Understanding The Importance Of Customer Retention

Customer retention is key to the on-going success of every business. This is particularly the case for businesses that provide products/services that rely on repeat purchases. When a business retains a high proportion of its customers, it is generally more profitable and able to achieve greater business growth. They are also able to benefit from lower customer acquisition costs and invest resources that would need to be dedicated to this into other areas of their business.

Successful customer retention requires dedicated resources and expertise that not many businesses will be able to access in-house. It is for this reason that a significant proportion of businesses choose to gain outside expertise from an outbound call centre. By deciding to partner with an outbound call centre, businesses can deliver successful inbound sales campaigns and continuity programmes to help retain existing customers.

As many sectors become ever-more competitive and new customers become harder to secure, the importance of customer retention has, in many ways, never been greater. We explore why customer retention is important, the key strategies for retaining your customers and how an outsourced call centre can help your business improve customer retention.

Why Customer Retention Is Important

Customer retention is an effective way to drive business growth and profitability. While many businesses prioritise acquiring new customers, giving fantastic service to existing customers can deliver great business results. Whichever sector your business is operating in, it will benefit from a sound customer base.

There are many reasons why customer retention is important to businesses including growth, profitability, and cost to name but a few. We explore some of the key reasons why it is important for a business to focus on improving customer retention.

1) More Cost Effective Than Acquiring New Customers

It is significantly more cost effective to service existing customers than it is to acquire new customers. By retaining existing customers, your business can benefit from continued growth without high customer acquisition costs. This clearly highlights that prioritising customer retention makes strong business sense across almost all business sectors.

Research has demonstrated that it is typically six times more expensive to acquire a new customer than it is to retain an existing customer. Customer acquisition costs include advertising and marketing costs, which can be particularly high in competitive sectors and are continuing to increase. Working with an outsourced call centre like Impact can help you to effectively service your existing customers and secure repeat business from them that drives sales growth.

2) Delivers Great Return On Investment (ROI)

Retaining existing customers delivers a better ROI than acquiring new customers. The significant revenue increases that can be achieved by just a small increase in retention draws attention to the great potential of customer retention campaigns. Every business strives to achieve great ROI, but few realise the fantastic potential that customer retention offers.

At Impact, our sales team are adept at delivering outstanding ROI for clients as demonstrated by our case studies. Imagine the return that could be delivered for your business if you decided to partner with us and we were able to increase your customer retention rate. Our sales specialists have all the required expertise and experience to help you achieve a great ROI when you outsource sales.

3) Builds Customer Loyalty

Loyal customers are a great asset to any business, and the more customers you retain the greater your sales growth will be. Existing customers buy more often and usually spend more than new customers and, having built a strong relationship with your business, will know and appreciate the value that your products/services can bring. Every time you retain a customer, your business benefits from customer loyalty and will continue to drive business growth.

Professional outsourced call centres with sales expertise are well placed to build customer loyalty and sales with expertly executed continuing programmes. These programmes encourage customers to regularly buy from your business by keeping in contact with them. This helps you to secure repeat sales and subscription sign ups whilst also providing valuable up-selling and cross-selling opportunities. Impact is trusted by businesses across a range of sectors to deliver successful continuity/subscription programmes that deliver excellent sales results.

4) Secures Customer Referrals

Securing customers can be a challenge, so why not make the most of the opportunities that your existing customers bring? Every customer that you retain can be a great source of referrals to other people that may benefit from your product/services. When your existing customers are satisfied and remain a customer for a significant period of time, you are much more likely to benefit from referrals to their family and friends.

Customer referrals from delighted customers have the potential to supercharge the ROI of your sales campaigns and drive further growth. It is why our sales outsourcing specialists are dedicated to delighting every client’s customer that we interact with. This helps us to build great long-term customer relationships that benefit your business.

How To Improve Customer Retention

Improving customer retention is a great way to build sales success. While there are many strategies and tactics available for driving customer retention, many rely on having a skilled sales team to implement them. It is why so many UK businesses and some of the UK’s leading brands choose to partner with Impact. Discover some of the most effective ways to improve customer retention in your business.

Treat Your Customers Like Royalty

Treating your current customers like royalty is one of the most effective ways to improve customer retention. After you have worked hard to attract a customer into your business, it is critical that you can reap the benefit of your investment. Delivering world-class service helps to build trust and a great relationship so customers will not look elsewhere for products/services.

At Impact, we pride ourselves on the long-term relationships that we build with our clients. We seek to build strategic partnerships built on trust, integrity, and great results. Our team believes in close collaboration with every client so that we become an extension of their business. By delivering regular feedback and insight in respect of the campaigns that we deliver, we achieve the best possible results while also looking after each client’s customers.

When it comes to a client’s customers/consumers, focusing on building great relationships, proactive customer care and timely communication helps to make each and every customer feel valued. By striving to meet the needs of each customer, loyalty and trust in your business is built. This makes introducing new products/services much easier as the customer approaches your business from a position of trust and with the desire to continue the business relationship.

Get To Know Your Customers

Getting to know your customers will pay significant dividends not only in terms of customer retention but also with the strength of the relationships that you build. Every customer wants to feel valued but they also like to feel known by your business. Taking the time to learn about their preferences, likes and dislikes may seem like basic sales practice but it is surprising how many businesses do not do this and miss out on the opportunity to build great customer relationships.

Businesses that are focused on customer retention will know their customers well and be able to relate to them. They may know about their life, lifestyle and how they enjoy spending their time for example. Maintaining great customer knowledge requires careful note-taking and recording information into the relevant platforms to ensure that any team member can continue a conversation with confidence. This is particularly important to maintaining the quality at the next touchpoint, whether that be a phone call, email or online chat.

Adopt Needs-Based Selling

While needs-based selling is becoming ever-more commonplace, the number of businesses that resort to pressure or hard sales at the expense of customer retention is surprising. Adopting a needs-based selling approach throughout every campaign and sales interaction that you have with customers is a great way to win trust and respect from your customers. Your customers will trust that you will only sell products/services to them that meet a genuine need and that will benefit them. This makes customers feel more comfortable and also comforted that the products/services that they have bought are appropriate for them.

This form of selling not only makes retaining customers easier, but it also increases the success that you will have when introducing additional products/services to them. Customers that have been satisfied in the past will be more receptive to your suggestions as they already know and trust you, which creates valuable up-selling and cross-selling opportunities.

Deliver Great Service

Delivering great service is the cornerstone of many successful customer relationships. While service is often associated with customer service, it is just as important when it comes to sales. Providing great service during every sales interaction will delight your customers and prime them to return to you whenever they next have a requirement for your products/services. Whether you are taking an inbound order, phoning to pitch a new product/service or presenting a subscription offering, great service makes all the difference between a great outcome and a disappointing one. Our membership of the Institute of Customer Service is testament to our commitment to delivering great service.

Ensuring that the customer feels listened to and valued by your business goes a long way towards winning their loyalty and retaining them for the long-term. Being able to answer their questions and advise them as to the suitability of one product/service other another is what makes a good service a great one that helps your business standout even in competitive sectors.