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CRM-Techniques and Strategies for Customer Retention

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Swati Bhargava, Co-founder, Cash KaroThe digital revolution with the advent of smart phones and faster internet speeds has marked a transition of power from hands of businesses to customers. The highly competitive business scenario has empowered end users to have the freedom of choice to pick products that meet their needs.

As companies shift their objective towards developing a customer centric frame work there is a necessity to deep understand consumer requirements to engage them and get maximum benefits. This is where CRM is of great value and helps improve customer experience.

The basic objective of CRM is to enhance the overall user experience while retaining users and the secondary objective is to increase acquisition of customers at a low cost and ensuring a smooth transition from new customer to a loyal long term user.

Here are some CRM techniques and strategies used for customer retention.

1. Understand the Customer Journey

Gathering data on the customer journey is vital to get insights into consumer interaction and engagement with your brand. Get to know how users are aware of your brand, engage with it and continue their relationship before and after a purchase. Access their journey to identify key marketing strategies and plans that worked. Make use of consumer behavior tracking tools such as Google Analytics and CRM software solutions from Hubspot and Zoho to evaluate your communications and frame better customer experiences.
2. Make It Personal

A relationship is something that has to be more on a personal level between people. It is realized not only during the sale stage but during post sale stages where the frequency of you reaching out is highly essential. It is important to see customers beyond just numbers and figures. Use personal details wherever possible in your customer out reach program to gain greater extension and coverage.You can deliver on high impact ROI and enhanced customer satisfaction as an effect of personalization.

It is important to see customers beyond just numbers and figures.Use personal details wherever possible in your customer outreach program to gain greater extension and coverage.


3. Focus on Quality of Service

It does not matter if you respond to your customers in a jiffy.Consumers are more likely to be satisfied with a brand which they feel is more courteous, willing and helpful.Speedy service comes second to quality and completeness of service. The data shown from highly rated customer service across various brands highlight the fact that customers feel satisfied in connecting with a brand that assures them of quality service.

4. Deliver Tailor-made Offers

Every customer has a consumption pattern which can be extracted to better interact with them and offer user-specific deals. You can use your CRM software to gather customer purchase history by which you can identify ways to convert customer interest into actual purchase. The main onus here will be to provide users with custom-made offers and deals to enhance the experience. Smart targeting of users to better engage them is another retaining strategy that must be employed.

5. Create Loyalty Programs

Every brand has its share of loyal customers who make repetitive purchases and continuously engage. It is important that loyal customers are taken care of and given regular benefits and offers to keep them happy. Create a memorable experience for your premium users by setting loyalty programs with extra rewards and incentives. This will ensure a proactive interaction and relationship with these valued customers.

CRM monitors activities of customers and is always on the lookout to improve the customer service of the organization. By merging relevant business information from many departments within the company to create an easy-to-access database, CRM provides solutions for smart customer retention and acquisition.