Customer retention should be job one for every small business. Since most small businesses succeed or fail based on how effectively they’re able to retain customers, it’s only fitting that customer satisfaction should be a priority for them.
So, if your business has run into problems with customer retention, you’d be wise to address this issue sooner rather than later. Fortunately, hanging on to your existing customer base and attracting new patrons may prove much easier than you think.
Stay Connected with Patrons
In addition to staying current with their favorite celebrities and public figures, many modern consumers enjoy keeping tabs on their favorite brands and businesses. As such, you should make a point of staying connected with your patrons. Luckily, there are quite a few ways to go about this.
For starters, you can send regular text and email updates to patrons who provide you with contact info. This will ensure that they’re always aware of special offers and other developments within your business. However, while sending out regular updates can be a great way to keep your business fresh in the minds of your customers, it’s important to avoid overdoing it.
No matter how much someone likes a certain business, receiving multiple texts and emails from them each day is unlikely to go over well with them. So, when sending out updates, make sure that they’re substantive and contain information that’s likely to prove useful to the recipients. Additionally, when it comes to managing patrons’ contact info, good CRM software can prove tremendously helpful.
Be Active on Social Media
Social media can also be an effective tool for staying connected with customers, both current and prospective. The web’s leading social platforms essentially provide small businesses with convenient (and free) vehicles through which to inform and engage with patrons.
So, if you’ve yet to regard your business’s social media efforts with due importance, now is the time to get on top of this. In addition to creating accounts for your business on various social media mainstays, you’ll need to update those accounts on a consistent basis. Unsurprisingly, if your updates are few and far between, your business is liable to fall off the radar of many followers.
Furthermore, the ideal number of daily posts varies by platform. While one update a day is generally fine for platforms that are built around long-form posts, multiple updates are preferable for platforms that thrive on short-form posts. As is the case when sending text and email updates, avoid overdoing it.
Rather than drum up attention for your business, excessively updating your social media accounts is liable to get you ignored and unfollowed.
Should you require, assistance creating engaging posts or navigating the social media landscape, consider enlisting the services of a dedicated social media manager. As the title suggests, this individual will be responsible for crafting posts, interacting with followers, and overseeing various other aspects of your business’s social media marketing efforts.
Be Willing to Make Amends for Mistakes
Your business’s response (or lack thereof) to mistakes is liable to annoy customers more than the actual mistakes. Unfortunately, when it comes to mistakes, far too many businesses have adopted a policy of non-acknowledgment.
Needless to say, refusing to make amends for mistakes – or even acknowledge their existence – will not help endear you to customers. None of us relish dealing with individuals who refuse to own up to their mistakes, much fewer businesses.
Many consumers are far more likely to grace you with repeat business if you own up to your mistakes and put genuine effort into making things right. So, the next time a patron reports an error, check your ego at the door and proceed to make amends.
Loyal customers are the lifeblood of any business, and the smaller the business, the more vital they are to its survival. So, if you and your staff have yet to make customer retention a priority, now would be a great time to change course; Regarding customers as expendable is unlikely to serve your business well in any regard, especially in the age of instant feedback.
Conversely, showing customers due appreciation can be a great way to generate repeat business and positive word of mouth. Also, read how to grow your small business.
