Why focusing on customer experience and retention is a recession-proof business strategy

While bringing prospects on as customers is crucial for a company's growth, maintaining the satisfaction and value of a product or service is equally important to strive towards. Therefore, it's no wonder that?44% of companies ?have a greater focus on acquisition compared to the 16% that focus on retention.

This is where focusing on customer experiences and implementing retention strategies comes in. According to?Salesforce , customer retention refers to the number of customers that stay with a business over a measurable period of time. Here at Turtl, we also refer to this as a churn rate. When a significant part of your marketing efforts focuses on keeping customers around rather than finding new ones constantly, you'll see the benefits trickle in.?

The benefits of focusing on customer experiences and retention?

More than 60% of business sales are to existing customers. As a result, the?importance of customer retention ?is evident. When you focus on keeping customers, you fuel a constant influx of conversions and engagement, which increases your company's bottom line.

According to?Forbes , "when you make customers happy, they talk to their friends, family members, and colleagues. This is amplified through social media. And, your best marketing is going to come from customers who sing your praises" which creates brand ambassadors.

Tailoring your marketing with customer retention strategies also helps ensure your customers are genuinely satisfied with your brand. When you focus on loyalty and longevity, you're engaged in the fastest route to profitability and lasting customer relationships.

Three key strategies to retain customers based on their experiences with your business

There is plenty of advice and ideas out there, but it can be challenging to know where to start. As a scale-up SaaS company with a 5-star rated Customer Success Team , we at Turtl are in a unique position to offer advice. So here are three key customer-focused strategies we focus on at Turtl:

1. Establish a strong onboarding experience ??

Too often, it is normal for consumers to feel left in the dark after purchasing a product. The cat (sales) and mouse (customer) chase is over. The contract has been signed. The product has been delivered. The buyer journey is completed now - right??

Many businesses don't successfully retain buyers because they don't nurture the customer experience after the initial purchase point. An onboarding experience turns on the lights for new customers and holds their hand through the first month or so of using the product or service. Naturally, this empowers them to have the best possible experience.?

At Turtl, we present prospective clients with what we call 'The Customer Journey.' It's a detailed plan that offers structure and key milestones to hit within the first year using Turtl software. There's a lot for new users to wrap their heads around from a drag-and-drop Creation Studio to an in-depth Analytics Dashboard , but our 1:1 and 1:many training crash courses minimize fear or confusion for users with varying technical skills.

The first 12 months can be pivotal for customer retention, yet onboarding doesn't abruptly disappear after the first year. If the product changes or the industry best practice shifts, there needs to be the opportunity to simplify and customize customer communications with different levels of support and goals available.

2. Build a relationship on trust ??

As with any relationship, trust takes time to build. Consumers purchase a product once they feel they can trust it to get their desired result done. The pitch gave them the confidence to buy it. Now you must reassure and re-affirm that.

73% of customers ?love a brand because of its excellent customer service, so consistently following through on your brand promise and doing what you say you'll do over time will impact whether or not your customers perceive your brand as trustworthy.

One of the main components of the Customer Journey at Turtl is regularly scheduled meetings with a designated Customer Success Manager (CSM). The intention is to build a social currency that retains users , similar to what marketing uses to attract prospects.

When a Turtl user first joins, these meetings are scheduled on a regular cadence. We focus on integrations to set up, users to add, training to attend, and plenty of questions that need answering. These calls give users face time with their CSM, developing a solid working relationship between them. As the journey progresses in later months, the calls become monthly or on an as-needed basis. This is only possible because a strong relationship has been built with the assurance that the CSM is always there to support.

3. Tailor customer objectives to prove value???

At Turtl, we have customers from an array of industries and roles, and the use cases they produce all differ. This variety, along with the shift to a customer-focused business strategy , is one of the reasons we have a designated team to help our customers succeed.

No two customers are the same. They may purchase the same product, but they'll have different reasons for doing so and different ways of getting there. As such, there is no "one size fits all" strategy for customers. It's essential to get personal.?

Businesses are always making logical arguments for why buyers should choose them, but 49% of buyers have made impulse purchases after receiving personalized customer experiences. Scalable and relevant personalization is a powerful tool for anyone that can grasp it, not just marketers, as it makes customer touchpoints more memorable and enticing.?

As mentioned earlier, the Customer Journey that Turtl offers is not set in stone. It's tailored to each account's needs, timeline, and pace. The CSM is simply there to guide, re-align, and ensure that value is seen. They do this with Turtl's Personalization Engine for digital documents which personalizes product newsletters, upskilling sessions, and quarterly reports on goals achieved.?

It might take more time and resources, but being flexible with each specific account is crucial for retention and reputation. It's only fitting that your customers' experience with your business is tailored to who they are, what they need, and how they use your product or service.

The Turtl Takeaway: Listen to your customers and see the return

In 2016, Walker made a prediction for 2020 that “Customer experience will overtake price and product as the key brand differentiator.” Despite seeming like a fairly bold claim to make at the time, as of early 2020 86% of buyers were willing to pay more for a great customer experience. Research from PWC also found that customers are willing to pay a premium if they have a great customer experience.

Although it's tempting to experiment with many customer-centered strategies, it's better to focus on two to three measurable methods. Our highlighted three go hand-in-hand to guarantee boosted retention rates, customer engagement, and user satisfaction. Each strategy is a domino effect for the next step. Ultimately, your business builds a process to keep customers happy, whether new or old.

We've talked about tactics to focus on for retention, but what about tactics to avoid? Read our full article on 'How to lose customers ' and learn what not to do.?

Author’s Note:?

Kristen Altmeyer is a Customer Success Executive based in Turtl’s US office. Her role focuses on onboarding customers and supporting Customer Success Managers with their accounts. Kristen majored in Communications at Quinnipiac University with a focus on Journalism.

Katie Brenneman is a passionate freelance writer who aims to inspire readers. She is looking to grow her audience, is active on Twitter , and has written for Turtl before about how businesses can use behavioral economics to power marketing strategies.