Reducing the rate at which businesses lose customers over a given period, also known as customer churn or customer attrition, can be a massive challenge for businesses, with every lost customer representing a missed income opportunity and a potential source of negative word-of-mouth comentários.
This therefore makes estratégias de retenção de clientes essential for managing and sustaining business growth, and as companies work hard to acquire new customers, retaining them becomes a priority. If customer churn is left unaddressed, it can affect revenue, reduce customer lifetime value, and ruin a brand’s market position in the long run.
In this article, we’ll take a look at some strategies businesses can use to help reduce customer churn and boost return sales.
Conteúdo
How to calculate customer churn rate
How to identify the causes of high customer churn
8 practical ways businesses can reduce customer churn
Resumo
How to calculate customer churn rate
To ascertain your specific customer churn rate for a specific time frame, you must first gather these values:
- The time frame you want to calculate (i.e. a month, year, or six months)
- The total customer count at the start of the period
- The customer count at the end of the period
Once you have these, you can calculate your churn rate using the formula below:
| Clientes perdidos Total Number of Customers at the beginning of the period | X 100 |
For example, if your company began the month with 120 customers and had 30 customers cancel their subscription by the end, then your monthly churn rate for that period will be:
| 30 120 | X 100 = 25% |
Is your customer churn rate healthy?
Although churn rates vary by industry, a lower rate shows strong customer retention. A monthly churn rate below 5% is considered suitable for e-commerce and SaaS businesses, while a rate higher than 10% could signal issues that require immediate attention.
How to identify the causes of high customer churn
Understanding the root cause of customer loss is the first step in minimizing churn. Here are a few areas to help determine why your churn rate may be high:
Product or service issues
High customer attrition can often be linked to product quality. For instance, small changes in product features, service interruptions, or a lack of essential features can leave new users looking for alternatives. Carry out customer journey analysis or use tools like Google Analytics to spot roadblocks customers may face.
Comportamento do consumidor
User behaviors such as declining engagement or decreased usage can signal impending churn. Collect this data to identify declining trends and encourage marketing and support teams to take the following steps to prevent a reduction in the total number of customers.
Feedback do cliente
When customers leave, gathering feedback via customer satisfaction surveys, for example, can help to ascertain their main reasons for dissatisfaction. Regular feedback from churned and current customers can help your company address issues before they escalate.
8 practical ways businesses can reduce customer churn
Melhorar a integração do cliente
Poor user experience onboarding can lead to customer decline, especially in subscription businesses. Companies should simplify onboarding to retain new users by offering video tutorials, step-by-step guides, mobile device optimization, and live chat options.
Segment your customers by need
One fact sometimes overlooked when managing customer churn is that not all users leave for the same reasons. Segmenting can therefore be a proactive way to reduce customer churn because it helps your company address each group’s unique needs, strengthening long-term relationships. Slack is an example of a SaaS company that reduced its churn rate by 40% by segmenting customers into smaller and bigger teams.
Personalize a experiência do cliente
Reaching out to customers after a purchase or service is one of the easiest ways to build trust. Create follow-up systems, such as user onboarding or support team resolutions that trigger customer interactions. Personalize these follow-up messages to the customer’s profile or recent activity.
Show appreciation, and add value
A small “thank you for choosing us” builds customer loyalty and creates a positive user experience. Everyone likes to feel appreciated. Send personalized thank-you messages or special offers through social media platforms to make your customers feel valued. Ensure the tone feels genuine and appreciative to build a strong relationship without extra cost.
Build and nurture an online community
Giving customers the opportunity to freely interact with your brand and other users online, can help build long-term loyalty and increase customer satisfaction. Forbes highlights how Sephora’s community approach helped the makeup brand maintain high customer engagement and loyalty.
Establish online communities on LinkedIn, Facebook, or customer forums to share company updates, information, and exclusive features. You may also want to host interactive sessions and encourage user support.
Promote exclusive benefits for members
Exclusive benefits are a great way to make customers feel they are part of a special club. Offering member-only discounts, additional services, or early access to new features and products creates a sense of privilege that keeps users loyal.
Amazon Prime is a perfect example of this strategy. Prime users pay an annual fee for exclusive discounts, early access to deals, and free two-day shipping of products. Offer incentives and exclusive benefits like previews of new products, additional services, or members-only sales.
Incorporate loyalty programs and rewards
Loyalty programs reward repeat customers for their continued support. Customers who feel valued and appreciated are likelier to patronize your business and spread the word. Starbucks’s well-executed loyalty program, Recompensas da Starbucks, é um ótimo exemplo.
One of the best ways your company can reduce customer acquisition costs is by starting a point-based loyalty program that adds to customers’ points whenever they purchase a product, leave a review, or refer someone to the brand.
Create an early-warning system
Sometimes, churn can feel like an unpredictable element of business that happens with little warning, but there are subtle signs customers may give before they leave, and a system to detect these early signals will go a long way in preventing loss.
Netflix monitors user engagement and sends recommendations at the right time to rekindle interest. Use Google Analytics, customer feedback surveys, and other customer relationship management (CRM) or tracking tools to monitor customer engagement over a period.
Offer flexible options and cancelation safety nets
Customers love the feeling of being in control of their decisions. Offering pauses to subscription services or other flexible options is one of the best ways to reduce churn. Users might consider leaving because of pricing, but giving them alternatives can make them rethink.
Spotify has used the “downgrade instead of cancel” approach to retain existing customers. Their flexible options allow users to move to a cheaper plan if they can’t afford the premium plan, making them less likely to leave permanently.
Set up an easy and flawless system where users can upgrade, downgrade, or pause their subscriptions if needed to reduce customer churn and increase customer loyalty.
Considerações finais
Reducing customer churn is not about quick fixes. It’s about meeting users’ needs at the right time and building and maintaining quality customer relationships that can produce loyalty and sustain your company’s growth.
The good news is that many brands have proven that, with actionable steps, there are several ways in which businesses can minimize customer loss. As no single approach works for every business, remember to experiment with different strategies, finding one that suits your target audience best. One way to fine-tune your approach is by using customer feedback and behavior data to reduce churn rates, generate more stable revenue, and experience healthier growth rates.
