Paper cites nine ways to retain customers

A new white paper from Allegiance provides details of nine key ways in which marketers can better retain their customers in a marketplace that does not follow traditional rules.

The paper, entitled 'Retaining Customers in Tough Economic Times', includes insights on how to identify defecting customers, understand what is causing them to leave, take action to keep them coming back, and prevent them from leaving in the future.

According to Kyle La Malfa, Allegiance's best practices manager, "The current economic climate is causing customers to be more selective about where and with which businesses they spend their money. As a result, many companies are losing customers rapidly."

It is estimated that the average business now loses between ten and thirty percent of its customers annually. To address this, some businesses have as many as 35 or more tools in place to listen to the voice of the customer. However, these tools frequently duplicate efforts and consume much time and resources.

As a result, companies are increasingly turning to web-based systems (such as Allegiance's own Engage Enterprise Feedback Management system), which allow them to collect customer feedback through multiple channels (email, web, print, and phone) into a central database, for subsequent analysis and action.

According to the paper, once a comprehensive feedback system is in place, companies should focus on several key areas to identify ways to improve customer retention. For example:

1. The type of customer feedback and the percentage in each feedback category (complaints, suggestions, comments, and concerns).
    
2. The channel most used by customers to provide feedback (for example, web, phone, and in-person).
    
3. The underlying drivers of customer loyalty and engagement, such as their emotional bond to the business.
    
4. The current strength and depth of customer loyalty and engagement.
    
5. The trends in customer loyalty and engagement levels over time.
    
6. The opportunities for new revenue and growth.

The white paper has been made available for free download from Allegiance's web site - click here (free registration required).