The ingratitude … your brand marketing squad climbed mountains to acquire customers. And what do some of these loyal buyers do? Leave. Not a word. Just out the door.
Known as churning, the flow of departing customers is bad news for brands. It says you failed on some level — whether that be quality, performance, customer care, or any other high stakes area. A slam to the reputation.
Churning also spells big trouble for the bottom line. How bad is the damage? Collectively, brands lose $1.6 trillion each year due to churning. Oddly enough, however, most brands have no churn prevention measures in place.
If the above loss figure isn’t enough to encourage intensive churn prevention/customer retention efforts, consider the following:
According to Harvard Business School, brands can gain a 25% – 95% profit boost by lifting customer retention rates 5%. The institution also reports that existing customers provide 65% of a brand’s business.
Also eye-opening is a report from Gartner, a top research firm. The firm estimates that 20% of existing customers will provide 80% of a company’s future revenue stream.
And for those who go by the odds, Marketing Metrics reports that brands have a 60-70% chance of selling to an existing customer. In striking contrast, the probability of doing the same to new customers is a disheartening 5-20%. Who would you bet on?
Clearly, churn prevention is the surer path to success. One of the best preventatives is to see the gray clouds before they erupt. Many ominous signs and signals are detectable by perceptive brand strategists.
Among the most telling signals is purchase pattern. Depending on the product in play, brands should establish time frames for repeat purchases. For instance, if a customer fails to buy within the span of three months, the inaction could forebode a pending abandonment. Immediate follow up with these non-buyers can deliver valuable insights.
Continued engagement is another customer retention stimulus. Buyers generally appreciate high value content such as product updates, tips, and deals. Not only do such efforts keep your brand in the loop, they demonstrate an unmistakable caring attitude. How important is this factor? Very. About 68% of abandoning customers do so because they believe the brand doesn’t care about them. Something to think about when meeting the challenge of the churn.
If you have any questions or comments about customer churn or any other brand-related topic, feel free to send them our way.
You can connect with the Young Company team at 949-376-8404 #4033 or bart@youngcompany.com. And be sure to follow us for the latest brand marketing news and tips.