A common phenomenon that can drastically affect a business’ bottom line in a negative way is customer churn. This is a situation in which a great percentage of customers cease to do business with the native company over a fixed time period. If churning rates get out of control, profits can decrease exponentially and the company’s reputation can take an irredeemable hit. Use the following 5 tips to reduce your chances of customers leaving.
Analyze Who Is Highest at Risk
In order to prevent high rates of churning from taking place, it should be identified who specifically will be the most likely to leave. Commonly, these are people that haven’t been reached out to for a considerable period of time or who haven’t made any purchases for a while. For example, if a customer signed up for a subscription but decided not to renew, then that is a red flag.
As soon as that target area is identified, they should be reached out to immediately so that a relationship can be re-established. Companies can send out surveys to discover why they have been inactive or if they did something wrong on their end. The cost of replacing customers can impact a company’s bottom line. Therefore, retaining whoever can be salvaged is very important.
Improve Customer Service
All it takes is one poor, isolated customer service experience for a customer to leave. While that may sound unfair, a company’s reputation is always at stake in situations that involve addressing a customer’s needs. This is an area that is a common culprit for customers wanting to leave, so a proactive approach is required in this regard. The customer support team needs to be properly trained in order to properly communicate with customers who may be on edge about a problem.
It should also be taught that if a customer is dissatisfied, their anger is directed at the problem and not the team member. Should it come to it, and the company is at fault, a special offer or discount may be dispensed to them to make amends.
Analyze Why Churning Is Happening
Churning can be attributed to a litany of potential culprits. However, if the specific problem is not found soon, then the issue will persist. This will lead to more and more customers leaving while the company is still trying to find out the reason why. Precious time and resources can be wasted in looking for the solution, so diligence is required.
Listening to customer feedback is incredibly important during this time, because they may relay information that the company needs. A specific problem may be very defective. Perhaps certain services are no longer being offered. Maybe it is a reaction to the company deciding to move in a different direction. Whatever the reason, it should be acted upon as soon as the problem is discovered.
Surprise Your Customers
While this can be a practice implemented at any time, surprising your customers with special offers and big discounts during a churning period is a great way to implement damage control. This can also be something cosmetic such as a digital certificate. Always reminding the customer how valuable they are always gives the company a chance to retain customers.
Increase Engagement
Sometimes, customers may leave due to a lack of understanding. This is often a result of the customer not being engaged with the product. Therefore, you should take the opportunity to educate the customers by allowing them to be open about their concerns and stimulate their curiosity.
