Expert Tips: How to Improve Customer Retention via Top-tier Customer Service

An Asian female customer smiles as she demonstrates the benefit to high-quality CX which in-turn fosters positive word-of-mouth, bringing new customers to go-global businesses.

Following the pandemic, 2022’s become a year in which global brands can recover/foster sales growth anew — contributing to a stronger global gross domestic product (GDP). A 3rd party states: 66 global economies — representing 96% of global GDP — expect to reach pre-pandemic output levels by 2022’s end. With such a positive outlook, it’s crucial for global companies to consider the importance of customer retention in their brand strategy and how their return on investment (ROI)/brand loyalty can become more successful upon improving customer retention.

Customer Acquisition vs. Customer Retention & Its Importance to Brand Success

There’s a common saying global corporations take very seriously:

“The acquisition of new customers is 5–10 times
more costly than selling to existing customers.”

While customer acquisition is important for business growth, it involves more money, time, energy, and resources than retaining current customers. On the other hand, customer retention provides long-term advantages for success:

• Cost Benefits — international businesses can receive marketing cost-savings (not having to invest so much in acquiring new customers); likewise, as even a 5% increase in customer retention ensures increased profits by minimum 25% to 95%, existing customers are ripe opportunities for cross-selling, reselling, up-selling, and longer product subscriptions/service subscriptions.
• Increased Average Order Value (AOV) — global companies can increase AOV since loyal customers are 23% more likely to spend more money than the average/new customer, ensuring gross profit rises.
• Customers as Brand Ambassadors –approx. 60% of consumers that’ve enjoyed pleasant CX share their positive experiences with friends, family, and others, ensuring customer acquisition grows without having to spend an extra penny.
• Incrementation in Profit Margins –customer retention has a positive impact on business’ bottom line — as data demonstrates existing customers provide approx. 65% of a company’s sales profits.

Understanding how customer retention increases sales market competition, ensuring vital long-term sales benefits, brings global businesses — like yours — improved ROI and customer loyalty growth; let’s see how to improve your customer retention efforts via high-quality customer service so your business can find a stronger, long-term competitive drive in the global sales market.

How to Improve Your Retention via Top-quality Customer Service through Customer Retention Management

Customer Retention Management

To improve your customer retention rate, it’s important to consider there’re tried-and-true customer retention tactics business’ customer success teams can employ to create delightful customer satisfaction experiences and encourage customers to do long-term business with you. One customer retention strategy is Customer Retention Management — “the actions businesses take to foster customer loyalty over a period of time;” retention management is a surefire way of improving retention as it relies on real customer data and incorporates customer-centric sub-strategies meant to increase customer loyalty, leading to increased lifetime value over time.

Specific Customer Service Tips for Improving Retention

While retention management incorporates various actions that successfully increase customer retention, we’ll focus on 6 specific customer engagement tips meant to improve customer relations with new/existing customers, fostering long-term loyal customer opportunities.

• Understand your current retention rate — the first step a successful customer retention strategy is getting accurate data on your current retention rate — calculated as:
• [(# End-of-Period Customers — # Customers Acquired
  During Period) / # Customers at Period Start] x 100
  Once done, it’s suggested to audit your churned customers to determine any similarities in reasons for leaving or categories of customers that leave.
• Build customer loyalty programs — highly-valued customers are long-term customers. Customer loyalty/rewards programs show value to your customers because they offer incentives for keeping business with your company; this may come in the form of: loyalty bonuses, rewards for customer referrals, user-generated content, and/or gamification.
• Ensure efficient service — along with the last two bullet points, your service teams should ensure rapid, efficient service by making sure the processes involved with getting products/services delivered to your customers and products/service issues rectified are smoothly-implemented:
  - foster pleasant shipping processes by communicating expectations accurately, ensuring accurate data is inputted, going above-and-beyond to get customers their shipping data, and offering shipping discounts/options when available,
  - ensure smooth operations by having your customer service representatives (CSRs)/technical support specialists understand how to successfully meet required customer service KPIs — as doing so guarantees customers receive quick service that promotes next-level CX, and
  - have your customer service/tech support teams gather all needed info. to provide fast, effective product/service troubleshooting so customers can enjoy products/services with ease, guaranteeing their trust/loyalty.
• Empower customers with effective tools for success — it’s important to arm customers with the right tools so they can receive efficient service:
  - provide omnichannel support access — such as inbound/outbound phone, SMS, email, live web chat, social media, etc.,
  - whether inbound calling and/or live chat access is provided, consumers should have automated support options — such as chatbot access and/or interactive voice response (IVR),
  - include a comprehensive FAQ section on your company website,
  - provide customers a hassle-free return policy to foster a sense of trust, and
  - send company newsletters via email automation so customers can receive company updates/special offers.
• Utilize native language customer support where possible — along the lines of omni-channel service support, another key to ensuring smooth service is by cutting out language barriers between your customer support/customers; effective language speakers with a strong understanding of local language proficiency and local culture fosters smooth communication from the first point of contact to the last, creating lasting brand relationships that bring long-term sales/lifetime value.
• Clearly communicate/set expectations between customer success teams and customers from the get-go — during customer engagement, it’s important to provide clear instructions/set realistic expectations to/for customers regarding steps needed to resolve service questions/concerns they may have; by ensuring customers know what they should do — likewise ensuring they know what you’ll need to do — your business can provide the best support in the least amount of time, ensuring customers get their support needs handled effectively/efficiently — which increases customer satisfaction, leading to stronger retention metrics.

Callnovo’s Expertise in Customer Service Outsourcing — a Strong Advantage to Improving Customer Retention

A smiling customer service agent shows her excitement as she was just informed that the go-global eCommerce brand she provides top-notch pre-sales/after-sales customer service to has received a plethora of 5-star reviews based on her excellent customer support.

The above customer retention improvement tips through next-level customer service guarantee your go-global business can foster pleasant CX, leading to long-term brand loyalty/sales success. To compliment/enhance your retention efforts, Callnovo Contact Center — a one-stop, global 17+ tenure customer engagement leader in customer service outsourcing solutions — is ready to grandly support your business with superb multilingual, omnichannel customer service outsourcing solutions that provide vital long-term brand loyalty advantages for go-global businesses like yours.

Some benefits are:

• A Comprehensive Recruitment/Onboarding Process — from initial recruitment to customer service excellence throughout, Callnovo’s HR department ensures the most qualified native language-speaking customer service/tech support experts that excel in all expertise areas businesses require, focusing on key service factors such as: top native language proficiency levels, strong customer service soft-skills, customer-centric enthusiasm and service attitude, logical thinking skills, product/troubleshooting service experience — amongst others.
• Native Language Support: Callnovo’s native language customer support ensures you can professionally/pleasantly meet customers’ needs rapidly/efficiently, securing quality conversations that conform to cultural expectations, improving customer acquisition/retention numbers.
• Round-the-Clock Service: due to Callnovo’s tailored plans according to your own service needs, your business can maximize customers’ satisfaction and CX by meeting customers’ needs at all times — without limits.

Conclusion

Improving customer retention via retention management strategies such as the above-mentioned tips for securing excellent customer service grandly ensures your global business benefits from long-term brand loyalty. To help you accomplish this endeavor, Callnovo Contact Center offers a comprehensive multilingual, omnichannel customer service outsourcing solution to meet customers’ CX expectations by proportioning superb customer satisfaction experiences that increase ROI, customer retention, customer loyalty, and secure long-term sales success.