7 proven strategies for effective B2B customer retention

To paraphrase an old saying, “New customers are silver; old customers are gold.” Retaining the clients you already have is cheaper, less time consuming and provides a reliable revenue stream. Despite this, retailers put extremely little effort into customer retention.

“About how much time and effort, and on a percentage basis, do you see being absorbed by retention marketing in your world?” Ruth Stevens asked the audience MarTech conference last fall. “Well, you might be surprised to learn that the average among most B2B marketers is about 15%.”

This goes against the company’s primary goal of acquiring and retaining customers. What makes it even stranger is that research shows that a significant portion of B2B revenue comes from existing customers. The Forrester Report found that 73% of B2B revenue comes from existing customers. So less than a quarter of B2B revenue actually comes from new accounts.

Dig deeper: Why marketers need to shift from retention tactics to customer appreciation

The focus on new accounts comes from sales teams who are incentivized to follow them. “Well, of course, our sales colleagues demand it,” she said. “You know? leads. Give me clues.” As a result, it’s up to marketing to demonstrate the importance of retaining the customers you already have.

Here are seven ways to keep your most profitable clients.

1. Fundamental excellence

An exceptional product or service, along with a seamless and positive customer experience, is the foundation of customer retention. “Your product/service has to be great, and the customer experience has to be great as well,” Stevens said. “All the clever marketing in the world won’t fix it [if that’s not the case]. Your customers won’t stick around if they’re not satisfied and getting real value at these points.”

2. Fast, proactive problem solving

Quickly resolving customer issues is essential, but not enough. Successful companies actively look for and solve problems before customers tell them about them, which can significantly increase customer loyalty.

“It’s a good idea for marketers to get involved with their customer service teams,” she said. “Not only to help them solve problems, but also to help them analyze where the problems are occurring and maybe find significant problems across the company that could be fixed upstream and reduce the problems that occur later in the first place.”

Stevens said Michael Lowenstein’s book “Customer Win Back” has compelling evidence that “customers whose problem surfaced and was resolved proved to be more loyal than customers who had no problem in the first place.”

3. Penetration marketing

Marketing teams can use their data analytics skills to help account managers find valuable insights that lead to better up-sell and cross-sell opportunities. Stevens suggested “using data analytics to create a list of next best products based on past product purchase patterns.” It can also reveal useful reasons for the sales or account management teams to call the customer. This may include new, relevant product developments or other ideas based on past customer behavior.

4. Prevention of defection

Close monitoring of user behavior can reveal early warning signs of potential churn. “Customers always leave behind breadcrumbs that give us an idea of ​​what’s on their mind,” she said. “So if you look at customer behavior and compare it to past customer behavior, you can really put a stop to potential churn and take steps to prevent it.”

5. Automatically replenishment

Changing the right products or services to an auto-shipping model makes it easier for customers to buy. It also reduces the company’s selling costs. “In many cases, it’s seen as a benefit, a convenience for customers,” she said. There are probably many overlooked ways to use this in your business. “But you might be surprised if you look at the parts of your business that could be converted into this type of sales process.”

6. Loyalty recognition at the account level

Companies can cultivate loyalty among their most valuable accounts by offering unique service levels and other benefits at the account level. “One of the really great methods of ensuring loyalty or at least recognition of loyalty from our premium customers is to provide special levels of service,” Stevens said. “You could have a dedicated 800 number and dedicated representatives ready to take calls 24 hours a day. You could have some sort of gold status type of service for your top clients where they get a dedicated website for example. There are a lot of ideas here.”

7. Return strategies

When a customer does leave, a dedicated recovery team can be instrumental in addressing the reasons for the departure and potentially recovering lost business. The speed of response is the key factor here. “Once you see evidence that a customer is abandoning you, you really have to act quickly to try to resolve whatever issue they had with you and see if you can correct them and keep them on board.”

For clients who have already left, she recommends establishing a “dedicated dedicated sales team” with specialized training and incentives to effectively manage this unique sales challenge.

Dig deeper: Driving growth through data: Optimizing the retention phase

Changing the way you think

Sustaining B2B growth requires a laser focus on customer retention. This requires a change in mindset and resources towards existing customers. Furthermore, successful retention strategies require seamless collaboration between marketing, sales and customer service departments to ensure a unified and effective approach. Finally, leveraging data analytics and customer insights is paramount to successful targeted retention initiatives.

Embracing these strategies can unlock significant and often untapped customer retention potential. This in turn leads to increased profitability, stronger customer relationships and sustainable business success.