Published on: signalscv.com  Attracting new customers is undoubtedly essential when running a business but nurturing the ones you have is key to sustainable growth. Although no company can retain all customers because of different reasons, around 65% of your profitability comes from current customers. Unfortunately, many businesses ignore this aspect, as they don’t have a robust customer retention strategy, which affects them in the long run. Essentially, customer retention refers to a business’s ability to ensure customers continue buying from them over time rather than switching to competitors. Why is it so important to focus on it? Well, acquiring new customers can cost 25 times more than retaining current ones!  Besides, a Harvard Business School study has shown that boosting customer retention rates by as little as 5% can significantly enhance profits (by even a staggering 95%!). Long-term customers tend to spend more money on your products as they are more likely to try new services or products, and if they are pleased with their experience, they can become brand ambassadors and generate even more leads. Unfortunately, businesses lose customers easily due to something as simple as not implementing enough payment solutions (given that many people buy bitcoin these days, it only makes sense to meet customers where they are and ensure they can find their preferred payment method).  But there are numerous other factors (both subjective and objective ones) that can impact the purchasing decisions of your customers as well as the retention rate. Below, we will explore the most common reasons businesses struggle with customer retention and provide solutions to handle them effectively. Read on!  Focusing too much on attracting new customers Building a solid customer base is essential to growing a profitable business. However, given that around 80% of your revenue comes from around 20% of clients, you need to focus your marketing efforts on nurturing current customers who’ve bought from you already. Focusing on acquisition rather than retention will only get you so far, so continue to invest your customer success efforts into building long-term relationships and boosting engagement so customers can be loyal to you in the long run.  Neglecting customer feedback It’s important to check whether customers are happy with the quality of customer support, the products, and their entire experience with your business. If there are any areas where they face friction throughout the journey, it’s essential to focus on improving their experience, but you will only know what steps to take next if you ask your customers for feedback. If you don’t pay attention to this feedback, you can miss out on significant opportunities to get valuable insights where you may need improvement. Taking customers’ opinions into account is a significant contribution to retention, so if you haven’t already done it, make sure to build a robust customer feedback strategy by implementing CES surveys or CSAT surveys, which will enable you to gain a deeper understanding of their most important needs.  Not delivering personalized experiences  Nowadays, customers don’t want brands to see them just as numbers but rather as humans with real needs and emotions. This is why businesses must leverage personalization, which allows them to shape customer experiences and enhance retention. Several studies have shown that 63% of customers will stop purchasing from brands that don’t invest in the proper personalization tactics, while 98% of marketers consider that personalization can make a difference in their relationship with customers. Hence, it’s of the utmost importance to leverage data analytics and learn more about customers’ behavior, needs, interests and preferences. With the data-driven information you’ve acquired, you can improve your marketing campaigns and deliver more customized experiences to your customers.  Lacking a human touch in interactions with customers  Although automation has increased quickly, and many AI-powered systems and chatbots can be used in business, many customers still prefer human interaction, especially for customer service engagements. Unfortunately, studies have shown that 59% of customers feel that businesses have forgotten to focus on the human element when it comes to customer experience. Obviously, this can only have a negative impact on customer retention, so even if you integrate automated solutions, make sure to allow customers to interact with human agents because this will make a tremendous difference in their experience.   Not investing in customer loyalty initiatives  Most business leaders agree that retaining emotionally committed customers is easier. However, loyalty often comes due to the efforts of the company, which can be seen in loyalty programs, special offers, and so on. In fact, the data shows that 80% of consumers continue buying from a business due to the loyalty programs they provide. With this in mind, make sure to enhance your customer loyalty strategy and provide incentives that make sense for your business, bringing value to consumers. Ultimately, this will be the key to boosting engagement and retaining more clients in the long run.  Not keeping up with competitors  Today’s business landscape is very competitive, with customers having access to multiple products and services. This means that if their experience isn’t fulfilling when buying from you, they can easily switch to other brands to get a better value proposition. In fact, 58% of global consumers have switched brands over the past year mainly because they are looking for better product quality. If you’re in SaaS, it becomes even more important to continue improving your products alongside the tech advancements, as this allows you to adapt to evolving customer needs and market standards. Our recommendation is to invest your resources and time in enhancing the quality of your offering so you can deliver top-notch value to consumers and make sure your products live up to the expectations of consumers and are on par with major rivals – otherwise, it will be just a matter of time until they switch to a competitor who embraces new tech to upgrade their products.  Takeaway  Customer retention isn’t easy! In fact, it takes a lot of time and effort, but it’s undoubtedly worth it when you consider the payoff. So, make sure to focus on building long-term relationships with your current customers by keeping them happy.   The post Are you struggling to retain customers in your business? Here are the reasons why it may happen appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.