In this guest post sent to Current.com.au by RSM Bird Cameron, Andrew Graham, national head of business solutions, offers five tips on how to keep customers.

Retailers need to move away from ‘survival mode’ to create a positive retail environment that takes full advantage of the fact that consumers are beginning to spend again, albeit slowly and cautiously.

It is important to create a positive experience to keep customers coming back. This is the easiest way to increase sales, improve profit and grow your business. Differentiating from the online buying experience can be a key focus for traditional retailers in their strategy to woo consumers.

It can cost up to six times more to win a new customer than it does to have an existing customer purchase again. This is because you invested time and money to acquire that customer for the first sale but every additional sale after that involves very little cost.

For every sale you make to a previous customer, you keep more as profit.

Five ways to promote customer retention

1. Awareness and consideration: Be aware of what your customer is looking for and make sure this is what you are offering whenever you communicate with each customer and in every marketing initiative.

2. Select and buy: Streamline your purchasing process to ensure it is as simple as possible for customers to buy from you.

3. Initial experience: Prevent buyer’s remorse by actively engaging your customers after the initial buy. Inquire immediately about their level of satisfaction and provide information that reinforces the reason for their purchase.

4. Use, learn and support: Continue to nurture relationships with your customers at all times, including post-sale.

5. Repurchase and recommend: Engage your customers in future sales opportunities by encouraging them to recommend you. Act swiftly to correct errors or address complaints and offer an incentive for them to return.

According to its company profile, RSM Bird Cameron “offers a full range of specialist advisory services, including business consulting and advisory, assurance and advisory, taxation consulting, corporate consulting and turnaround and insolvency".

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