• by Guy Maser , June 16, 2009

There's a saying in the business world: Customer acquisition is an investment, but profitability is built on customer retention. And with the economy in its current state, it's more important than ever to keep the customers you have.

<>p> When we surveyed our user base of engineering, technical, manufacturing and industrial marketers at the beginning of this year, 13% indicated that customer retention is their primary marketing goal in 2009, up from just 5% last year. This increase can be attributed to the fact that companies cannot afford to lose customers now, and many realize that it is easier and more cost-effective to retain current customers than it is to find new ones.

So how do you retain your customers and earn their loyalty? It's like any successful relationship: If you want customers to be loyal to you, you must be loyal to them. For starters, you must have a product or service that delivers as advertised, but that's just the minimum requirement -- kind of like dressing appropriately and smiling on a first date.

Follow these strategies to keep your customers loyal to your company.

Provide Stellar Customer Service

Customer service is the key differentiator for companies that offer similar products and services. Customers have problems; they want them solved. Customers have questions; they want them answered. The winning company makes it easy for customers to speak with a service representative -- a real person, not an interactive voice response system -- who has the authority to resolve a customer's issue and make them happy.

The problem with some companies is that they see customer service only as a cost center, which leads to constantly trying to cut customer service costs. Rather, customer service should be considered a customer retention initiative -- or in the best of cases a profit center, if your customer service team is trained at cross-selling and up-selling appropriate products and services to customers. A change in perspective can equal a change in service.

Make Your Web Site a Customer Self-Service Center

It's more cost-effective to have people answer customer service telephone calls if your Web site is set up to answer most customer service questions and easy for customers find those answers. Your call volume will decrease, and customer needs will still be met.

Consider a customer-only area of your Web site that provides support information, refund and exchange policies, FAQs, interactive discussions and message boards, or click-to-chat functions. Plus, be sure to have up-to-date and comprehensive product information available and special offers just for customers.

Use E-mail to Communicate with Customers

It is hard to foster customer loyalty if your customers forget about you. A great way to stay in touch is through e-mail. Establish a regular customer-only e-newsletter and send customers information that is relevant and helpful to them: white papers, technical articles, invitations to Webinars, and links to industry news stories.

While there's nothing wrong with promoting new products to customers, your main objective in customer retention e-mail should be educational rather than promotional. If you help them do their job better, they are more likely to come back to you when they have a need for products or services.

Pick Up the Phone

Begin an organized effort in your company to call customers at regular intervals, simply to see how they are doing or if they need anything. A courtesy call can go a long way towards establishing customer loyalty. Sales representatives for each account are ideal, but it doesn't have to work that way in order to be successful. The caller should know how to route a call to the appropriate person in your organization if a customer needs help.

Establish Customer-Friendly Policies

Have you ever been a customer of a company that retired a product without continuing to support it? Have you ever faced strict return or exchange policies? Poor warranty support? This is a good way to send customers fleeing to competitors.

An organization focused on customer retention and loyalty will always realize the consequences of any policies that are not customer-friendly.

To foster a healthy long-term relationship with customers, you must do much more than provide a good product or service. You must pay attention to your customer needs and meet them. There are always competitors ready to lure your customer away. And there are always customers who will switch given any slight, perceived or real. Following these steps above will help minimize the chances of this happening.

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