If you want to have a successful business, you need to keep your customer churn rate low. This is the percentage of customers who decide to stop spending money with you for whatever reason. You’ll typically measure this over a specific time period, such as a month or year.
It’s important that you have loyal customers — it’s the only way to guarantee a steady stream of sales, and it can also be five to 25 times cheaper to retain an existing customer rather than acquire a new one (Harvard Business Review). As a result, having a low customer churn rate can have a huge impact on your bottom line!
In this article, we’re going to outline how you can reduce your churn rate. Let’s get started.
Regularly ask for customers’ feedback and act on it
The first step to reducing your customer churn rate is to determine why people don’t come back to your business. The easiest and most effective way to learn more about this is by speaking directly to your customers! Getting customer feedback and acting on it can help you determine what parts of your business need to be improved to maintain customer satisfaction and loyalty.
To get feedback from your customers, you simply need to ask for it. Consider sending them a survey in an email using a platform like Google Forms or SurveyMonkey and ask them questions about your business, such as:
- How long have you been using our products/services?
- How often do you use our products/services?
- How happy are you with our products/services?
- How likely are you to recommend our business to others?
- How could our business improve the customer experience?
The answers to these questions will give you an idea of where your business can improve. Look for common themes in their answers and then you can work to make improvements. Once you’ve made changes, be sure to announce them through your newsletters or social media pages — this will show your customers that you’re listening to them!
Always offer the best possible customer service
Good customer service is one of the biggest reasons people will continue to come back to a company. So, you need to ensure that you’re giving first-class customer service, as this will help you reduce your churn rate.
First, be sure you offer customer service support through the channels your audience prefers. You could consider asking your customers’ preferences in the aforementioned surveys to get an insight into how they like to communicate. You might find that older customers in your audience prefer phone support, while younger customers prefer live chat, for instance. Only offer the channels you know your customers will want to use, and avoid spreading your team out too thin. This will help ensure that your team is offering the best customer service possible, reducing your churn rate.
Here are a few tips for offering top-notch customer service:
- Acknowledge when your customers have a problem and be empathetic with their concerns
- Respond in a timely manner
- Apologize for any inconvenience
- Ensure your customer service team is well-trained on how your products or services work so they can answer questions
Most importantly, be friendly and polite to your customers. People just want their concerns to be heard — if you can help your customers feel supported, they’ll be more likely to remain loyal to you.
Help customers make informed purchases with quality content
If you can help people make the best purchasing decisions to suit their needs, you’ll be far more likely to get repeat customers. Content is a great tool to help with this! Here are a few types of content that are perfect for helping people make the right purchasing decisions:
- Buying guides: These outline everything a reader needs to know about a certain category of product or service, so they can consider all the necessary factors
- Case studies: These outline the past results of your products/services to show you have a great track record
- Comparison pieces: These compare different product or service options based on their pros, cons, and features
- Product demonstrations: These show customers how your products work, so customers know exactly what to expect from them
Let’s take a look at a few examples of businesses that help customers make informed decisions with their content for inspiration.
AuraCloud 3D, an aura imaging camera and software program provider, has content on their website that works well to help customers make an informed decision. For example, they have a detailed article that outlines what auras are and how their software works. Plus, it addresses a few questions that prospective customers may have.
This is a great way for AuraCloud 3D to help their website visitors make informed purchases! The article makes it clear who can benefit from their items, so the people that end up purchasing will be happier with their decision, reducing the company’s customer churn rate.
On your website, consider writing articles that can help your website visitors better understand your products. This will make it more likely that the right people will purchase your products or services, increasing customer satisfaction and reducing your churn rate.
SocialPilot, a social media management software provider, helps their customers make the decision that’s right for them with their content. In their article on LinkedIn marketing tools, for instance, they outline the features, pros, and cons of a variety of different programs, including their own. This shows that SocialPilot isn’t just interested in pushing their own products — they genuinely want to help their customers make the right decision for their needs. This helps readers to trust SocialPilot, making them more likely to make a purchase and reducing the company’s churn rate.
On your website, publish buying guides or comparison pieces that will help your ideal customers make the best investment possible. This will lead to happier customers who will want to buy from you again and again, reducing your churn rate!
Increase the chances of repeat purchases with incentives
If you give previous customers a reason to return to your website or store, you can get them to make additional purchases. So, it’s a good idea to incentivize your customers to come back and spend more money with you!
Here are a few different ways you can incentivize your customers to spend more money with you:
- Create a point-based loyalty program that lets people trade in points for gifts or discounts
- Send them coupons in the mail or discount codes via email
- Provide them with a special discount or gift on their birthday
- Offer a small gift or discount for subscribing to your services or loyalty program
Strategies like this will encourage people to buy from your business again and again. People love saving money and, if you can help them do this through a loyalty program, you’ll help lower your churn rate.
Populate your blog with valuable content so people keep returning
If you want people to make repeat purchases, you need to give them a reason to visit your website time and time again. One of the most effective ways to do this is by publishing high-quality, informative content that your target audience will be interested in.
There are a lot of different ways you can come up with ideas for new blog content. Here are just a few suggestions:
- Take inspiration from the content your competitors are creating
- Address common customer pain points
- Cover topics in your field that other people haven’t yet addressed
- Explore different industry trends and newsworthy events
You can also conduct some keyword research and let it inform your content. Head to a tool like AnswerThePublic with a list of words and phrases related to your business. Plug them into the search tool and it will provide you with a list of questions that people are asking on any given topic. This will give you a good idea of what questions you should be answering on your website!
Let’s take a look at a few examples of businesses that do a good job of creating informative content for their customers to give you some inspiration.
AdWords Nerds, an online marketing agency for real estate investors, has a lot of great content on their blog. Their ultimate guide to PPC advertising is an example that does several things particularly well.
Ultimate guides are meant to outline just about everything a reader might want to know about a given topic. So, this guide by Adwords Nerds is very thorough and answers a lot of common questions their target audience is likely to have. Both beginners and experts alike can learn something from this guide, making it very helpful! Plus, people who read this article and find it valuable will be far more likely to become loyal customers of AdWords Nerds, reducing their churn rate.
For your company blog, consider what subjects you know inside and out. If you write ultimate guides on these topics, you can earn website visitors’ loyalty and lower your churn rate.
Felix Health, an online pharmacy in Canada, has a lot of great content on their website, as well. In their articles, they tend to address common customer pain points and questions. For instance, this article on cold sores tells the reader what the different stages of a cold sore are, how they start, and how to treat them. People who read this article will know that they can trust Felix Health for insight into their health-related needs. This will get people coming back to their website more often to read and make purchases, reducing Felix Health’s churn rate.
Address customer problems and pain points in your content. This will show your readers that you understand their needs, making them more likely to continue to purchase from you and reducing your churn rate.
Finally, CondoBlackBook, a real estate agency specializing in condo rentals and sales in Miami, has great content on their website, too. Their article on Edgewater, Miami’s best-kept secret neighborhood, works very well as a piece of trending or newsworthy content. It covers the appeal of the area, what there is to do there, and more. They also finish the article by highlighting some condos for sale there!
By exploring a trending neighborhood in Miami, CondoBlackBook shows their readers that they’re knowledgeable about their industry, making it more likely that their customers will want to continue to invest with them. Additionally, it can keep people returning to their website for more information, reducing their churn rate.
Use your blog to outline different newsworthy events or trends in your industry. Doing this will show your website visitors and customers that you know your industry well. This will help you build a relationship with these people, reducing your churn rate in the process.
Summary
Reducing your churn rate is a huge part of running a successful business. In this article, we outlined how you can help lower yours with great content, top-notch customer service, loyalty programs, and more.
Take a look at your business strategy and see what work needs to be done!
–
Author bio & headshot:
Alex Ratynski is a Content Strategist at Loganix, an SEO fulfillment partner that works with agencies and marketers. The company focuses on helping businesses to improve their online visibility, so they can grow and reach their goals. If you enjoyed this article, visit the Loganix blog for more expert advice.
Comments / 0