Customer Retention refers to a business’s ability to retain its customers after their first purchase. The goal of customer retention is to turn First-t
ime Customers into Repeat Customers and then into Life-Time Value Customers.
Why is Customer Retention important in Dry Cleaning and Laundry Business?
Imagine you have a television at home and it is facing some problems with its display screen. Now you take it to the electronics repair shop and get it repaired. The store manager provides you with good hospitality services and repairs your T.V. at an affordable price. From now on, you will likely visit that same store whenever your T.V. needs some repair work.
The customers who visit your dry cleaning and laundry shop have the same psychology as you. They are most likely to keep visiting your store again and again if you provide them with good services at affordable prices. We, as humans, become comfortable with certain places and people and avoid change until it is very necessary. For example- one of your loyal customers might stop visiting you because he started living in a different area.
So, let us see what benefits does Customer Retention brings with itself:
Cost affordability:
Do you know that it costs 5 times higher to acquire a new customer than to retain an old customer? Considering all the efforts that you will put in to acquire a new customer, the cost will be very high if compared with the efforts for retaining an old customer. A new customer will go through the whole buyer journey from discovery to purchase while for an old customer, a simple email or text message informing him about the services he has taken will suffice.
High ROI:
Studies show that a 5% increase in customer retention can increase your annual profits by 25-95%. More satisfied customers are always going to give you more satisfactory returns.
Brand Ambassadors:
Whenever someone visits your shop or renders your service, that customer automatically becomes your brand ambassador. If you provide good services to a customer and retain him/her, then you will highly likely be recommended by that customer when asked about the services you provide.
Increased AOV (Average Order Value):
Research shows that loyal customers are 23% more likely to spend on you than an average customer. And Customer spending being directly proportional to Revenue will ultimately lead to an increase in your profits.
How to Retain customers in Dry Cleaning and Laundry Businesses?
1. Post-Sales Feedback
The First and foremost step in customer retention is asking for feedback from the customer. The feedback of the customer plays a major role in deciding the type of communication to be done with that customer in the next stages. If a customer isn’t satisfied with a service that he/she has rendered, then it becomes even more important to take feedback to improve customer retention.
2. Customer Success Team
The Customer Success Team is a major testament to the services your business provides. As the name speaks for itself, it largely depends on your customer success team, for how long a customer is happy and stays with you. If you have a very low customer retention rate, then it is high time for you to rethink the strategies your customer success team is adopting.
3. Keep Communicating Results
A Customer doesn’t intentionally measure the benefits he/she is having from your services until communicated to him/her. So, focus on communicating the results your customer is getting from your services. For example- You can send a message to a Customer who is using your home delivery service that he/she saved X minutes by not visiting the store. And using the home delivery services. Or you can send a message saying X is the approximate number of days taken by us to process your clothes. This way the customer will be impressed by your fast services. And always remember: Numbers don’t lie. Buyers’ brains automatically react to numbers making them purchase more.
4. Pre-Paid Packages/Loyalty Programs
Customers are very likely to buy your services when you give them a package like ‘Get 5 clothes dry cleaned for the price of 6’ instead of simply telling them that you are offering a 10% discount on clothes if they come back to you the second time for dry cleaning. Such Pre-Paid Packages not only increases excitement among customers but also increases customer retention. Read more about the insights of the Pre-Paid Packages which leads to customer retention- Click Here!
5. Start Customer Retention from Customer Acquisition only
First Impression is the Last Impression. Working by this strategy, if you present some case studies to your customers during the sales process only, then it becomes easy for you to retain those customers. For Example- Tell a customer when they visit you for the first time that X has been giving clothes for dry cleaning for the last two years. So, you are giving 5% off on all deliveries of X. And that you are hoping for the customer to visit again and having a long-lasting relationship.
6. Make better engagements
Know your customers, offer them personalised services and engage with them frequently. Such engagements foster relationships and lead to better customer retention. For Example- Offer them a discount on their birthday, Congratulate them on their 100th order with you. Or send them a message saying your business misses them when they don’t give clothes for dry cleaning/laundry for a long time.
7. Keep a record of communication and any past problems
To serve a customer better, it is important to know of the past communications you have had with that customer. So, Keeping a record not only helps you in identifying their needs but also makes you aware of any problems they may have faced with you in the past so now you can make sure not to repeat that.
8. Equip customers with the Right Tools
Many customers are not able to seek the right tools whenever they face a problem with a product. Either they are not aware of the ways to reach out to the company or even if they are, the company doesn’t respond to their queries. Thus, to avoid such an unsatisfactory customer experience, it is important to equip the customer with the right tools to reach out to you. Make yourself available to your customers at all times. And if you aren’t available at a particular time, make sure their concerns are addressed timely.
9. Be Proactive in retaining your At-Risk Customers
How often do you know that you are on the verge of losing a customer? And even if you know it, do you remember the names of all the customers who are at risk? Most likely, No. To retain these customers, it is important to know them and be proactive in retaining them. QDC provides a feature of the Customers-at-Risk report which is a detailed report consisting of all the information of the customers who are at risk for your business.
All the above strategies to Retain Customers in Dry Cleaning and Laundry Businesses form the basics of the process of increasing your profitability and accelerating your business growth. Customer Retention is always a sure shot strategy to take when you are unable to control customer acquisition for any reasons.
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