The outbreak of COVID-19 has impacted everyone’s life and forced them to stay locked in their respective homes. It has unfolded quickly and is evolving daily bringing new challenges our way. This uncertainty has affected all businesses and left the entrepreneurs in mess and panic, especially the small and medium scale. Due to this, every country’s economy is at stake and is moving at the pace of a snail. Everyone is trying their best to keep up with their business and recover the losses.
The first and primary concern for any small business is to retain its customers. Now that all the traditional ways of marketing have slumped because of COVID-19, you need to find new strategies to retain your customers.
Impact and outcome
Although social distancing is good for the health of people, it is having a negative impact on businesses. Because everyone is staying at home, the foot traffic has fallen steeply and is causing a loss for every business, irrespective of the sector. It can also have a greater impact for a long time than anyone could anticipate.
Despite being socially distant, there are many ways to stay connected with the audience and the customers. Social distancing has led to the growth of OTT platforms, social media, and online content generation. Your online presence can create a positive impact on your business, now and in the long run. It also allows you to adapt and provide the best of your services during this ongoing situation.
Several companies are enjoying the merits of online advertisements to keep up with their business. You should too, trust us it is one of the best ways to retain customers. Below mentioned are a few best customer retention strategies.
Top strategies to retain your customers
1. Double the communication rate
Troubled by the question, how to retain customers who are leaving? At this phase, communication is the key and one of the best ways to retain customers. The COVID-19 situation is evolving and changing each day and we don’t know how all the things will turn out in the coming days. Due to restricted physical access to stores and other businesses, everyone is panicking on how to get the supplies. As long as you maintain a good relationship and communication with the customer, they will worry less and stick to you.
Keeping the customers in the loop by providing all the information about the ongoing situation is very important. For instance, notify them with all the necessary information if you are closing your physical chain and moving to an online portal. The best way to communicate with your audience is via your website, email newsletters or social media handles.
2. Promote gift cards and vouchers
Promotion of vouchers and gift cards is another one of the best customer retention strategies that you can include to market your business. While your customers cannot physically access anything, they tend to spend a maximum of their time on the internet. Marketing your gift cards and vouchers with attractive listings and appealing prices will surely fetch the attention of many customers.
Gift cards and vouchers assure you that your customers will return to your company once the situation settles. They provide instant cash infusion and also help your business and sales stay afloat until the situation becomes normal.
3. Stream your services online
So what if everything is shut and people are quarantined? That doesn’t mean you stop working and suffer all the losses. If not physical you can continue providing services to your customers digitally. There is no running this fact that digital platforms are our present and our future.
Whether you are running a store, content generation company, or a clothing line, allowing your customers to enjoy all the services from the comfort of their home is the best policy you can follow. Irrespective of what business you are running, an online platform is the best option to adapt to this ongoing phase.
Many of the companies having physical services can shift their business to an online platform overnight. And don’t worry, shifting platforms is no difficult thing. You can hire one of the many companies working in the market to assist you in shifting the entire process.
4. Adjust your offerings to meet the current demand
In the current situation where everyone is socially distant, people will not demand every service and product offerings sold by your company. Here is the thing, customers will not prefer buying fashionable clothes in this situation, right? Rather everyone will look for necessities that are required at the current state. So it is best to offer services and offers that meet the consumer demands and the present situation.
For instance, common people will look for groceries, hand sanitizer, milk, and other basic items. As far as businesses are concerned, they will look for ways to run their business on an online platform or work on strengthening their SEO based content. Offer your services and products accordingly.
5. Discounts are an advantage
Here is another great solution to your question, how to retain customers who are leaving. Discounts have a great power to attract new customers as well as retain the old ones. If the profit margin of your business is good you can introduce discounts on your products and services to entice the consumer for the long term. With this, the customers will have something to look forward to after everything gets over. In this way, you can run your business as well as make considerable profits.
Suppose you run a gym, offer a yearly membership at discounted prices. The software designers can reduce their prices or include other services with the package. Retail stores can consider discounted or free shipping for orders placed online.
6. Focus on entertainment
To keep your customers engaged, you should recognize their needs for entertainment. This quarantine period your customers are surely craving for it. If any of your upcoming events got cancelled, you can move them online without having a social gathering. In this case, streaming the events Live on Instagram or Facebook can come in pretty handy. It is fun as well as a good way to attract the crowd, maintain business, and build goodwill.
If it was your anniversary or opening of a new branch, share it live on social media handles. You can be creative and also offer special coupons or discounts to the first 50 or 100 lucky people.
This is a difficult phase for both consumers and businesses but it will surely pass and situations will become normal with time. Now is the time to keep trying and not give up on your business. Understand the needs of your customers, be innovative, adaptable, creative, and plan your strategies accordingly.
Penned By: Anuja Patil
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