B2B Customer Retention Strategies That You Need to Know

A happy customer is a loyal customer. And, a loyal customer is one that will keep purchasing. For B2B companies, especially ones that focus on monthly recurring revenue, retaining your customers is crucial. But, we all know that it’s not as easy as it sounds to not only convert leads, but to keep them coming back. In this article, we’re going to go over what customer retention is, why it’s important, and explore customer retention strategies that you need to know to keep your customers coming back for more.

What is Customer Retention?

Customer retention refers to the ability of a company to retain its customers over an extended time period. It is often measured as the percentage of existing customers who continue to do business with a company during a set time period. Here are a few ways that customer retention is so important in B2B.

Cost Efficiency

Acquiring new customers can be up to five times more expensive than retaining existing customers. In B2B companies, where the sales cycles tend to be even longer and more complex. As a result, this cost can be even higher. By focusing on customer retention strategies, companies can reduce their acquisition costs and improve their return on investment.

Increased Revenue

Returning customers are more likely to make repeated purchases and spend more over time. In fact, a study by Bain & Company reports that a 5% increase in customer retention can lead to a 25-95% increase in profit. This is because existing customers are already familiar with your product, see the value in it, and are more likely to make additional purchases.

Customer Advocacy

Satisfied and loyal customers are more likely to refer your business to others. Whether it be from word of mouth, or a case study, advocacy can have a lot of pull with others. We’ll get into some ways that you can leverage customer advocacy later on.

Customer Retention vs Customer Acquisition

Customer retention and acquisition are both crucial to business strategy, but they serve different roles. Acquisition focuses on attracting new customers, often requiring significant investment in marketing and sales. While necessary for growth, it’s typically more costly and time-consuming. Retention, however, emphasizes keeping existing customers satisfied and loyal, which is usually more cost-effective. While both are important, and you shouldn’t focus strictly on one or the other, customer retention often leads to higher profitability. After all, there’s a reason why customers stay brand loyal.

Top B2B Customer Retention Strategies

Now that you know the importance of customer retention, let’s go over the top customer retention strategies that can help B2B companies generate ROI.

Understand Your Customer’s Needs and Pain Points

You may think that once your customers convert, their pain points are taken care of. However, this couldn’t be more wrong. Your customer’s needs are constantly evolving, and just because you checked one problem off of their list, doesn’t mean they’re completely content. To understand your customers, it’s important to regularly gather feedback through surveys and direct communication with them. Surveys are a great way to collect insight into your services, usability, and overall customer experience. This way, you can see if anything is missing from your current offerings and make improvements.

Provide Strong Customer Service

When deals and relationships often span over years, providing good customer service is essential. Oftentimes poor customer service is one of the most common reasons that customers make the switch to competitors. In fact, American express found that 33% of customers consider switching after just one instance of poor customer service. To ensure your customer service is good, it’s important to make sure it’s easy to get a hold of someone. A chatbot can be a great way to do this, as it can provide 24/7/365 service. Another way to provide good customer service is to assign dedicated account managers to your key customers. Having a single point of contact who understands their business and can offer personalized support makes a significant difference in customer satisfaction.

Make Personalized Touchpoints

Personalized touchpoints go way past addressing customers by their first name. By using data-driven insights, you can send relevant and timely communications that resonate with each customer. This could include product recommendations, industry insights, or personalized offers that demonstrate your understanding of their business. Celebrating important milestones in your customer’s journey, such as work anniversaries or significant achievements, is another way to personalize your interactions. This small gesture can go a long way in building a stronger, more meaningful relationship.

Offer a Referral Program

By offering incentives for customers who refer new clients, you not only help with customer acquisition but also reward your loyal customers for their advocacy. This could be a percentage of revenue earned from each sale, or a set amount for each new referral. It’s important to ensure that the company who is referred is a legitimate lead, so try to add terms and conditions to your program. An example of this could be that the referred company needs to sign up for 3 months before the original company receives their reward. Take a look at this article, 5 Best Affiliate Marketing Platforms, to learn more.

Focus on Delivering Value

Customers need to see a clear ROI from your products or services, and they need to feel that your business is a partner in their success. One way to deliver value is by creating and sharing content that provides value to your customers. This could include industry insights, best practices, case studies, and whitepapers that help them solve problems or make informed decisions. Try to make this content problem and solution oriented, that speaks to their pain points. 

Understanding Your Existing Customer’s Engagement 

While Google Analytics provides you with information about new vs returning visitors, you have no clue who they are. This is where Visitor Queue comes in. With the help of Visitor Queue, you can see exactly what companies are on your website, how they got there, and the pages they visit, along with a company overview and employee contact information. This can help you see if your visitors are prospects or current customers, and what they are engaging with on your website or software.

An example of where this can be helpful is if you see one of your current customers visiting your pricing page when they are close to their renewal period. If they are visiting your pricing page, they may want to increase or decrease their current package. So, have someone reach out to them to see if they have any questions or need any guidance on choosing the right package for their needs. This can help you catch any customers who may be downgrading or thinking about switching to a competitor. Try Visitor Queue for free today to start generating new leads and better serving your existing customer base.

Provide Continuous Education and Training

Even though your clients have converted, doesn’t mean that they thoroughly understand how to use every feature you offer. By providing continuous learning opportunities, you can enhance customer satisfaction and retention. One way to achieve this is by offering regular webinars and workshops that provide valuable insights, tips, and best practices for using your services. Additionally, creating a library of training resources, such as video tutorials, how-to guides, and FAQs, ensures that customers have access to helpful information whenever they need it. This can be particularly useful for onboarding new customers, as well as for ongoing education as your services evolve. 

Come Out With New Offerings

Introducing new offerings is a great way to retain your customers. As industries and technologies evolve, your customers’ needs and expectations will change as well. New offerings can include updated features, entirely new products, or enhanced services that address emerging challenges your customers face. This not only demonstrates your commitment to staying ahead of the curve but also provides added value. This gives your customers more reasons to stay loyal to your brand.

Actively Monitor and Respond to Feedback

Listening to your customers and acting on their feedback is crucial. How else are you going to improve? This can be done through monitoring listing platforms like Google My Business, G2 Crowd, and Capterra. Or, through direct conversations, social media comments, or customer satisfaction surveys. When customers see that their input leads to tangible improvements, it reinforces their trust in your company and their decision to continue doing business with you. For example, if customers report that your software is not very user friendly, take this as an opportunity to update and refresh your software to make it easier to use. And, keep this client updated on what you’re doing to improve. 

What’s Next?

As a B2B company, customer retention is crucial. While acquiring new customers is important for growth, retaining existing ones is often more cost-effective and can lead to higher profitability. By implementing the strategies mentioned above, you can improve the success of your customers and build long term relationships. As always, if you have any questions about using Visitor Queue to generate leads and keep your current customers happy, do not hesitate to reach out.