Tough economic times hit businesses hard. Budgets, staff and programs get cut, leaving minimal resources to allocate for additional spending, including client retention. Executives are forced to make difficult decisions on where to spend company funds, and budgets that are perceived as being extraneous are some of the first to be cut.
However, an economic downturn is no time to scale back on maintaining and building relationships with your clients. Abandoning your client retention strategy will cause your brand to lose ground and make it difficult to bounce back when conditions improve. As a business owner, you should be looking to invest more in ways to draw in and retain customers. While the competition is busy scaling back, you can move in and stake your claim with a core group of clients who will remain loyal to your business no matter what the economic atmosphere.
The Importance of Customer Retention
Business owners agree: customer loyalty rates are falling. Competition is fierce and economic hardships hit everyone from individuals to corporations. Company executives are keeping a closer eye than ever on the bottom line and becoming more discerning about where they spend their money. When budget cuts loom, the hunt is on for cheaper options and opportunities to slash spending wherever possible.
Companies need customers in order to stay in business, and this is even more true in the world of B2B. Losing a corporate client because they decide they can’t afford your services or they were able to find a better price elsewhere is a big hit in the wallet, especially considering the long and complicated process involved in getting those clients in the first place. As a businessperson, it’s your job to convince existing B2B customers that your business offers the best value in the industry. A satisfied customer is a happy customer, and happy customers are more likely to stick around to make more purchases in the future.
The Value of Loyal B2B Customers
Happy customers offer something else to your business: free word-of-mouth advertising. In the B2C world, these types of customers are sometimes called “brand ambassadors” due to their willingness to talk up the brands they buy from most often. Companies that do the same thing in B2B relationships are known as “promoters.”
Establishing a loyal base of promoters for your B2B operation minimizes the time you need to spend on customer acquisition. In business, time is money, and you can’t afford to use too much of it going through the phases involved in establishing new connections with other businesses. You want to make the most of the relationships you already have so that those clients not only stick around, but also willingly recommend your products and services to others.
This kind of free referral system is one of the oldest strategies in the book; it remains popular because it works. Just as individual customers trust the opinions of their peers when making purchases, businesses trust leaders in the industry when making decisions about where to spend their money. The trick is to provide the best possible customer experience for all of your clients during and after the initial buying process.
To discover who your most loyal customers are, take a look at past purchasing activity. Note repeat customers, how much they order and if they’re referring other businesses to you. Focus on these clients when planning campaigns for retention to ensure that they stick with you even when the economy isn’t looking so promising.
Best Practices for Retaining B2B Customers
Establishing solid relationships is the key to success in B2B marketing and client retention. In a B2C environment, relationships are established on a large scale with entire cross-sections of markets and demographics. B2B interactions, on the other hand, are more intimate and require a higher level of trust. You’re looking for long-term commitments from core groups of people in companies that buy from you. Providing high value products and personalized interactions ensures that these groups remain loyal to your business when it comes time to make more purchases.
It’s important to remember that industry trends change over time and buying behaviors will fluctuate with the economy. To deliver the level of customer satisfaction that clients expect, you not only need to pay attention to these changes but also listen to any feedback you receive. Soliciting feedback is acceptable as well since it helps you to monitor how well you’re serving your clients. Use this information to anticipate client needs both in terms of what you sell and how you sell it. Show that you’re willing to work with them to make the buying process easier- be it with financing options, payment plans or customized add-ons that add value to their purchases.
To make successful connections with other businesses that last through both profitable and lean times, you have to think of clients in terms of “lifetime value.” Stop looking at how much you’re going to make on individual sales and consider how lucrative a client is going to be during all the years that you deal with them. This is where ongoing retention efforts such as loyalty programs and exclusive discounts come into play. Offering something extra in addition to your core products and services entices clients to stick with you even when they’re making cuts elsewhere.
Keeping Current Clients Happy with Client Gifts
One way to show your appreciation for existing customers is through corporate gifting. Though spending money on gift items may be the last thing you want to think about doing during an economic downturn, client gifts are investments that pay for themselves.
Think of a gift as a type of loyalty reward. Sending something tasteful, but not too lavish, is a great way to show customers that you’re thinking of them and value their business. Custom gifts can be tailored to the tastes of the recipients and even adorned with your logo to reinforce your brand image. These special incentives offer customers more than just a good bargain by going beyond a sales pitch and showing that you truly care about clients and want them to have the highest level of satisfaction when dealing with your company.
Many business execs are under the assumption that corporate gift giving should only be done during holidays or other special occasions. However, gifts can be given at any time of the year to ensure you stand out from the number of other companies offering services similar to your own. They can also be used to welcome new members of an executive committee and remind them of the long-standing partnership between your business and theirs.
You want the gifts you send to be unique and special, something that will make you stand out from the crowd of competitors vying for attention during tough economic times. Food gifts are often good choices, as long as you offer unique products presented in an eye-catching manner. Combined with proper timing, these gifts complement regular B2B customer retention strategies to satisfy current clients and encourage them to continue making purchases.
Through a combination of strong business relationships, carefully monitored analytic data, loyalty programs and corporate gift giving, it’s possible to maximize client retention even in tough economic times. Customers are your most valuable assets, and treating them as such is the best way to deepen the relationship and ensure that they remain loyal consumers.
Want to learn more about effective corporate gifting? Explore the origins and techniques of this southern practice by downloading our complete guide below!
