Customer retention is an integral part of any healthy, sustainable business. When you put so much time and effort into attracting new customers and communicating your messages, it’s essential that you do everything you can to keep them coming back, time after time.
It’s also important to remember that when a customer spends money with your business, they’ve made the conscious choice to do so when they could have gone to any of your competitors. Therefore, your business must be obsessive about your customer base and continuously demonstrate gratitude to strengthen the relationship. Here are three easy ways to say thank you to your customers:
Hold promotions for existing customers
You always see promotions exclusively for new customers and this strategy works well for a quick burst in revenue. However, this also attracts price sensitive customers, with a high percentage likely to leave your business in the future and keep searching for the best deals. Your existing customer base is the bread and butter of your business and in some cases, providing them with small rewards for staying is far cheaper than investing in a grand promotional campaign to win new customers.
Not only are loyal customers good for baseline revenue, but they also can become advocates for your brand. Their positive word of mouth is more credible than anything your marketing department can create. Show them that you’re grateful for their continued patronage via a existing customer promotion and they’ll repay you many times over!
Send them good wishes on their birthday or Christmas
If you have access to your customer’s date of birth and email address, then sending them a Happy Birthday message is a great personal touch. This helps strengthen your relationship and you can also include an offer or discount at the bottom of the email as a gift. Be sure not to let the discount dominate the communication though as the point is to wish them well and thank them for their business, not to give them the hard sell.
Use Social Media to Say Thanks
Nothing says thank you more effectively than, well, saying thanks! A simple way to show your appreciation is by replying to everyone’s comments on your posts. This level of interaction displays to your customers how much you value their feedback.
You could also go further and use a grand give-a-way that encourages your customers to post pictures or videos with them and your products. You can then create a short video using the best content provided by customers and end it with a clip from your team saying how grateful you all are. This type of customer generated content can provide a real community feel to your brand and shows gratitude in a social format.
Customer acquisition and winning new customers is often seen as the sexy side of business. It’s so important that you continue to show your loyal customers why they are right in continuing to support you. And, besides, saying “thank you” will never be overrated because it’s the right thing to do.