The Importance of Customer Retention

I think we all know how important it is to retain our customers, but sometimes we need a little reminder.

I'm in the midst of securing a few new clients and I'm very thankful for that. But in my excitement to sign-up the new guys and begin working on their inbound marketing I have to constantly remind myself and my team not to forget about, or lose focus or energy for, our current clients. It sounds simple and obvious, but it's not - at least not for me.

Therefore, I did some research and rediscovered a few extremely significant stats to back-up the importance of keeping your current clients happy. I found a Harvard Business Review article referencing Bain & Company research that shows increasing customer retention rates by 5% increases profits by 25% to 95%. Further investigation reveals that the average business loses 20% of its customers by simply failing to provide them with the proper attention. Additionally, it's widely known that it costs 5-7X more to acquire a new customer over retaining a current one.

These are all pretty substantial statements and statistics which certainly seem logical to me and definitely underscore the importance we should all be placing on keeping our current customers happy. Just knowing we need to do that though, doesn't solve the problem. How do we do it is key. Here are some thoughts I have that could work across a wide range of industries:

• Personal Touches - hand written notes, a quick face-to-face drop in, etc.
• Give Gifts - anything from a small gift card to a non-cheesy logo-item
• Share Relevant News Stories - send links via email to blogs or articles that pertain to their personal or business interests
• Social Media Mentions - everyone could use a shout-out now and again
• Provide Feedback Mechanism - give them the opportunity to praise your or bring up a complaint in the form of a simple customer survey
• Send Reports - tell them what you are doing for them, and the results of those efforts, often
• Tell Them They Are Important! - seems silly, but it doesn't hurt to do this every once in a while

These simple steps will remind your customers that you value their relationship and their business and should help you grow your organization.