Churn rate, also known as cancellation rate, is the percentage of customers who have cancelled a product or service within a given time period. Ideally, businesses want to reduce this to as close to 0{21dc2fe1b43c4cf57a2e25a56b286f09fbb32a45ddf34dcf04be366972dd7b06} as possible. However, rather than focusing on rates, it is more important to understand how to develop customer loyalty and increase sales.
Let’s look at some of these ways to keep customers paying and improving your bottom line:
1. Talk to Your Customers
For too many companies, the only times they talk to their customers are when:
- The company wants to upsell or suggestive sell the customer
- The customer has a problem and needs to talk to the company
While for some customers, this is optimal, they will notify the company if they have any problems, for others it is important that you stay in the front of their minds as the optimal choice for answering their pain points.
Customers do not want to search for ways to connect with you. If they have questions or compliments, they want to make contact fast, which can be offered in a number of different ways, as we’ll look at below.
Customer Satisfaction Surveys
Surveys can garner a lot of feedback from your customers, but they have to ask the right questions. You need to keep it short and precise. Ask the questions that matter and do so in an order that follows natural thinking processes.
Leave boxes for customers to fill in. Let them tell you what they think and give you insights, instead of multiple-choice, which limits people. If you want yes/no answers, provide space for people to tell you more or expand if they want.
Feedback Bar
A feedback bar allows customers who want to comment, often in complementary ways, about your product or service, business or brand in an easy and accessible manner.
If you don’t know how to build a feedback bar, you can check out a tool like UserVoice or Qualaroo.
There are also many live chat options available for customers who need to chat but don’t want to use the phone.
Emails Announcing New Features
When businesses announce a new feature or have company news, it is important to welcome feedback. It is as simple as including a link in an email so people can respond, fast.
Take advantage of people opening your emails. They may be willing to provide feedback when it is made easy and especially if you have an exceptional service or product that deserves praise.
Social Media
Social media is a very useful tool for communicating with customers. Chatbots and auto-replies are a great way to keep people engaged, and messaging is a simple method that many customers look for to get a fast response or make appointments.
2. Know Your Weaknesses
Do you know:
- Why people do not sign up for your service?
- Where your company is failing customers?
To offer improved services or products, you need to understand what you are doing wrong – and every business or company is doing something wrong. By identifying the areas that are weak in your business, you can improve them or change the conversation if you are unable to change the situation.
There are people who actively try to take your customers, steal your revenue, and become the market leader. They’re your competitors, and some of them are the scrappy disruptive startups that may have a better plan for your customers. For this reason, it is important that you are honest about your weaknesses and keep addressing them, moving forward and always changing to meet with what people demand from your industry.
3. Deliver on Your Competitive Advantage
People became customers of your product because you offer some unique advantage that they cannot get anywhere else. If you neglect this or fail to deliver, customers go elsewhere.
Athleisure retailer LuLulemon is synonymous with yoga. They capitalise on their products’ high quality, adaptability and desirability. The high price point means that the brand is associated not only with quality products but also with a ‘type’ of buyer.
If you make a list, make sure every employee is aware of it. It will help reinforce the brand’s uniqueness and help deliver on that competitive advantage that you promised customers.
When you survey your customers or talk to them, you can ask them if you’re delivering on your competitive advantage.
4. Know Why Customers Cancel
You need to understand why customers cancel orders so that you can improve your response.
Some companies ask outgoing customers why they cancelled. They then can use this data to better understand their business and their customers, and they can make any necessary adjustments.
For example, if an answer is “I could never get good enough use out of it to justify the cost,” you know two things.
- First, your product might not provide enough value.
- Second, you may need to help customers better understand your product.
People are often willing to pay more for a product that has numerous benefits against the same product that is of lower quality that seemingly does the same things. If your product is separated by a clear point of difference or benefit your customers are more likely to follow through with a purchase.
5. Avoid Snap Decisions and Bad PR
Bad PR is unavoidable for any company that grows and becomes large enough. There are thousands of stories about businesses making poor judgments that in the boardroom sounded okay, but in reality have failed because of a failure to read public perception, or even push ahead greedily.
If you make a decision as a company, such as to raise prices, it’s always best to think of the possible ramifications and seek experts who have had experience raising prices. What lessons can they teach you? What do you think the reaction from customers will be? What are the pros and cons?
Knowing some of these answers before making a decision can help you to decide if it is the right business decision, and help you prepare for the backlash.
Here are a few tips for dealing with bad PR, whether it’s from your own decisions or system errors:
- Apologize
- Admit the error and explain how you’re helping the people affected
- Tell what you’ve learned and how you’ll prevent problems like this in the future
- State that you look forward to continuing to serve customers with the <enter your competitive advantage> you’ve come to expect from us
Managing bad situations requires transparency, a working of company values and show of leadership solidarity. Companies that are able to weather bad PR storms are often those that are the biggest and most aggressive when it comes to rebranding to suit the current climate, diverting people’s attention away from the issue and refocusing on the company’s competitive advantage.
6. Offer the Best Product
Customers have a lot of options. You’re probably not the only one that offers a solution to a specific problem. Don’t think that customers aren’t aware of your competitors or willing to switch if presented with the right offer.
This is why, when you release a new feature or email customers, you’ll want to remind them of the quality of your product. This means informing customers of new innovations, why your product or service is superior and offering content that is value-adding for the client.
Here is a possible example of an email transaction:
Customer:
Hello <company name>,
I’m having trouble uploading a file from my desktop to your product. Can you help?
Thanks,
<name>
Company Response:
Hello <name>,
To upload a file, simply follow these directions:
___
___
___
<company name> is the only product that lets you upload files from any mobile device. To do this, simply download our app:
<link>
We’re working hard every day to improve our services for you. If you have any questions, email me, call me, or contact us at:
<email>
<number>
We are listening, and we love getting feedback from our customers!
Thanks for choosing <company name>!
<name>
<position>
<phone number>
This example reminds customers of why your product is unique and what value it offers them. It does not look to sell or add-on, but simply to inform and direct customers so that they know you really are offering the best products and services, hopefully increasing their loyalty to your brand.
While customers will cancel orders, it is important to know why and ensure that those cancellations are not based on things that you could influence. Your product or service quality, your customer service standards, your connection with customers, honesty about your business and values and accessible positioning will enable you to improve your churn rate and revenue.
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