In short, developing a customer retention strategy is achievable, measurable and simple. You don’t even need to hire a digital agency to get started. Processes like email marketing campaigns are quick, easy and extremely cheap!

The importance of customer retention is overlooked by many. For many businesses, the focus is on acquiring and not retaining, regardless of their business idea.

Building relationships is the key to success, regardless of the niche that your business operates in.

Why does your business need a customer retention plan?

• Reduce overheads – less resources are needed to service a client due to their awareness of the sales process
• Build brand awareness – consistent sales means consistent exposure and therefore, increased brand awareness
• Receive referrals – customer loyalty brings customer referrals; free business leads
• Increase revenue – loyal customers produce a higher revenue than new customers
• Increase profit – an increase in revenue and a reduction in overheads, means an increase in profit
• Stabilised income – loyal customers can be monitored easily, making financial projections much more accurate
• Diversify marketing – you might think you have tried every marketing tactic possible. Well, here is something new to try!

The facts and the figures

“The probability of selling to an existing customer is 60 – 70%. The probability of selling to a new prospect is 5-20%” – Marketing Metrics

“It costs 6 – 7 times more to acquire a new customer than retain an existing one” – Bain & Company

There are 100s of similar facts and figures showing that customer relationship marketing is something that produces an extremely high ROI. Obviously, the facts and figures vary depending on the industry, the size of a company and how well they execute their retention strategy. The facts have always been there, it is time to take advantage of them.

What you need to know

The simplest of actions make the biggest difference. Customer service, consistent contact, honesty and fulfilling expectations are some of the simplest things a business can do and they all work in unity to create your customer retention plan.

Techniques that work…

Email marketing

Every business should have an email marketing campaign. They are easy to manage using platforms such as MailChimp. Give consumers the chance to opt-out at the checkout when they purchase goods or services.

An email marketing campaign needs to be consistent; content writing tone and schedule. Some companies aim to produce one email per week, whereas others aim for one per month. This could be interesting industry news, links to a valuable blog post on your company blog, or special offers.

Order tracking alerts

Order tracking alerts might not seem important, but they are. Why? They combine consistent contact and customer service. If you can create an alert when goods are packed and shipped, then you have made contact with the customer, but offered them that little bit extra. It will also save your company time, as you won’t have to answer emails and telephone calls from customers asking where items are.

Regular discounts

Whether you are a retailer or service provider, offering discounts on goods or services that are valuable will help. Sure, it might seem odd to discount best sellers, but remember that customer retention is not costing you as much as customer acquisition.

Competitions

Competitions are a cheap way of getting 100s of customers interactively involved in your business. Do you run an extreme sports business? Post a competition for £500 of merchandise for the best photo. Not only will the majority of your customers enter, but it will get them thinking about your brand again. You’ll find that you get unexpected benefits too, such as back links which will help with your website SEO.

Rewarding complaints

The frustrating thing about losing customers is that most businesses don’t know why they lost them in the first place. Complaints provide your company with valuable information that can make your overall package seem much more attractive. If someone complains, don’t make excuses, make them an offer, give them a reward and thank them for their time.

Loyalty program

Loyalty programs come in all shapes and forms. You could offer:

• Instant cash for referrals
• A points system, where buyers can earn and spend points
• A cash back system
• A tiered system based on total cash spent, linked to discounts
• Discount clubs (usually charged by the vendor) offering exclusive discounts
• Price match guarantees

Gathering facts

Think like an engineer; with facts. If you have facts, then you can create a customer relationship strategy that is going to work. Ask questions and act based on the answers that you receive. To make a survey seem more appealing, you could tie it in with an email marketing campaign offer. Ask the customer to fill out the survey, in exchange for the exclusive discount that is being offered.

Gifts

Gifts might seem like an unnecessary cost, but think before you discard this as a viable tactic to use. Ideally, you can give all customers a gift for their birthday. If your business is linked to their hobby and interest, this is going to not just re-instate contact, but give them an idea of where they would like to spend their cash!

This is not just a free gift, it is a gesture. You never know your gift might be a topic of conversation and lead to a referral!

 

You might be a company owner looking to use outsourcers? Maybe you are planning to start a firm offers outsourced services? In the business idea development stage and looking for more info? The 7 FAQs below may help you see this industry with a fresh perspective.

Is the market stable?

The market is more than stable. In 2000, the US industry value for outsourced services was around $45bn. By the end of 2012, this grew to $99.1bn (Statista). If you are entering the market, then the opportunity is growing in size. If you are looking to use a company within the industry, then you have plenty of options.

Will outsourcing increase business capacity?

If you have picked the right outsourcing company, you can increase and decrease your capacity on demand. Better still, you can increase and decrease your business expenses on demand at the same time. Essentially, you have created a business that is flexible to market conditions.

Does outsourcing mean going offshore?

It’s true; the majority of outsourcing companies do base themselves in China, India and Indonesia (Statisticbrain). That is not to say that you have to go that way. Outsourcing in the UK, US or Australia is still a feasible and efficient option.

If you are worried about a language barrier or security issues, keeping your business on home turf might be the best route forward.

How will I need to adapt my business?

There is no doubt that outsourcing means that will you will need to adapt your overall business operation slightly. You may be outsourcing tasks that are part of your every day routine. In that respect, you become more of a project manager than a worker. You’ll need to develop a strong relationship with your service provider to ensure that they understand exactly what you need.

Is the influx in companies using outsourcers due to the recent recession?  

Although the recession might have pushed some companies towards outsourcing, most companies were already heading that way anyway. Companies shouldn’t just spend time increasing revenue, but also, cutting costs; increasing their ROI. HP was able to save over 25% on office processes – Outsourcing Delivers Savings of 25%-50% on back office costs.

How do I pick a company?

We wrote an article that explains exactly what to do and don’t do when you are picking a company – How To Outsource – 12 Dos and Don’ts.

How do I retain control of business processes?

Choosing a company does not mean you will be stuck with that one company. You need to be flexible, but an outsourcer should meet agreed deadlines with a project that is to specification.

Are you just another number to them? Do they go out of their way to help you? It is easy to feel like you have lost control of business processes if an outsourcing company is not experienced. An experienced company will aid each business process, not hinder it.

Monitor every business process and compare it to how an employee would complete this process. If the business process is not completed to a certain standard, it is time to change outsourcers, or bring that particular task in house to ensure that you retain business control.

There are so many social media outlets to utilise in a marketing plan, almost too many, it can become overwhelming!

If you do some background research on a few competitors, you’ll see them on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn Pinterest, Orkut, Ning, not to mention multiple forums. Do some more research and you’ll see that they are using none or only the minority of these platforms effectively.

If you are going to do something, do it properly. Don’t feel like you have to be involved with a social networking website, just for the sake of it.

Forums have been a successful part of our marketing plan, right from the start. Unlike many of the other social networking websites, forums have and still are a place where people participate daily. A well maintained forum can give you help, advice and extra revenue. People ask real questions, because they want a real answer, not just because they want people to see their signature link below.

It’s free, all you need, is some time!

Surely, you could just save yourself time and effort, by paying for forum banners, right? Wrong! Forum banners are nowhere near as effective as actively participating in a forum. We have tried banners on multiple forums. Whilst some brought in new clients, most of our forum related clients come directly from our participation with that forum rather than banner advertisements.

#1 Selecting Forums And Signing Up

Finding forums is not a problem. Assuming you are looking for business forums:

• Type “business forums” into Google. By default, the first 4-5 forums will be the ones with the highest traffic.
• Check through posts to see if the replies are high quality. Some forums that are high in the search results have millions of posts, but they are spammy and low quality; avoid!
• Sign up to just 1 forum for the time being.

#2 Filling Out Your Profile & Signature

If you use forum marketing the right way, you’ll start to rack up profile and signature views. You need to ensure that both are filled out.

Profile

• Your name should be your business name.
• Include URL and social media links.
• Explain what your business does in a few sentences.
• Fill out a blog post every now and then, if that is one of the forum options.

Signature

• Make it to the point, using anchor text to shorten where possible.
• Make it stand out with bold/different coloured text.
• Link to an exclusive offer if possible, to catch the eye of forum users.

#3 The Introduction

Don’t just lurk around the forums; forum marketing is about getting involved. Most forums will have an “Introductions” section, which is designed for this very purpose. Don’t just say “Hi!”, give it a bit of thought. Explain why you are using the forum (networking with other business owners, give/receive advice and so on) and explain your business (no need to be spammy).

#4 Adding Value

This is where most people fail with forum marketing; they don’t add value. If you don’t think you can add any value to a post, don’t post. A lot of forum members will post, simply to get their links out there; fail!

You need people to notice you. If they notice your links, it builds trust, they will notice your links. After you have created a great, informative topic or insightful reply, you will see your profile count grow and your signature URL clicks follow. Establish yourself as someone that is there to improve the community, not to destroy it.

#5 Avoiding Spam

Although this has been mentioned, don’t get involved with posting for the sake of signature link clicks. Most likely, the clicks you are getting from the Admin, who is about to ban you. Of course, you can reply to some posts, to say thanks, or to agree, but don’t make a habit of posting unless you are involving yourself in the conversation in a value-added way.

On the spam note, do not employ any kind of service that offers to build profile links, signature links and the likes, without speaking to them first. Most likely, their “forum marketing” campaigns will consist of spamming forums, on your behalf. Worst of all, you’ll be paying for them to ruin your image. That said some SEO companies will build profile links and the likes in a natural and organic way.

#6 Building Up Feedback

Most business forums will have a feedback system. Like eBay, Amazon and similar sites, when you sell or buy, you can give/receive feedback. Don’t let an opportunity pass. If you get involved in a deal, ask for feedback and provide the same. It helps to establish your business as a reputable member of the forum. Better still, if someone is looking for services that you offer, they will come to you, over a new member with no reputation.

#7 Offer Something Spectacular

We wrote a post recently on Search Engine People – Freebie Marketing. You can see what we did there. Yes, it was a loss leader, but it worked. We got new contacts, feedback and a few long term clients from a simplistic offer that offered people value.

#8 Keep In Touch

Don’t log onto a forum, post an offer, and then stop posting just because you haven’t been successful. The key to successful forum marketing is to keep involved.

Regularly post, think up new offers, build up your feedback and reputation; become a forum marketing pro!

If you try and aim to post at least 2-3 times per week, this should start to build up your overall credibility.

Good luck!

 

 

Whether you like it or not, outsourcing is here to stay. If you are avoiding this as a corporate process, you are only hindering your long term business progress. It’s a cost effective form of delegation!

Whether you are looking to outsource affiliate marketing campaigns, payroll, web design, email list building, writing or recruitment, here is why it makes sense:

• You get the core skill set you need, without having to employ multiple members of staff.
• Reduce costs and financial commitments.
• Ability to increase capacity on demand.
• Pay-as-you-go!

Read our Dos & Don’ts guide, which will give you a few things to look out for.

Remember, there are hundreds of services that can be outsourced.  As an example, SEO outsourcing is huge at the moment. If you are looking to outsource marketing online, then SEO outsourcing could be the first place to look. However, if you are looking for outsourcing companies related to web design, writing or even recruitment, the same principles apply.

Do	Don’t
1. Monitor costs associated with outsourcing.	Assume that employing this as a business process leads to automatic efficiency.
2. Understand your business requirements from this process before paying for any services; make a list.	Be tempted to pay for services based on an impressive offer without analysing whether these services are really required.
3. Experiment with different service providers.	Stick with the first service provider you find, simply due to price.
4. Downsize certain departments.	Keep a physical operation (premises, staff and so on) at the same size if not necessary.
5. Compile a large list of potential outsourcing service providers and cross reference the offers.	Limit yourself to the first 2-3 providers you find on Google.
6. Negotiate on price and service features.	Assume that the package offered is the only package available.
7. Outsource tasks that your business employees are not completing in an efficient manner.	Outsource tasks if you or another employee has the required skill set to complete it.
8. Go through the necessary due diligence procedures to locate a reputable, experience and reasonably priced service provider.	Be under the illusion that all service providers have your best intentions at heart; they are simply trying to sell a service.
9. Test out the customer support team via online chat, email and phone; this is a sign of things to come.	Be impressed by an “award” they have won for customer service that might not even exist.
10. Find a service provider that will offer a cost effective solution.Remember, not every outsourcing process needs to be offshore.	Assume that cost effective means the cheapest. Often the cheapest things in life are cheap for a reason. In this case: lack of experience, customer service issues and communication barriers.
11. Always look for alternatives. These companies may get a larger and higher paying project in, at which point, you might be left behind.	Think that you will be their first priority as a loyal customer; business is business and not every company adopts the same principles.
12. Be too eager to scale up an operation if you are acting as a middle-man.	Take things slow and build up a relationship with your outsourcing company.

 

A quality service provider will be able to offer help and advice, making your business even more efficient than it ever is. If you are looking to outsource marketing processes, are they able to produce a better ROI than you currently are? If you are looking for an SEO outsourcing company, can they improve your rankings faster?

Whether you operate on a freelance or have office locations across the globe, this is a process that can help your business.