To paraphrase an old saying: “New customers are money; old customers are worth gold. Retaining the customers you already have costs less, takes less time, and provides a reliable source of income. Despite this, marketers devote remarkably little effort to customer retention.
“Approximately how much time and effort, and in percentage, do you find loyalty marketing absorbed in your world? » Ruth Stevens asked the audience to The MarTech conference last fall. “Well, you might be surprised to know that among most B2B marketers, it averages around 15%. »
This contradicts the main objective of a business which is to acquire and retain customers. What makes things stranger is that research shows that a significant portion of B2B revenue comes from existing customers. A Forrester report find that 73% of B2B revenue comes from existing customers. So less than a quarter of B2B revenue actually comes from new accounts.
Dig Deeper: Why Marketers Need to Shift From Loyalty Tactics to Respecting Customers
The focus on new accounts comes from sales teams being incentivized to pursue them. “Well, of course our business counterparts demand it,” she said. “You know? Drives. Give me leads. As a result, it’s marketing’s responsibility to emphasize the importance of retaining the customers you already have.
Here are seven ways to retain your most profitable customers.
1. Fundamental Excellence
An exceptional product or service, coupled with a smooth and positive customer experience, forms the foundation of customer loyalty. “Your product/service has to be great, and the customer experience has to be great too,” Stevens said. “All the clever marketing in the world isn’t going to solve the problem [if that’s not the case]. Your customers will not remain loyal if they are not satisfied and do not obtain real added value on these points.
2. Quick and proactive problem resolution
Resolving customer issues quickly is essential, but it’s not enough. Successful businesses actively seek out and resolve issues before customers tell them, which can significantly build loyalty.
“It’s a good idea for marketers to engage with their customer service teams,” she said. “Not only to help them solve problems, but also to help them analyze where problems are occurring and perhaps find important problems in the business that could be addressed upfront and reduce problems that arise later. “
Stevens said Michael Lowenstein’s book “Customer Win Back” contains compelling evidence that “customers whose problem was revealed and resolved were found to be more loyal than customers who didn’t have a problem in the first place.”
3. Penetration marketing
Marketing teams can use their data analysis skills to help account managers find valuable insights that lead to better upsell and cross-sell opportunities. Stevens suggested “using data analysis to develop a list of next best products, based on past product purchasing patterns.” It can also surface useful reasons for sales or account management teams to call the customer. These could be relevant new product developments or other ideas based on past customer behavior.
4. Prevention of defections
Close monitoring of customer behavior can detect warning signs of potential churn. “Invariably, customers leave behind breadcrumbs that give us an idea of what they are thinking,” she said. “So if you monitor customer behavior and compare it to their past behavior, you can really get a head start on a potential defection and take steps to prevent it.”
5. Automatic restocking
Changing the right products or services to an auto-shipping model makes it easier for customers to purchase. This also reduces the company’s sales costs. “In many cases, this is seen as a benefit, a convenience for customers,” she said. There are probably many overlooked ways to use this in your business. “But you might be surprised if you look around your business at what elements of the business might be convertible into this type of sales process.”
6. Recognize loyalty at the account level
Businesses can retain their most valuable accounts by offering unique service levels and other account-level benefits. “One of the really great ways to ensure the loyalty or at least recognize the loyalty of our best customers is to provide them with special service levels,” Stevens said. “You could have a dedicated 800 number and dedicated representatives, ready to answer calls 24 hours a day. You could have a sort of Gold service type status for your best customers, where they get a dedicated website, For example. There are lots of ideas here.
7. Win-back strategies
When a customer leaves, a dedicated winback team can be instrumental in resolving the reasons for leaving and potentially recovering lost business. Speed of response is a key factor here. “Once you see evidence that a customer is leaving you, you really need to act quickly to try to resolve the problem they had with you and see if you can fix it and keep them on board. »
For customers who have already left, she recommends creating “a special win-back sales team” with specialized training and incentives to effectively manage this unique business challenge.
Dig Deeper: Driving Growth with Data: Optimizing the Retention Stage
Change mentalities
To support B2B growth, one must focus on customer loyalty. This requires a shift in mindset and resources towards existing customers. Additionally, successful retention strategies require seamless collaboration between marketing, sales and customer service departments to ensure a unified and effective approach. Finally, the use of data analytics and customer insights is paramount to successful targeted loyalty initiatives.
Adopting these strategies can unlock the significant and often untapped potential of customer loyalty. This in turn leads to increased profitability, stronger customer relationships and lasting business success.
