Founder & CEO at Millennial Services, a dedicated call-center services provider.
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You conduct surveys, identify real-world struggles and spend countless hours developing solutions to help your customers become more successful and build satisfaction. While it is always great to add new customers, it is profoundly important to retain the ones you already have. Simply stated, you need to build loyalty and reinforce customer engagement.
Many times marketing teams hesitate about reaching out to customers because it could be perceived as overly salesy or as a disruption. However, there are ways to reinforce your presence and offer help that are beneficial, and even welcome, because the channel and method of delivery is already a part of your customer’s routine.
How can you help more customers realize your company has the solutions they need?
Obviously, the best way to engage customers is to help them get results. But none of this happens until you can get them to listen. It doesn't matter how good your product or service is. Without a clear understanding of what you offer, your customers won't be persuaded to buy.
The journey begins once you have their attention.
Capturing The Attention Of Busy People
Helping customers resolve issues is much easier when they are listening. And often, they're not listening because they're focusing on those very issues that your solutions can help sort out. Getting their attention isn't always that easy, but it can be done. Consistent outreach will help your team crack through the noise of their day-to-day hassles to get your solutions noticed. The right processes allow you to achieve powerful goals.
• Provide timely insights
• Announce training and webinars
• Offer publications
• Discuss consulting services
Successfully communicating solutions can get your brand on the radar screen of your customers. This proactive posture toward communicating the value you bring can ignite genuine engagement.
Customer Engagement Strategies
Begin with the customers you have. It is far easier and more cost-effective to retain customers than to acquire new ones. Returning customers spend and buy more often, and refer friends and family. According to HubSpot: “Only a 5% increase in your Customer Retention Rate (CRR) can increase company revenue by 25%-95%." Additionally, when it comes to acquiring new customers, "it's five to 25 times more expensive to acquire a new customer than it is to retain an existing customer.”
Old customers understand the value of your product and/or service, which means they're more likely to buy in the future. Keeping customers satisfied increases engagement. Loyal customers are more likely to refer friends and colleagues to your company — 100%-free advertising.
As the founder of a company that helps with customer experience, I've seen how the following strategies are still leveraging big results from existing customers.
Social Media
An estimated 3.78 billion people globally use social media, with the average user spending 145 minutes daily (2+ hours) on social media sites. Social media is an outstanding place to connect customers and boost CRR. Support followers of your company's social media account by commenting on their posts, sending them personalized direct messages and posting pertinent content.
Email Updates
Believe it or not, businesses have been using email marketing for over 40 years. Having emails from brands in our inboxes has become so ingrained in our daily life that most of us barely even blink an eye. With that said, the art of email marketing is cajoling your customers into opening your emails and engaging with them, instead of ignoring them altogether.
Firstly, you need to be assiduous regarding accumulating your customer's email addresses. Whether at point of sale or at checkout, make the most of each opportunity to obtain or update a customer's email address. Try to schedule two to four email campaigns a month. By scheduling a consistent email campaign, you can keep customers engaged with your brand. You can also create automated email campaigns to win back old customers who haven't done business with you in a while. Lastly, give people a way to opt out or unsubscribe from your email list. Customers don't appreciate companies that don't allow them to opt out or unsubscribe.
Text Message Promos
If used right, text messages are an excellent way to improve CRR. However, when employing text message marketing, you must be heedful of customers' privacy. It's easy to annoy people with unwanted texts sent at inappropriate times. Only send texts that provide plenty of value for the receiver. As with emails, allow customers to opt out; track each text KPI closely to see how effective it was.
Outbound Calls
Before emails, outbound telemarketing is most likely the oldest form of direct contact marketing after door-to-door sales. One of the most significant reasons why it's still so popular is because it still works — if done correctly. I've found this holds especially true for people of the Baby Boomer generation, who still prefer good old-fashioned telephone communication over anything else. They feel more personally connected when speaking with company representatives over the phone in my experience.
Call current customers once in a while to check in. Ask how they enjoyed your product or service and if there is anything that could be improved. Most importantly, do your best to have honest conversations with them — this is not the time to be salesy. The goal is to reconnect with them and build rapport, not conduct a sales call.
Make an honest effort to forge relationships that genuinely help your customer achieve their goals. Getting their attention, teaching them what your products and services can do and following up to ensure they are getting what they need can pay high dividends in engagement and keep customers coming back for more.
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