Customer retention can be understood as a set of actions and efforts that the company makes to keep customers consuming the brand. This strategy is essential to not only remain relevant but also achieve financial security to operate daily. In markets like B2B, it is even more crucial.
As decisive as selling and increasing a business’ earnings is retaining its current consumers and, more than that, making them evangelists of the brand.
Many companies, however, have difficulty in this mission and have high cancellation rates because they do not maintain a positive user experience.
Failure to retain customers is, without a doubt, a big problem that needs to be faced seriously in any business.
It’s your company’s reputation that’s at stake. And you need to be clear about that right away.
Therefore, retaining customers is vital. That is, your company needs to put it into practice as soon as possible.
Today’s article helps you in this mission. We have listed some actions that you should initiate in your company to be able to retain your consumers.
We hope that, in a smart and organized way, you will reduce the rate of people leaving your business. As a result, you will remain competitive and growing.
Shall we check?
Good reading!
What is customer retention and why is it crucial?
Customer retention is, as we said, the set of strategies focused on keeping a customer consuming your brand. Something vital in every business.
The buying journey, especially B2B, is often difficult and long. It is common for the final purchase decision to involve more than 6 to 10 decision-makers, according to Gartner research.
Each of them brings different information and doubts. They have differing opinions and consider risks that someone else involved might not have considered.
These data, in general, open doors to new suggestions. In addition, they create an even longer purchasing process.
On the other side, we have the sales teams. They make a significant effort and work (or at least should) promptly to resolve any existing queries.
But, you need to go beyond just selling. In other words, companies must work out strategies to achieve correct customer retention.
Especially because those who sell MRR know that a churn – or several of them – negatively impacts a business’s finances and generates insecurity.
That is, a request to cancel a subscription is given by an unsatisfied customer.
Dissatisfied customers often report their dissatisfaction to others.
So, the problem is created. It’s something that can snowball if you don’t take any precautions.
Therefore, start taking care of those who consume your brand today.
How to retain B2B customers? See 6 steps and get started today!
Simply put, we could say that one of the easiest ways to retain customers is by investing in support.
Customer support, with a well-defined SLA, is a good practice and something essential.
But this is also a long-term measure and, while it is not 100% complete, it will still not bring the desired results.
Regardless of the stage your company is in, there are steps (big and small) to be taken.
Here are 6 changes you need to make a vital impact on your business and help you retain B2B customers.
Let’s check:
1 . Maintain a positive and proactive relationship with your customers
Not all interactions with your customers should revolve around problem-solving.
Many companies don’t think to proactively reach out to their customers, especially when things are going well.
Customers are unlikely to have a positive impression of your company or solution if they only talk to you when something goes wrong.
To understand how to delight the customer, being proactive and contacting them regularly are crucial actions.
Talk to your consumers. Ask how the experience is going, and ask about his goals and objectives he has with your service.
Better yet, ask how you can help make the experience even better by being a true partner in growing together.
This sort of regular “checkin” with customers is a great opportunity for support and customer success to work together.
You can take advantage of your CRM, for example, and set up an alert to always get in touch with a customer within a specific period.
A simple phone call already creates a natural opportunity to address and discuss potential problems before they become big.
Thus, both teams (support and customer success ) can benefit from this conversation, trimming any loose edges in the genesis.
In addition, if it is a problem that recurs, they will already have insights to pass on to the competent sector that will make the necessary corrections.
By taking care of the customer, in addition to reacting proactively to problems, you strengthen your spirit as a partner and someone of reference in the sector.
Advice: Also don’t forget to create a list and send your newsletter with cool content for your client to learn more every day with you!
2 . Always leave the possibility of activating support visible and accessible
Your support team needs to be accessible in as many places as possible. After all, you’re not running from anyone, right?
This reality of not being visible is very common in situations where the person is not even a customer yet.
For example:
Many companies only include a “contact us” link on their main home page and, at best, on other essential pages.
However, they don’t typically include information on landing pages or other content.
This means that a user who is on deeper pages needs to navigate and search the site for information to contact you.
Now, imagine that this user is one of your customers. And that he has a problem that, for example, is hampering his work.
Someone who doesn’t quickly and easily know how to contact your team will be less likely to report their problem.
Your support team will not be aware of the problem and this user’s dissatisfaction will only increase.
Don’t be surprised, then, if a cancellation comes later…
You don’t want a customer to think that you either can’t or don’t want to solve their problems, do you?
Therefore, your contact information needs to be accessible in as many places as possible.
Every page must have a link to get in touch – as well as every email sent needs to have a signature with the same option.
And here, we’re talking about anyone and everyone at the company, even those who aren’t in customer support.
It is crucial to always have contact data visible in the signature, allowing you to send an email and/or make a call with just a few clicks.
Make yourself available and willing to solve problems and confirm the image you built as a reference in your segment.
3 . Set up automatic responses on open tickets
Perhaps we are stating the obvious here, but it equally needs to be said. After all, to advance in concrete actions for customer retention, the basics need to be fulfilled.
Your company must necessarily send a confirmation email as soon as it receives a ticket from a customer.
Your confirmation should include information that lets you know what to expect from your support team.
These autoresponders can be designed to include a wide variety of personalized information.
So do it!
Include your company logo and even details about the agent who will handle this call.
By sharing their name and a brief message, the response will have a decisive positive impact on the customer. After all, he will know that a person is already aware of the problem.
It is also good practice to put an estimated response time. But only do this if it’s possible to comply.
Otherwise, you will be, as the popular saying goes, “shooting yourself in the foot” – and we don’t want that.
But generally speaking, you can write something like:
“Hello Roberta. I’m Raul, from the support team. I received your request and am reviewing it. I will contact you shortly. Thanks!”
This action is essential for any support team as it confirms that the company has received the request. So, don’t skip this step.
4 . Examine indicators to improve communication
It is necessary to treat the types of contact that the support team receives differently. Criticism and praise need to be treated differently.
To ensure the effectiveness of customer retention actions, support needs a system that helps them identify which consumers are satisfied and which are one step away from churn.
The idea is to have software with the entire order history of each one. This helps the team create personalized communication and improve customer relationships.
Another decisive factor, especially for those who sell software as a service (SaaS): monitor how often your users access the platform.
A customer who is not using the service as often as others is a potential churn.
So here, it’s up to the success team to pick up the phone and understand why. Sometimes it is a small difficulty, but it is interfering with the user experience.
Would it be right for him to have opened a ticket asking for help? He would be. But not all people are like that. So that’s why it’s so crucial to be aware of indicators.
5 . Have good content for self-service
Customers will generally try to resolve an issue before contacting the support team.
After all, they know that there is a time for a response and that, if they try to solve it “on their own”, they can have a faster response.
It is up to the company, then, to offer resources for this self-service. What does that mean?
Create access to tutorials, help sections, and forums. Make all kinds of content that allows them to save their time and your time.
As a result, you’ll end up solving a problem right away and quickly.
This content, of course, needs to be updated regularly. Only then will customers be able to trust the information that is there?
If any information is incomplete or inaccurate, it will be against your company’s image.
The customer will have to open a ticket to talk about their problem. And you will still complain (with reason) that the tutorials are outdated and useless.
So a simple tactic is to roll out self-service updates whenever they are released. Just to illustrate, system upgrades are a good opportunity.
Allow customers to subscribe and receive some sort of alert whenever the help section is updated.
Finally, following the tip we gave you earlier, if an answer is not there, make the options available and visible for getting in touch.
6 . Give it a personal touch
Not all interactions with your customers should be via email or phone. However, we know, they are the most common means.
But why not give it a personal touch? For example, compose a thank you note. Or send a branded goodie bag…
In short, this can show the customer that you value them. And who has the intention and concern to maintain a relationship that is always positive?
It may not seem like much, but for your client, it will serve as a weighty factor when deciding whether or not to stay with you.
But of course, your customers will be even happier when they need you and you are there. Always attentive and present to help them.
If you manage to put these actions into practice, you will certainly have consumers who are increasingly delighted with your solution.
Wassup how can we help you?
If you’re left with a question about the article or want to share some pain in retaining customers in your business, Find a consultant.
Enjoy and read two articles that will help you to positively impact your consumers more and more.
The first talks about how to approach a customer for the first time and generate value for him.
The second talks about the most difficult types of customers to serve and how to be assertive in the mission.
Good sales!
