Building effective relationships with your customers is the key to customer retention. If you think the relationship between your business and customers is purely transactional – think again! Even if your business is doing well, it won’t take much time for your customers to defect, unless you recognise their importance and make conscious efforts to retain them. Remember that more often than not, customers are willing to pay more for a product / service if they have a personal connection with your business. Following are a few tips to effectively retain your customers.

Touch base with your customers

Agreed that you’ve delivered what your customers wanted and have also been paid for it. However, make it a point to periodically touch base with your customers and enquire if what you delivered is working right, if there is anything that needs to be changed etc. The key point is, get in touch with them and build an effective feedback mechanism. This will not only help you stay in touch with your customers, but also allow you to look at your products/services more closely, and make continuous improvements.

Make it personal

Business is obviously supposed to be professional – however, a small personal touch can go a long way to build mutually beneficial relationships. Granted that most of your communication happens over email; still go and pick up the phone and talk to your customers once in a while.

Don’t look for immediate returns

When assisting customers for their needs, do not expect to get orders straight away. Customer retention strategies are aimed at enabling the customer to think of you first when any need arises. Make sure you’re always there to assist them, provide tips etc.

Customise your approach

Show your customers that you understand their requirements better than anyone else. Tailor your products and services to best meet their individual requirements – chances are customers will be willing to pay a bit more for something that meets their requirements.

Respond to enquiries

Make sure you are prompt to respond to enquiries, even when they are not within your scope of working. In such cases, you could also refer someone you know who might be able to help out.

Keep Listening

Keep your ears open to what your customers are saying. Although unstructured, ssuch conversations can provide you valuable insight of their requirements, their vision and help you tailor products/services accordingly.