relate
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Speaker 1: to as customers and that's providing consistent value.
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Speaker 1: When we find a brand that consistently delivers value, we
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Speaker 1: stick with them whether their value is in the form
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Speaker 1: of excellent products, exceptional customer service or something more intangible.
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Speaker 1: Like how the brand makes us feel. It's what keeps
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Speaker 1: us loyal. Your customers should never feel like they have
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Speaker 1: been forgotten after the
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Speaker 1: purchase. It's your job to keep showing them why they
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Speaker 1: chose you in the first place and why they should
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Speaker 1: continue to choose. You keep evolving your offerings and always
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Speaker 1: aim to exceed their expectations, continuously improving your product or
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Speaker 1: service based on customer feedback shows that you care about
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Speaker 1: delivering real value.
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Speaker 1: Now, let's talk something on building emotional connections. When it
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Speaker 1: comes down to it, people are emotional beings and the
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Speaker 1: brands they stick with are often that ones that evoke
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Speaker 1: an emotional response.
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Speaker 1: Think about the brands you are most loyal to. Chances are,
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Speaker 1: it's not just because they provide a great product. It's
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Speaker 1: because you feel a connection with their values, their mission
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Speaker 1: or even the people behind the brand. Building an emotional
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Speaker 1: connection doesn't mean trying to tug at your customers
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Speaker 1: heartstrings with every interaction, but it does mean showing that there
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Speaker 1: are real people behind your brand who care about them.
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Speaker 1: This might mean sharing stories from your team, celebrating customer
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Speaker 1: milestones or even addressing customer concerns with empathy and care.
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Speaker 1: Now, what are the techniques for retaining customers
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Speaker 1: now that we have laid a solid foundation? Let's talk
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Speaker 1: about some actionable techniques you can use to retain your customers.
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Speaker 1: These aren't to one size fits all but they are adaptable
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Speaker 1: and you can customize them to suit your business and
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Speaker 1: customer needs.
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Speaker 1: Number one, create a seamless customer experience. Every touch point
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Speaker 1: your customer has with your business should be seamless whether
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Speaker 1: they are browsing your website, purchasing a product or reaching
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Speaker 1: out for support. Each interaction should be smooth and efficient.
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Speaker 1: If a customer faces frustration at any step, they are
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Speaker 1: less likely to return, make sure you are constantly evaluating
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Speaker 1: and improving the customer journey to remove friction points and
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Speaker 1: ensure that every interaction leaves a positive impression. Number two,
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Speaker 1: implement the customer loyalty program.
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Speaker 1: People love to be rewarded for their loyalty. A well-thought
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Speaker 1: out customer loyalty program can go a long way in
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Speaker 1: encouraging repeat business. This could be as simple as offering discounts
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Speaker 1: after a certain number of purchases, giving access to exclusive
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Speaker 1: products or even creating a point system that rewards engagement.
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Speaker 1: A customer who feels like they are getting something extra
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Speaker 1: for their loyalty is more likely to keep coming back.
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Speaker 1: Number three,
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Speaker 1: regularly communicate with your customers. Staying top of mind is
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Speaker 1: critical for customers retention and regular communication is key to
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Speaker 1: achieving this. But and here's the important part. Your communication
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Speaker 1: has to be meaningful,
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Speaker 1: regular newsletters, personalized emails or even social media engagement can
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Speaker 1: keep your customers in the loop about new products, special
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Speaker 1: promotions or updates on your business. However, the communication should
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Speaker 1: always provide value, not just be a self speech, customers
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Speaker 1: should feel that they are receiving something useful from you,
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Speaker 1: whether it's an exclusive offer or a helpful tip.
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Speaker 1: Number four, ask for feedback and act on it.
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Speaker 1: One of the most powerful ways to return customers is
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Speaker 1: by showing them that their opinions matter. Regularly, ask for feedback,
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Speaker 1: whether through surveys, reviews or direct conversations and take their
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Speaker 1: inputs seriously. When customers see that you are actively improving
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Speaker 1: your products or services based on their feedback, they will
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Speaker 1: feel more invested in your brand and don't forget to
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Speaker 1: follow up with those customers who took the time to
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Speaker 1: feedback. Let them know how their input has been used
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Speaker 1: to make improvements. Number five offer exceptional customer support. Exceptional
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Speaker 1: customer support is often the difference between a one time
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Speaker 1: customer and the loyal one. When something goes wrong, how you
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Speaker 1: handle the situation matters, do you respond quickly?
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Speaker 1: Do you resolve issues efficiently? Do you go above and
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Speaker 1: beyond to ensure customer satisfaction providing responsive, empathetic and solution
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Speaker 1: oriented customer support can turn negative experiences into positive ones
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Speaker 1: and keep customers coming back despite any initial frustrations.
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Speaker 1: Number six, personalize the customer experience. As I mentioned earlier,
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Speaker 1: personalization is key to making your customers feel special, use
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Speaker 1: the data you have collected from previous interactions to tailor
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Speaker 1: their experience. This could mean
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Speaker 1: recommending products based on their purchase history, sending them exclusive
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Speaker 1: offers for their favorite items or simply addressing them by
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Speaker 1: name in your communications, personalized experiences, foster a deeper connection
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Speaker 1: and increased customer loyalty. And these are the six points
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Speaker 1: which I call the hexagon of customer retention based on
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Speaker 1: my growth business model.
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Speaker 1: Thank you for joining me. In today's episode on customer retention,
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Speaker 1: we have talked about the importance of returning customers, the
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Speaker 1: foundations of customer loyalty and some actionable techniques that you
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Speaker 1: can implement to keep your customers coming back.
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Speaker 1: Remember, customer retention is about building long term relationships, providing
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Speaker 1: consistent value and showing your customers that you genuinely care
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Speaker 1: about their experience. If you found today's episode helpful, please
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Speaker 1: subscribe to our podcast. Leave a review and share it
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Speaker 1: with others.
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Speaker 1: www.facebook.com/groups/thegrowthleadershipmastermind for more insights and engagements,
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Speaker 1: join MSME Growth Hub community to continue your journey to business success.
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Speaker 1: Until next time, keep building those strong customer relationships, stay
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Speaker 1: customer focused and keep growing.