SPURN THE CHURN, TIPS FOR CUSTOMER RETENTION

True masters do not teach: they only point the way to freedom.

When we are unsure of what happens next, who to trust, how to respond or what we require, the answers likely lie in the inner wisdom and experience of our customers. But how do we dig deeper than the data and have authentic conversations with them? They are our road maps to where we are going and they also understand where we are coming from. Collaboration is the only way ahead.

 Helping your customers come along with you: segmenting their needs

So, in the here and now - the time of the virus - how can you look at your business and create your own Customer Retention Playbook? And what is that exactly then?

It seeks to answer the following question: Are you really trying to understand what your customer is going through? This is about more than exploring business scenarios and modelling options for your customers. It’s about you re-looking and re-imagining your cash flow for the next 6 to 12 months. At least.

Customer segmentation is vital to this process. You need to understand who is at a higher risk of customer churn - the rate at which customers stop doing business with you and go fish elsewhere (or stop fishing altogether). This traditional marketing approach is today most commonly used in SaaS (Software as a Service) subscription models; but I believe churn is what is happening now across all business sectors.

You need to ask yourself two key questions: Is your product still relevant? And: Why should your customers keep paying for it?

A three-tier customer segmentation will allow you to offer uniform solutions throughout the company but tailored to service your customers where they are. The three tier-states in question are:

1.      Thriving - these are customers who are cooking with gas in the current market: perhaps they are in healthcare or food or IT. This is an opportunity to look at how you can add more value by up- and cross-selling for them, building their own segmentation. What does that look like to your customer and how might that change or add to your current business modelling?

2.      Striving - these companies are adjusting to the challenging new conditions and are moving toward new revenues and could be potential up- and cross-selling opportunities now and in the near future. These clients have the potential to add new products or services as they adapt. You must nurture them and care for them.

3.      Surviving – these companies are struggling. How can you help them stay in business and use your solutions. Indeed, what solutions can you offer? Empathy goes a long way here.

When do you start building a Customer Success team?

The answer is right now, if not yesterday. As the race to grow business online hots up, and the cloud gets busy, technology becomes the key to building 1:1 relationships at scale. And asking the right questions is key to building those relationships. Questions such as:

Do my customers need a new pricing model or a discounting strategy for their existing customers? When do we offer this?

The answer is that knee-jerk heavy discounts are unsustainable and will devalue your brand and your business. Bigger discounts on longer-term contracts make more sense. When looking for cash flow, managing your current customer base is an ongoing process of nurture that allows you to spot future shortfalls, including who is unlikely to pay and who is likely to move on to another company.

This commitment to a segmented customer success strategy will hold you in good stead into the future. I believe that customer success teams and finance departments are the core survival teams for now.

Customer success is your key to communicating from the revenue information center of the company, based on what is possible and what it not in terms of a customer retention strategy. And if that same strategy is based on cast iron customer success data and authentic conversations, you have a strategy for survival and can adjust to a new a normal.

 Four vital tips to building a viable customer success strategy:

• What is the business landscape?
• Who’s in the picture?
• What value can you add to your customer’s vision and how do you bring it into focus?
• How can you help your customer be successful and achieve their goals throughout the entire customer life cycle?

“Organizations able to skillfully manage the entire experience reap enormous rewards: enhanced customer satisfaction, reduced churn, increased revenue, and greater employee satisfaction.”

Harvard Business Review

 What happens after your customers buy?

Delighting your customers after they buy from you requires far more than simply following up with them here and there

 I can help you awakening your nurture-and-capture instincts and start building your own customer success road map.

What’s your biggest challenge right now?

I’d like to offer you a FREE 30-minute call to share your current challenge with me to help you find actionable solutions to start creating your own customer success playbook.

Book your free 30 min call with me,