Values

On a fundamental level, if you wish to see repeat customers you need to engender certain values they associate with your brand…

  • Trust. 
  • Loyalty.
  • Happiness (hmm, maybe the boat is a good idea).

These are fairly nebulous emotional concepts I agree, and ones that would make your Marketing Automation Robot blow a diode. However there are simple processes you can do to foster the above.

For a start your business at its core must be…

  • Reliable.
  • Credible.
  • Relevant to the customer.

These are three of the most important things that need to be looked at if you want to strengthen your customer retention.

Achieving customer retention

There are some really helpful resources from around the blog that can help your retention effort, this is just a brief distillation of a few effective strategies.

Go above and beyond the call of duty

Zappos has a clever policy of under promising and over-delivering. As revealed in these 10 lessons Zappos teaches us about staff and customer retention Zappos promises delivery within five business days but the majority of orders are shipped overnight.

This may just seem like simple ‘covering one’s arse’ however imagine how happy that customer will be after receiving their order four days early.

Be entirely customer focused

Don’t just say you are customer focused, every company says they’re customer focused, of course they are otherwise they wouldn’t exist, actually prove that everything you do has the best possible customer experience in mind.

Continue to care after the purchase

Hyatt Hotels real-time concierge service is a fantastic example of providing after-care with social customer service.

Notice the fact that this wasn’t a direct @mention. This was a clearly loyal customer talking about the company in general. Hyatt Concierge was monitoring Twitter for mentions and engaged directly with them. It certainly puts Hyatt foremost in mind and is a neat little surprise for the follower.

Make you checkout as fast and smooth as possible

Customers hate hassle. They also hate distractions, confusing messaging and most of all lengthy forms to fill in.

Simplify checkout with as few screens as possible, only ask for the bare minimum of information, offer faster payment options and best of all offer a guest checkout option.

Be a brand with a personality

The US outdoor retailer Moosejaw has a consistently hilarious and quirky tone of voice that runs through all of its website copy, advertising and customer service channels, including live chat. It’s a pleasure to return to and follow on all of its channels. 

In fact copywriting can be a powerful tool in encouraging customer retention. Ecommerce doesn’t often offer the most glittering copy, but if you do then you’ll certainly stand out from the crowd. Why else do you think I keep wittering on about a boat? (I think it’s called onboarding? I might have to look that one up.)

Being personable or funny or a bit weird is far more appealing then offering dry technical specifications. It gives customers a reason to engage with you, love you and come back to you.

Now let’s buy a boat!

Just look at this picture. That could be me and you in there.

Further reading for beginners…

During my first year at Econsultancy I’ve been making a point of writing beginner’s guides to any new terms or phrases I find particularly baffling, or that I might suspect other people may find baffling too. 

The following related articles should help clear up a few things:

Our Festival of Marketing event in November is a two day celebration of the modern marketing industry, featuring speakers from brands including LEGO, Tesco, Barclays, FT.com and more.