Boost growth with SaaS retention strategies that you can implement now5 min read
Reading Time: 4 minutesClient retention should be the first thing on your mind when you go to work in the morning and the last thing on your mind when you leave the office at night. There is no other metric in SaaS that’s more closely associated with profitability than customer retention. If your company is experiencing high churn rates on a continuous basis and you’re feeling a little helpless about it, this article is for you. Here we’ll guide you through the most effective client retention tactics now available on the market.
1. Emphasise your value proposition
Your product’s value proposition is what distinguishes it from the competition. A good value proposition is straightforward, tells customers of the real benefits they will get and can be understood in less than 5 seconds. It also minimises the use of buzz terms and corporate jargon, among other things.
The delivery of the value proposition on a consistent basis is essential. It’s what your users expected when they joined up, and it is what will keep them around. It’s also a good idea to remind customers of your value offer on a regular basis as well. Demonstrating to them what they stand to benefit by continuing their membership will persuade them to do so.
2. Maintain an interaction schedule
No one subscribes to a service to then only receive communication when money is being taken from their bank accounts, so regular communication is essential. You must show users how much you value interactions in order to avoid them thinking they’ve wasted their money.
Maintaining frequent customer engagement is critical for client retention initiatives. Contact them once a week, even if you’re not providing anything of value, such as a newsletter or blog post, simply to check how they’re getting along with the product. This demonstrates to consumers that you are concerned about them beyond just the money – you really want to help them in achieving their objectives.
3. Continue to provide improvements and new versions of existing software
This is another technique that helps communicate to people that you are committed to helping them in achieving their objectives. Make sure to get constructive feedback on the product and continue to improve your product via updates and new features.
Customer retention rates will continue to rise as users recognise the value that has been provided to them. However, churn can still develop as a consequence of boredom — when users have been interacting with a specific platform for a long time, they may eventually perceive the value of that platform to decrease, resulting in reduced engagement. The release of new versions and offers will prevent this.
4. Measure engagement
One of the most significant variables in client retention is gathering user input at the appropriate time and location. With the correct technology, you can accomplish the majority of your goals without requiring people to fill out time-consuming forms. This may be accomplished by watching their activity and determining their level of involvement with your product or website.
5. Make the client experience more interactive
If users feel like they are achieving some sort of goal, they’re more likely to see the value your product or service offers. Plus, a little healthy competition never hurt anybody, so providing some form of gamification, such as contests, rewards and giveaways can help to keep your customers engaged while attracting new ones as well.
6. Set customer expectations
One of the most common causes of customer turnover is a failure to meet the expectations of the user. The user becomes disappointed when the product doesn’t deliver on a promise that was made.
Making it very apparent to your audience how you offer value to their lives is critical in your marketing. Inform them of the specific benefits they will get if they join up. Aside from that, it’s a good practice to slightly underpromise on the perceived quality and, instead, overdeliver, which results in consumers being pleased with the results. You should always remember that the reverse is also true: overpromising value and failing to deliver on that promise is a surefire way to get yourself in trouble.
7. Make your communication more personalised
The main reason why product tours are often ineffective is that they’re too generic. It’s important to provide an interactive experience that is tailored to the demands of each individual consumer in this situation.
Put simply, the more personalised your customer’s experience is, the more likely they will be to stay with you. In today’s digital age, the only way to really demonstrate to clients how important they are to you is to spend time connecting with them in the actual world. For example, you might send each of your clients a personalised, handwritten ‘Happy New Year’ card to celebrate the occasion.
8. Exit surveys
Let’s be clear: if someone wants to leave, you should never make it difficult for them to do so. This technique, which has proven successful in the real world, is applicable to SaaS as well.
Make your cancellation policy as easy as possible to prevent unhappy customers from resorting to social media to voice their displeasure. People leave for a variety of reasons, and you may use exit surveys to acquire invaluable information about what you are doing poorly. By gaining this information, you can make any necessary changes, helping to boost retention for future users.
Make sure to get in touch with our expert and friendly team at Upzelo, an effective and successful data-driven platform, for more guidance and support on managing retention and boosting growth using SaaS retention strategies.
