Small and mid-sized businesses have been the stars of sales in the last decade. However, that doesn’t mean that our budgets are big enough for everything we want to get done.
One of the most important things any small business can do to compete with the big names is to improve their customer retention. After all, repeat buyers make up 40% of a business’ revenue.
So how can your small business improve customer retention?
We’re glad you asked.
1. Improve customer retention with personalization
Customers love personalized offers and interactions. There’s nothing that screams “corporation” like treating a recurring customer like you’re seeing them for the first time.
Pay attention to your regular customers instead, and make sure you show them your appreciation for doing business with you with personalized offers or even simply remembering their name next time we walk through the door.
2. Reward employees
Some employees give their 110% on the daily. As a small business owner, you can recognize hard work easily, and reward it accordingly. It’ll also come off as a nice touch from the customer’s perspective.
3. Up-selling
Once a customer is loyal to you, it’s easy to get them on board with new ideas. In fact, it can be a good customer retention tactic to do just that. Offer loyal customers more and recommend products you think they’ll like (while showing that you understand their preferences).
4. Exclusive offers
If you’re personalizing offers to your recurring customers, why not offer them something exclusive? This will automatically draw in other customers while showing loyal ones that they’re special to your business.
5. Customer loyalty programs
Small businesses can benefit greatly from loyalty programs. They’re great for giving your small business the competitive advantage they need.
For example, Loopy Loyalty helps you manage digital stamp cards through Apple Wallet and Google Pay. They’re easy for customers to use and are sure to boost customer retention much more than easy-to-lose and wasteful paper stamp cards.
6. Ask for feedback
The value of customers’ opinions cannot be overstated. Especially when it comes to loyal customers. Feedback won’t just help you as a small business owner — it will also show them that you respect their opinion and that you want to improve together.
7. Cross-channel customer retention
Everyone’s using social media these days. Your customers are, that’s for sure. Why not show them your appreciation digitally, as well?
Include them in newsletters and on your social channels. If you’re running a promotional campaign, you can even include them. There’s nothing like word of mouth to generate even more customer loyalty.
8. Offer them more options
If you want to increase customer retention, consider adding more options your customers use. For example, payment processing options like Google Pay and Apple Wallet are used by a great number of people. If you’ve got customers who use it, show them you understand.
9. Serve offers when your customers want them
You have to understand your customers to retain them. Why not make use of location-based messaging and send offers directly to your customer’s smartphone when they’re near your location? They might just be in the mood for what you’ve got to offer if you ping them.
10. Rewards
There are many non-monetary rewards you can offer to retain customers, but there’s nothing like tangible evidence of how much you appreciate them.
Many small businesses use low-maintenance programs like loyalty and rewards cards to periodically thank customers for doing business with them. You can do it physically but if you want to prevent waste and make sure customers don’t lose cards, digitally.
11. Show your opinion
64% of customers like brands because they share similar values. Show what you stand for. This can be something you’re personally involved in, like volunteering in animal shelters, or a worthy cause your customers stand for too. Nike recently showed a strong opinion and how they were willing to invest in consumers who aligned with the company’s values, even if it cost them sales from entire cohorts of people.
12. Show your impact
Whether they know it or not, you’ve changed your customers’ lives. Open their eyes, and show them how you’ve improved their life. Even food trucks change lives with their infusion of tasty food at lunch hour.
13. Talk to your customers…
…the same way they talk to each other. Know how your customers communicate to understand them better and avoid being cringe-y (especially with teens).
14. Measure customer retention insights
Whatever you do to improve customer loyalty, you should track and measure it to see how you can improve. Even if everything’s going great, you should evaluate your progress and modify strategies accordingly.
15. Improve. Always
Let customers co-create your customer retention strategy with you. They love your business already, so help them offer insight and spread the word.
