A recent feature from Time Business & Money spotlights an important part of any business plan - a customer retention strategy. Repeat customers can account for 40% of overall revenue for an individual business, according to SumAll. Acquiring (or re-acquiring) those customers is also less costly than acquiring new business, with only 25% of a marketing and sales budget necessary to keep customers coming back. Still, when a business is focused upon growing, its easy to lose track of loyalty. Time has five easy steps for your business to tackle right now in order to make sure you keep a hold on your hard-earned customers.
One easy step is to measure results against customer expectations. Depending upon what your business is, this may mean a follow-up call, an email survey: whatever method seems most appropriate. Gauging how much your product or service achieved the desired result helps you adjust if there's an issue and lets your client know you care. That way, even if their expectations were not met, you can lay the groundwork for future business with them by demonstrating your eagerness to deliver.
To read the other four tips, visit Time.