Long gone are the days where you can rely on products or services alone to sustain a business.
Competition is getting stiffer by the day, and businesses need to constantly be on their toes in order to stay afloat or be prepared to be swept away by the ever-changing economic waves.
Consumers are being empowered by technological advancement every passing minute. The digital revolution has enabled them to be able to access information in a single click of a button, giving them the power to make informed choices about their purchases between brands.
As a result, consumers are beginning to place higher expectations on brands.
But what’s the differentiating factor between competing brands?
It goes beyond products and services. This is where consumer experience comes into the picture.
Today, in order for businesses to survive, they need to take customer-centric approaches. The idea is to deliver personalized experiences that make consumers feel valued and that they share a connection with the brand, which ultimately leads to long-term patronage.
So what exactly happens when you place consumer experience as the core of your business?
1) Your customers will be more satisfied
Customer satisfaction plays a vital role in building a long-term relationship with your customers.
It is reported that 81% of satisfied customers are more likely to do business with a brand again if they had a positive experience.
But what happens if they’ve gone through a bad experience? According to RightNow, 95% of consumers would ‘take action’ after a negative experience, such as sharing concerns with friends and family or churning.
The art of keeping them satisfied by constantly delivering wholesome experiences is not an easy task.
Using a CRM tool like Eber will be able to help businesses collect data about their customers, which helps in capturing their interests. These data collected can be then used to tailor approaches to customers in a more targeted manner.
2) Your new customers become your loyal customers
Once your customers start receiving services that are tailored to their needs and interests, their level of satisfaction increases and they become loyal to your brand.
It goes without saying that loyalty plays an important role in sustaining a business in this present-day era.
Apart from the fact that it actually costs less to retain a loyal customer than it is to acquire a new customer, loyalty ensures that your business will receive constant patronage in the long run.
As a matter of fact, a research conducted by Frederick Reichheld of Bain & Company reveals that increasing customer retention rates just by 5% increases profits by 25% to 95%.
3) Your customers become your brand ambassadors
This constant patronage from your loyal customers will be then converted into the cheapest advertising solution you will ever find — word-of-mouth marketing.
According to Redk, word-of-mouth generates over 2x the sales of paid advertising and 92% of consumers trust recommendations from people they know.
84% of consumers would take action based on recommendations from people they know, such as friends and family.
On top of that, 88% of consumers actually read reviews to determine the quality of a business’s customer experience.
These consumers are then known as your brand advocates; a walking advertisement for your brand. Isn’t that great?
4) You get to build a connection with your customers
“Get closer than ever to your customers. So close that you tell them what they need well before they realize it themselves.”
Like every other relationship, customer loyalty has to begin with an emotional connection.
The consumers we know of today aren’t only interested in products and services that can give them the best bang for their buck, they gravitate towards brands that they can resonate and share a connection with.
Consumers of the digital age are continuously demanding for deeper and more meaningful experiences from brands.
The formation of an emotional connection encourages customers to trust that they can continue doing business with a specific brand, which therefore leads to the creation of a strong and long-lasting relationship.
On top of that, it also opens doors to more positive impacts on businesses, including increasing customer value, maximizing ROI, as well as minimizing the risk.
Thank you for reading our ultimate guide to customer retention – you made it all the way to the end!
For feedback or contribution, reach out to gowri@eber.co
To get started on customer retention & loyalty, click here to get started.
To go through the guide again, simply click the button below:
