8 Key Strategies for Retaining Your Customers Heading Into 2023

“We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts. It’s our job every day to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little bit better.” – Jeff Bezos

Expanding your business’ audience is critical for growth and success. The more potential customers you have, the more sales opportunities you’re likely to create and drive. However, there is one cardinal sin that I see frequently committed by business leaders in their relentless pursuit for more customers: failure to take great care of the customers they already have. In this article, I’d like to talk about why this is a mistake and my 8 key strategies for retaining your customers as we head into 2023.

Retaining Your Existing Customers Is as Important as Adding More.

While expanding your pool of customers is essential for growth, research shows that investing in winning those new customers will cost you somewhere between 5x and 25x more than retaining your existing customers. Further, not taking great care of earned customers can not only result in them not coming back to do business with you, but they may do harm to your business by leaving a leave negative review or telling others to avoid your business. Considering at least 70% of online shoppers use reputation metrics (reviews, word of mouth) to make their buying decisions, a damaged reputation can be fatal to a growing business. A great way to avoid this? Taking great care of your existing customers.

The Value of Retained Customers

Retained customers are happy customers and happy customers become regular, loyal customers. According to Bain and Company, increasing customer retention rates by just 5% can increase your profits by between 25% and 95%. Retained customers are high ROI customers, as they require far less spend on marketing to find and reach, less effort to convince, and are significantly more likely to convert into subsequent sales than potential first-time customers. A successful company is one that works to maximize their existing customer base first and foremost.

8 Key Strategies for Retaining Your Customers

Ensure Your Customer Service Experience Is Second to None.

Great customer service should be the calling card of your business. 2022 surveys show that nearly 70% of customers are willing to pay more for products and services from a brand known to have good customer service (link). More than 90% are likely to make repeat purchases with companies in whom they found a great customer service experience (link).

Look for opportunities to do more than what is expected out of your customer service offerings. Monitor closely what your competitors are offering and find ways to exceed them. Your customers will reward you with loyalty and future business.

Be Proactive.

For you to be successful, it’s critical that you understand why your customers buy, how they choose who they buy from, and what their plans are going forward. With those insights, you can anticipate their needs and meet them halfway with your great products and services. Connecting with them is about research rather than a sales call. I like to remind the executives I train that 20% of your clients will represent 80% of your business. You should want to meet with them.

For B2B, the opportunity is to learn how are you helping them grow their business and be relevant in the marketplace. What are you bringing as a thought leader? If you can help them understand what their competition is doing and how to beat them, you will be viewed as a true partner.

When markets contract, there will be a lot of competition for the same clients. If we see a recession or even a depression, that’s going to mean a smaller pie that everyone must try to eat from. To remain successful in that environment, you’ll want the best share of the market you can have. By being proactive and working to understand your customer, you will have put yourself in great position to not only survive but thrive irrespective of the state of the economy.

Be Transparent.

Be open and honest with your customers. They appreciate vulnerability. Share the good news as well as the bad news. Show the humans behind the business that make their products and services happen. Give them realistic timelines and expectations and find ways to exceed them whenever possible.  In doing so you build critical trust and a sense of relationship between you and your customers that will translate into support and sales.

Be Engaged and Engaging.

These days, social media presence and engagement is essential. Engaging with your customers and maximizing your presence on social media helps to keep your customers engaged with the brand, reminding them that you and your products and services are available to them when they need them. While Twitter and Facebook represent the “old guard” of B2C social media engagement, do not be too slow to adopt Instagram and TikTok. These media-focused platforms are perfect for getting your products and services seen by younger audiences and engaging with those audiences.

Stay Connected.

Build a full strategy around staying in touch with and connect to your existing customers. Ensuring they are the first to know about special promotions, rewards programs, products, articles, and things they might find relevant will help keep them interested in and invested in the brand and its success. It makes your customers feel important and special while keeping you top of mind.

Also, don’t be afraid to show the non-business side of your company. People appreciate seeing businesses that are engaged in the communities, supporting local events and charities. It reminds them that they are not just supporting a business; they’re supporting people that are making a positive impact on the world around them. It builds tremendous trust. Invite them to help or participate when appropriate!

Part of staying connected also means responding to customer needs. To that end, don’t wait too long to get back to your customers. Surveys have revealed that 24 hours or less is widely considered to be an acceptable amount of time to respond to an email. Err on the “or less” side of that time range and do your best to get back to your customer requests and questions as quickly as possible. People are used to brands taking days to get back with them. Reaching back out to them in hours instead of days engenders further trust and confidence in your brand as a leader in customer service.

Exceed Their Expectations.

Exceeding your customer’s expectations is about making your customer feel more valued and valuable than your competitors do. As such, how this extra value is delivered and the form that it takes will vary from business to business. It could take the form of a high-quality presentation, a hand-signed/written letter of thanks, or a surprise free gift. It could simply mean a task or product shipping and arriving earlier than expected. Be creative and look for ways to deliver more value than promised in ways your specific customer base will appreciate.

Showcase Your Clients on Social Media.

When it comes to B2C and even B2B retention, showcasing success stories and highlighting your happy customers with your products in their hands are exceptional ways to build brand awareness, show your customers that you appreciate each one of them, and promote your brand across all social media.

For B2B, Case Studies tend to be a great, safe way to talk about a brand or company you’re working with without getting specific if a company doesn’t want to be specifically named. Case Studies not only provide you an opportunity to show off your process and how well you work with clients, but they also provide you with a perfect platform for demonstrating your expertise, though leadership, and experience. These are great for driving new leads.

For B2C, your goal is to build your community. People love sharing great reports and stories with the world so take advantage of that. Use social media to develop relationship and rapport, tailor more personalized content that is relevant to their interests, and really get to know what your customers are looking for and want. You want to know what they’re buying and why they’re buying. That’s where the real value is. If you can learn those things, you will know how to do more for them and how to make them happy. If your customers are happy and know you care, they will become the most loyal customers and even ground-level brand. If you know what they’re looking to buy and can create it, you’ll be in excellent position to retain their business.

Ask For Feedback and Act On It.

One thing business never do enough of is solicit useful feedback on their experience with your business. Look to ask customers specifically how you delivered your product or service and how they would like to see improved in the future. Feedback solicitation emails and on-site exit surveys are common ways to do this, but I encourage you to also consider setting a target to call 10-20 customers every month to get feedback on their experience. Doing these shows you care about your customers, their perspective and experience with your business, and that you are committed to being the best business you can be and want to grow.

Summing Up

As you move forward into 2023, retaining more of your customers can mean unlocking huge growth for your business. These techniques are some of the very best strategies to do just that. Give them the best customer service experience you can, get their feedback, remind them that you’re there, be transparent, and show them off when you can. If you do, you’ll find your customers not only turning into repeat customers more frequently but becoming brand advocates and ambassadors that help drive even more leads and sales.

If you would like to learn more about my techniques or take your leadership to the next level through our executive coaching programs, let me know. Coach4Execs has the tools to help you achieve growth and exceed your own expectations. Find out what one executive coaching call can do for you!

Georganne Goldblum,
CEO of Coach4Execs