Winning new customers is much easier than keeping them as returning customers. However, retaining customers is extremely crucial to the health of your business, even though it’s not as easy as winning them.

Winning new customers is much easier than keeping them as returning customers. After winning new business, so many things could go wrong during the retention process that customer retention becomes daunting for the business owner. However, retaining customers is extremely crucial to the health of your business, even though it’s not as easy as winning them.

10 Ways to Keep Customers

1. Offer More Communication Channels – The days of communicating with your customers via email alone are numbered. To keep customers you must talk the same language using the same channels. Consider using Twitter, Skype and even a 3rd party online chat application to engage your customers.

2. Respond to Emails Within 15 Minutes – In the viral world, it is very hard to cause a customer to say “Wow!”, but it’s not impossible. Quality customer support in the shape of priority email support can cause that. To keep customers, make it a business policy to respond as soon as possible. In some cases, you might still respond while the customer is browsing the site, thereby increasing the likelihood of a sale.

3. Make New Offers – Some customer groups find price drop offers appealing, some find free delivery appealing and some are just looking for any excuse to spend more. To keep customers, always diversify your offers to keep your products as appealing to your customers as the first time they bought from you.

4. Openly Encourage Reviews (Good or Bad) – It is easier for customers to relate to other customers and to the problems or solutions they found when using your products if there is a place for them to talk about their experience. In order to keep a genuine brand image, encourage product reviews which will also help you spot any potential problems on time.

5. Actively Ask for Feedback – Similar to product reviews, the goal of asking for feedback is to find potential problems with your products or service which might put off customers from buying again. Consider signing every service email (such as an invoice, order confirmation and of course, company newsletter) with a request to provide feedback.

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