What is the best way to retain a customer in the digital environment?

Today we know that the best strategy is to eliminate all possible frictions and provide immediate solutions, in order to generate trust and loyalty through a positive experience. The application of these tactics varies depending on the sector and the target audience, so a study is also required to determine how to do it correctly. What is the best way to retain a customer? There is no single method, but there are some strategies.

Why does retention matter so much today?

Here is the most important factor for a company: Getting new customers is 5 to 7 times more expensive than retaining them. The main reason is that consumers tend to buy from brands they trust, either because of their reputation or because they already have a previous relationship with said brand. That is why it takes much more effort to get a new customer than to keep them so they buy again.

The expenses can be detailed as follows:

• In marketing and advertising. You have to pay for promotions on different online and offline platforms to reach that target audience. A simple example of this is payment in Google campaigns and social networks, in addition to the creation of content for the company blog if it has one. Furthermore, these campaigns do not have such a specific target because their needs are not fully known, compared to those of existing clients.
• Resources. First, you need equipment to detect the leads and then transfer them to the sales team. At this point, salespeople must spend time determining the prospect’s needs until convincing them to buy. Some companies even add the extra step of hiring a team to follow up with the customer until they become profitable through new payments.

The process of converting leads in clients is quite long, tedious and expensive. And the worst thing is that the success rate can vary significantly depending on the time of year, or even when the needs of the target audience change, and an optimal optimization strategy has not yet been developed. Therefore, it is not unreasonable to conclude that increasing customer retention tends to increase profits significantly, simply because Customer lifetime value improves.

The digital paradigm: consumers expect immediacy, fluidity and zero friction

The reality is that the client has increased their expectations by leaps and bounds, and the conversion process that we explain goes against this. Instead, the customer appreciates having already gone through the entire process until they are in a comfortable place where they can continue consuming, as long as the company continues to fulfill the promise of making everything easier.

We see a simple example when the casinos offer instant withdrawals. Starting on one of these pages creates friction: you have to register, provide an ID and bank details to make and receive payments. However, everything becomes much easier after that, especially when you are this reinforcement of immediacy.

Here we can begin to understand what makes the client uncomfortable and how to avoid it. In other words, we will know the best way to retain a customer.

The best way to retain a customer: eliminate friction

We have mentioned several times frictionbut what exactly is it? It is about the effort that customers have to make to complete tasks related to their consumption goals. We can also pose it as the obstacles that separate the client from what they want to do in an application, typically consume.

Common examples of friction are long forms, long wait times, confusing processes, and slow service. The good thing is that some specific strategies have been developed to improve or eliminate these cases of friction.

Optimized process + immediate action

The main thing is to redesign internal processes so that the client gets what they need as soon as possible, and even immediately. Some common elements that facilitate this are one-click payments, chatbots, and sending immediate confirmations. Some examples of this are instant payments on mobile phones, with a single touch of a finger.

Trust

It takes a long time to gain customer trust and just one mistake to lose it. The simplest solution is to show the customer how and when their problems are resolved. This is regulated through streamlined internal processes and simple, straightforward policies that consumers understand.

Loyalty after zero friction

Although eliminating friction is the pillar, there are several levers behind it that push the customer to remain as such in the company. We will see them briefly:

• Personalization. The main thing is to offer recommendations based on the data collected on customer behavior, especially since we can segment it precisely.
• Attention. It is common to have 24/7 and multi-channel support. During office hours, it usually works to be accompanied by agents who provide personalized attention.
• Transparency. Clear costs, visible conditions and proactive communication generate a feeling of trust for the customer at all times.
• Added value. We can reinforce the idea of ​​repeat purchases through rewards for those loyal customers.
• Feedback. This customer base is perfect for detecting friction and improving it.

Implementing these tactics in your company

There is no manual, although you can make an action plan to start applying the strategies in your company.

1. Audit the current customer process and note all frictions.
2. Prioritize the most critical points, which would be the bottlenecks in your processes.
3. Develop internal processes that improve the customer experience, based on the previous points.
4. Re-use retention indicators to measure progress.
5. Optimize what has room for improvement and discard what did not work.
6. Repeat.

We looked at the best way to retain a customer: eliminate all friction along with an immediate and reliable experience. It is worth reviewing existing processes and applying small actions starting today. It is a process of trial and error, but from now on you will have data to help you on this journey.