Customer retention is so often forgotten, but why put in all that time, effort and resources to obtain customers only to ignore them. A loyal base of regular customers is extremely valuable. It not only provides a solid foundation for your bottom line, it’s also your biggest asset to promote growth.
A loyal customer base can do wonders for your profits and your brand perceptions, so how can finance brands build a top-class retention strategy? Here are five principles to guide your approach:
- Get your customer service right. Quality customer service is crucial to customer retention. Let’s face it, if a customer is proactively trying to get in touch with you, it’s likely to be regarding an issue with your offering, so keep them on side by tackling their problems effectively and smoothly across all your channels. Remember that according to Gartner, 89% of businesses are competing on the grounds of customer experience – it’s what keeps your customers from going to the competition.
- Offer your customers something extra. Providing a top-quality product simply doesn’t cut it anymore. The modern consumer is looking for something a little more. Whether it be a customised loyalty scheme Barclays’ Premier Rewards, great advice through a content hub like Bank of America’s Better Money Habits or simply raising a smile via a well-timed social media post, your existing customers need to feel that staying with your brand is giving them something that switching just wouldn’t provide.
- Share your mission. Finance brands sometimes choose to build loyalty by encouraging their customers to buy in to their broader mission. If a customer truly believes in what you are offering, they are more likely to engage with your brand over the long term.
- Keep your offer competitive. Remember that customers are savvy and always looking for a good deal. Just because they’ve always been loyal to you doesn’t mean they always will be. They need to feel that they’re being treated fairly. Consider how to reward advocacy with exclusive deals and offers. Insurer Aviva recently began a campaign specifically targeted at current customers offering them renewal deals that were as good, if not better, than what new customers were offered.
- Engage with feedback. Word of mouth is the most powerful marketing tool, so proactively encourage your customers to share their experience with you and then do something about their feedback. A customer who feels listened to is much more likely to engage with, and advocate for your brand.
Retention shouldn’t be forgotten in a content strategy. For help establishing a content strategy that covers everything from awareness through consideration, conversion and long-term loyalty beyond, get in touch.
