Customer retention should be an extremely high priority for any sales-driven business. While bringing in new leads is obviously important, investing in new customers is between 5 and 25 times more expensive than retaining existing ones. A hefty portion of sales goes through repeat customers, and the ROI is far better on these consumers than on converting new leads. As a result, businesses should look for new and better ways to offer consumer financing.

There are several ways to accomplish this goal, but some strategies are more effective than others. The key is to invest in low-cost tools that don’t require a lot of hands-on effort, as these are the most effective at retaining customers without reducing ROI.

Our suggestions regarding how to increase customer retention rates include:

• Send periodic emails or newsletters
• Invest in customer service
• Implement installment financing

Let’s dive into the practical steps of each of these strategies so that businesses are equipped with exactly what they need to succeed.

Send Periodic Emails or Newsletters

At times, the only thing keeping a consumer from purchasing again is that the merchant in question simply isn’t on their mind. So to maintain a presence in your customers’ minds, periodic check-in emails, promos, or newsletters should be sent. They are low-effort, free to compose, and don’t even need to be very long. In fact, shorter newsletters are more likely to be read all the way through, and emails that include an eye-catching subject line and a coupon will do the job just fine.

Invest in Customer Service

One of the most important aspects of a customer retention strategy is the customer experience. 89% of customers that have a good customer service experience with a business are more likely to make a repeat purchase. Now, customer service is a pretty broad term, and it can be tough to know where to start.

We suggest the following steps to improve the customer service experience:

• Adopt a Customer Service Management (CSM) platform
• Include roleplaying in customer service training
• Implement a survey system to track progress

Adopt a CSM Platform

CSM platforms are management tools that offer many features to improve the customer service experience. These often include self-service portals for customers, automated ticket routing so that customer support tickets always go to the right agents, response automation so that simple problems can be responded to instantly, and many others. All of these shore up the holes in a customer service experience that may be keeping customers from coming back to purchase.

Include Roleplaying in Customer Service Training

One of the most common errors during customer service training is a lack of live role playing exercises. If customer service associates aren’t properly prepared for the unique nature of a live conversation, they are going to struggle when they get on the phones.

Businesses should do live phone roleplaying scenarios, as well as email and text-based chat scenarios. Any platform on which they will be contacting customers should have at least a couple of hours of dedicated roleplay training.

Implement a Survey System to Track Progress

No matter what changes a business makes regarding its customer experience, it should utilize surveys to track progress. CSM tools will often include a survey system, but if businesses don’t choose to go that route, they should draft their own surveys and send them through email or perform them on calls to understand how changes are being received by customers.

Implement a Financing Platform

The easiest and fastest way to increase customer retention rates is to offer flexible payment options to customers. With a single all-in-one software integration, businesses can offer installment loans, credit cards, consumer loans, and one-click payment. All of these options provide significant value and convenience to customers, making it more likely that they will be satisfied after their purchase.

Not only does it make things more convenient, but it also makes it more affordable to purchase larger quantities or more premium products. This can position businesses that offer financing above the competition by making them the only merchant from which a given customer can even afford to buy.

Luckily, Skeps offers the only true end-to-end consumer financing platform.

Learn How to Increase Customer Retention Rates With Skeps 

Skeps offers a comprehensive, end-to-end consumer financing platform that helps businesses modernize their entire payment process. We go above and beyond one-click payment, also offering a one-click application process for several different types of consumer financing, including:

• Installment loans
• Store credit cards
• Consumer loans and leases

If you’re looking to partner with a forward-thinking fintech company that will keep consumers' eyes on the purchase while offering best-in-class financing, Skeps is the perfect fit.