subject: Increase Customer Retention By Enriching Customer Experience [print this page] Customer retention is the pre-requisite of any service provision and is the criteria by which a business can be deemed successful. Researchers have proven that the cost of attracting new customers is much more than retaining an existing one. Hence, it has become necessary to enrich the customer experience day-by-day, thereby eliminating the chances of customer exit.
* Customer retention has to be a continuous theme, rather a one-time push. For a successful customer experience drive, there are some guidelines which can be followed:
* Generally, customers can be segregated into categories comprising more profitable and less profitable. Around 20% of the customers account for 80% of the revenues. This research and classification can help in finding the most profitable customers in a large crowd and hence, more attention could be paid to them.
* Customer retention programs have also been launched at various places where the loyal and long-term customers are allowed to meet with the company officials and have a cordial discussion. This get together can help a lot in strengthening the business relationship.
* Every service is confined by two layers- the expected service level and the perceived service level. Customer experience is said to be enriching when the gap between the expected and the perceived is minimal. Service delivery is considered to be above par in this case and the customer automatically sticks to the organization.
* One of the proactive ways to enhance customer experience is to assess the needs of customers in advance. This makes the customers happier as they get the feeling that the organisation understands them and considers them an integral part of the business. This gives them no desire to go to other organizations.
* Customers should be given a chance to provide feedback, tell what they expect out of the service and so on. This will also help the organization in improving upon its processes and also think differently according to different customer choices.
A good customer experience is the key to success in any business and the foundation stone for retaining loyal and revenue generating customers.
