Customer loyalty: the currency you can’t afford to lose

In today’s competitive world, it can be easy to get caught up in the rat race. This is especially true if you’re constantly looking to beat your competition to the coveted treasure trove of customers.

So your short-term goal may be to just hit your KPIs by securing prospects and converting them into customers. Seeing your company achieve ‘x’ amount in profits is what you want to see, after all. That should be good enough, right?

Wrong.

What so many businesses do is put such an emphasis on acquisition that they forget about retention. But customer loyalty is vital to a company’s success. We’d argue it’s even more crucial than acquisition.

It’s relatively easy to cast your net and drag in people who are initially interested in what you have to offer. But to keep them interested in what else you have? That takes real skill. Skill that many other businesses don’t bother to invest in.

If you take the time to increase customer retention, you’ll see that it’s much more rewarding than continually repeating the acquisition phase. It’ll cost you less too.

Break the cycle

You may be able to get a spike in profits with batches of new customers, but if you’re in an industry with high customer churn rates, that won’t last for long.

Some marketers think that by continuing to heavily focus on acquiring customers, that’ll solve the problem. But that’s just bailing water from a leaky boat. You’re not addressing the real issue at hand.

What many fail to realize is customers are happy to choose you. Initially, at least. But after they’ve bought your product, what else do you have to offer them?

They get frustrated, especially when targeted with ads no longer relevant to them now that they’ve moved past the purchase phase. Or when they see discounts for “new customers only”. It’s painfully clear that your focus is no longer on them, but instead, on shiny new customers.

And so they leave.

Now, you’re left with a drop in sales. So you go out searching for more customers. Rinse and repeat.

Focus on what your customers want

Take a moment to consider this:

If your existing customers had what they wanted, and felt like they were listened to, they wouldn’t discontinue your services.

It seems so simple, yet for some reason, companies are hyper-focused on the conversion phase, and that’s it. But if your customers are happy, they’ll stay loyal.

And customer loyalty is a currency that’s much more important than dollars, euros, or yens. Your profits can go up and down, but if you can really deliver on an impressive customer journey, those customers are there to stay; for life, even.

Think about it:

With good customer retention strategies, your customer churn rate will dramatically drop. Your customers will be satisfied, and your sales will stabilize. Instead of having a revolving door of people, you’ll have a sturdy customer base – one that you can continually add to with your ongoing acquisition campaigns.

And you won’t have to invest heavily in costly awareness/acquisition campaigns anymore. Save your marketing budget and offer discounts to your existing customers instead. You cut down on costs, and your customers feel appreciated – a win-win situation.

Fight churn with smart technology

If you’ve always focused on the acquisition phase and now want to shift your attention to retention, it may be difficult knowing where to start. This is where smart technology comes in.

Tools like Evo Pricing can help you with local targeting, basket analysis, markdown recommendations, and results measuring. With data-driven tracking of your current customers’ desires, you can easily run effective anti-churn campaigns.

No longer will your loyal customers be cast to the side like yesterday’s news. With the power of tech, you can ensure they’re appreciated and accumulate customer loyalty, something that should always be of high value for your business.

Ready to take your retention strategy to the next level? Check out Evo Promo today.