Hussling: 4 Surefire Ways to Reduce Customer Churn

Reduce customer churn with these 4 surefire techniques, from this guestpost kindly shared by AddThis by Oracle Data Cloud.

For marketers, a perennial priority is lead generation. But after you acquire a new customer, it’s important not to forget about them. Don’t just focus on new leads, and forget about nurturing loyal customers.

Customer retention is just as important as acquisition for your company’s bottom line, if not more so. So, if you reduce churn, your revenue is guaranteed to increase.

Why? Because it costs five times as much to obtain a new customer than it does to retain one. Garnet research found 20% of a company's existing customers will drive 80% of future revenue. And according to KPMG, customer retention significantly beats acquisition as a revenue driver.

With staggering stats like that, who wouldn’t want to retain as many customers as possible?

This article dives into some of the best customer retention tactics you can implement today to reduce churn.

Communicate proactively

It may sound obvious, but talking to your customers on a regular basis is critical to keeping them.

Give your customers a reason to use your product or services regularly. Find ways to remain top-of-mind. Integrate your offerings into their everyday lives in a natural way.

To make sure your content is relevant, valuable, and personable, share company updates, showcase videos on best practices, and celebrate customer milestones. Spotlight something they would find valuable or touching—just be mindful of where they are in the customer journey.

A simple way to engage customers is through email marketing. In fact, about 3 in 4 people say they prefer email marketing as a communication method with brands.

Take this email example from theSkimm:

This email goes above and beyond to make their customers feel appreciated and seen. So, when theSkimm asks their celebrated customer to refer others to their newsletter, they’re likely to do it.

If you’re stuck on how to get started, there are plenty of resources available if you need inspiration on email designs and powerful calls to action.

Beyond email, you can also connect with and talk to your customers through various other channels, including your website, blog, or social media. Some enterprising businesses have even started using web push notifications to chat with customers live on their webpage.

No matter where you reach them, your interactions will help humanize your brand and improve perceptions of your product or service. And therefore, will help you reduce customer churn.

Ask for (and listen to) feedback

According to Forrester, most adults (66%) feel that valuing their time is the most important thing a company can do to provide them with a good online customer experience.

Part of that is asking for their opinion. This gives your customers an avenue to air their concerns, share their ideas, and remain engaged.

It can also give you insight into whether they’re at risk of churning. Additionally, asking for feedback provides you an opportunity to win them back.

Here’s an excellent example from Casper:

After your mattress delivers, their team follows up with an email, requesting you take a survey on your experience. They then use that feedback to steer the direction of their product improvements.

To further reduce churn, you can reach out to your customers whose feedback helped shape your decisions. Knowing their opinion matters will deepen their allegiance and make them more likely to refer others. Which brings us to the next point.

Incentivize, incentivize, incentivize

When compared to new customers, your current ones are 50% more likely to test new products and spend 31% more. Find your brand champions and power users. Enlist them to help you find others just like them.

Evidence says that social proof works. According to Help Scout, almost 8 in 10 people who had a positive experience with a brand said they would recommend it to a friend. Further, more than 9 in 10 trust a recommendation from their peers more than anything else.

Offer your advocates discounts, sales, and priority access to new releases or offerings. This level of service will also help you further generate brand loyalty.

The more loyal your customers are, the more likely they are to refer you to their friends. So, make sure you have a referral program in place to keep track of their contributions.

Provide better customer service

We’ve all experienced horrible customer service, and it’s no surprise it’s one of the main drivers of churn.

A large contributing factor to poor customer service is failing to respond to requests in a timely fashion.

Analyze your response time. How long does it take your company to reply to a request online? When about 75% of customers expect a response within 5 minutes, it may count against you if you wait too long.

Companies like Nisolo send an auto-reply to confirm receipt and let you know help is on the way soon. This can go a long way with setting customer expectations.

Conclusion: Reduce Customer Churn with a better customer experience

Churn is a natural part of the customer lifecycle. But the key is to cut its impact as much as possible.

Follow the tactics above to reduce its effects. You’ll start to retain your best, most loyal customers and see your revenue benefit from it.

Author Bio

Jacel Booth leads content at AddThis by Oracle Data Cloud, which makes free, self-service social share buttons and ecommerce marketing tools. She has more than 8 years of experience in marketing and communications across the tech, startup, and nonprofit industries. Connect with her on LinkedIn and Twitter.