8 Essential Customer Retention Strategies for Local Businesses (That Work In 2024)
November 26th, 2024
Looking for Something In Particular?
If there’s any important lesson that local business owners should know: Getting a new customer can cost you 5x more than keeping an existing customer.
And while it’s important to keep your marketing consistent and draw in new people to your local business, keeping your current customers is just as important (if not, more).
If there’s any important lesson that local business owners should know: Getting a new customer can cost you 5x more than keeping an existing customer. And while it’s important to keep your marketing consistent and draw in new people to your local business, keeping your current customers is just as important (if not, more).
How Do You Retain Customers?
The truth is, you can’t expect your customers to come back a second time, no matter how good your product or service is. And while you can’t brainwash them to walk through your doors everyday, there are 8 essential strategies you can use to retain customers for your local business. They’re so effective, and you can even start implementing them today.
8 Essential Customer Retention Strategies For Local Businesses
Stick around till the end to know which strategies you should start using today!
1. Perform Excellent Service/Sell An Amazing Product To Increase Customer Retention
80% of your customer retention will come from your core offer.
If you have a top-tier roofing service that’s better than every other roofing company in your area, you’ll most likely already have a loyal customer base.
And if you sell products, the better it is, the more customers will stick around. There are infinite opportunities to improve your core offer - you just have to find them.
Pro Tip: Use the “1st Date” approach when meeting new customers. You want to leave the best 1st impression imaginable, so they remember you, tell all their friends about you, and want to schedule the 2nd date. Or in this case, buying your product/service again.
2. Dial In Your Customer Service To Increase Customer Retention
Let’s face it, we’ve all had bad experiences with customer service. Whether it be slow response times, snobby employees that look down on you, avoiding your questions, etc. Be the opposite. When problems arise, genuinely look after your customers and ensure they get what they need, even if that means it costs you extra to handle refunds. High quality customer service = increased customer retention. Amazon wouldn’t be a household name if they didn’t accept returns.
Oftentimes, you won’t lose a customer from a minor inconvenience. But if you handle it badly and don’t put the customer first, be prepared to see them walk out the door…
This means you’ll also have to hire the right people who speak the customer service language.
High-quality customer service doesn’t just put out short-term fires, they keep your business flourishing.
3. Personalize Your Service To Increase Customer Retention
One of the best practices for maintaining client relationships for local businesses is personalization. Customers will remember you if you do something out of the ordinary just for them.
And if they like you more than other brands, you’ll increase your customer retention. The best and most creative way to do this as a local business is to go the extra mile and personalize your service.
Here are some ideas you can steal:
Birthday emails
Gifts for repeat customers
Handwritten notes with your signature
Remembering customer preferences and giving tailored services
Priority service
Custom product options at no additional cost
Countless other opportunities depending on your business
Every customer wants to feel valuable. So do what it takes to achieve that. And more.
4. Social Media Engagement To Increase Customer Retention
If you have a social media account, and you aren’t using it as a customer retention strategy, what are you using it for?! Social media marketing is one of the most effective ways to retain customers (if you do it right). And it’s all about engaging your followers.
But for now, get active on social media to increase customer loyalty.
5. Host Exclusive Events To Increase Customer Retention
As a local business owner, this is a golden opportunity for you. Because your customer base is all local, take advantage of the proximity by hosting exclusive events for long-standing customers only. It can be an event to give away free stuff to your VIP customers. Or it can be something completely unrelated to your business, like a free party at your local country club.
6. Seek Feedback Regularly (And Actually Implement It) To Increase Customer Retention
We’ve all had our complaints with how certain businesses operate. And when we finally muster up the courage to speak up and voice our concerns, it’s frustrating to see that feedback being thrown straight to the shredder. Be the company that not only hears customers out, but actually implements the feedback. According to Forbes, 77% of consumers view brands more favorably if they seek out and apply customer feedback. That’s the ticket to increasing customer retention for local businesses.
Getting feedback is more than just sending out a survey. Speak to your customers (face to face if you can) - they’ll tell you everything you need to do to increase customer retention.
After all, you can’t read their minds, no matter how well you think you know them. It’s important you regularly seek feedback, because reviews from 2 years ago won’t tell you anything about the current state of your business.
No, we’re not talking about logos, fancy websites, catchy slogans, or high-budget Instagram reels. Branding is all about the core values and the message your company represents. Your brand is the soul of your business, and can be the X factor to separate you from your competitors. And if it’s a brand that aligns with your ideal customers’ values, you’ll keep them around forever.
Pro Tip: Email marketing is a great way to collect customer feedback at a mass level.
7. Incentivize Customer Retention With Loyalty Programs
Loyalty programs are a fantastic way to increase your customer retention. If your customers feel like they’re a part of an exclusive club and get rewarded for sticking around, they have no reason to switch brands. And if you stack it with other marketing tactics like referrals, you can turn this into a high converting feature of your business model.
And there are a ton of ways to structure them that both increase customer retention and highly benefit your customers. Offer exclusive discounts, let them be the first to buy your new products, add additional gifts to their orders, and so much more! How do you make your loyalty program appealing to your customers? Make it so beneficial that they would feel stupid not to join.
8. Build A Brand That Stands The Test Of Time To Increase Customer Retention
If you paid attention to these strategies, you’ll notice that they all have one thing in common: Building strong relationships with your customers. And that’s what business is all about.
Building customer retention and loyalty is a slow process, but with these strategies, you should have a ton of new ideas to strengthen your customer base. The longer you apply these strategies the more loyal your customers become (and then they start to market your business for you).
You’ve likely already defined brand identity, now you just have to communicate it with your audience - we call that marketing. Talk about your company history and values on your website (you can check out our About Page for an example).
Imbue it into your brand voice (like your social media captions), and ensure all of your marketing channels and materials are consistent to your brand. This not only attracts new customers, but your loyal customers will be excited to represent your brand.
If you’ve built a strong brand for your local business but need help marketing it, our Local SEO marketing services make it undeniable that your business gets found on Google. So put that brand to good use, get more eyes on your site, and grow your customer base with Grandir Solutions’ Custom SEO services! Click here to overhaul your marketing.
What Strategy Is Best For You?
We just threw a bunch of effective strategies at you. But now you might be thinking: “Which ones should I use? When should I use them?” Ideally, you can execute all of them, right now. But, if your business is reliant on local customers, the quality of your products/services should always be your top priority. Then start to optimize your customer service, and dive into loyalty programs and exclusive offers once you have the means.
Remember, seeing as little as a 5% increase in customer retention makes a massive impact on your profit. It may be the difference between staying stuck, and scaling. Good luck!
Use stories to give your customers a glimpse behind the scenes. Use polls, quizzes, and giveaways to let your customers in on the fun. Respond to comments and direct messages to show that there’s a face behind your brand.
If your customers make posts with your products/services, repost them! This will lead into another strategy we’ll get into later.
This strategy can be expensive because you want events to be special, and it can be a time consuming process.
But if you have the budget for it, why not put something fun together for your team, and build customer loyalty in the process?
You Might Be Interested In:
Sources:
How do you keep customers coming back for more? Here are some tricks you can stash up your sleeve.