How to Win and Retain your Core Customers (Updated for 2023)

Customer retention is a routine, where you rinse, repeat, and rise to perfection over time. In 2018, winning new customers and keeping their business is going to get more challenging now that new trends, like enhancing user experience through content and emphatic marketing, are on the rise. Therefore, if you want to win and retain core customers in the new year, you are going to have to fine tune or make adjustments to the customer programs you have already implemented. 

Here are 5 tips to help you succeed: 

Know Your Brand

The secret that many companies continue to miss when attracting customers is having a clear vision of what their brand stands for and how it is communicated in the market. You need to know what wins customers over to begin with. To do so, you have to answer the following questions: 

What sets you apart from competitors?

What is your unique selling point? 

When you know how to sell your services in a way that adds value to your brand name, you will find it much easier to build a loyal customer base.

Set Yourself Apart

Once you know your brand, you have to make it visible. Otherwise, you will never generate interest to win over that first round of customers. Create a window to the soul of your brand, whether that is visible signage, social media accounts, blogs, or another form of online presence.  Make sure that you are speaking directly to your core customer persona.

Soon, you will have people purchasing your services or goods. That is when you move onto the final step of winning more customers by using the loyal base—you stimulate word-of-mouth recommendations by asking for testimonials and reviews.

Target Your Marketing

Never take a generic approach. Just like you have to be 100% certain of your brand and what you offer, you also have to be completely aware of who you are targeting. Knowing who the ideal customer is helps you fabricate a buyer's journey that will adequately meet their needs and aid in their decision to use your services and/or goods.

Keep Customers Happy

Proactive engagement with customers is another step to retention. In other words, the cycle of winning customers and retaining them does not begin and end with them handing you money. Taking care of existing customers is not only cheaper for you (because you have to market less), it will help you make more money in the end. Loyal customers eventually end up buying additional products or services.

So what do you do? Offer partnerships, affiliate programs, and other bonuses to loyal customers. Give them ways to refer new customers to you, and then reward them for it. Depending on the nature of your business, you might even want to set up relationships with these existing customers by speaking to or mailing to them directly (i.e. newsletters and follow-ups) to find out what more you could do for them.

Value Experience Above All Else

Customer experience (also known as user experience or UX) never used to be that big of an issue. However, with the power of choice given to the customer and a desire to have incredible experiences every single time they buy something, companies have to step up to the plate. Without giving customers joy and satisfaction every time they interact with your brand and whatever service you provide, you will not win their affection nor their business later on. 

Dominate the market by providing amazing service that is an experience from start to finish. It doesn't matter if competitors offer cheaper services or products as long as your product or service provides more value and in a way that makes you easy to do business with.

Final Thoughts

Winning and retaining customers is not rocket science, but the ways to go about it can be confusing if you don’t know where to start. First, know the uniqueness of your brand. From there, offer service tailored to a distinct demographic. By focusing on the customer and their overall experience, you can develop lasting, profitable relationships.

Good luck,

Alan

Photo Credit: iStock by Getty Images