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As a quick and easy website concept for customer retention, businesses with low customer retention rates are like a bucket of water with holes. You can try to make it work, but you\\\'d better figure out how to patch the vulnerability.

First thing: What is customer retention? As the name suggests, this is the process of turning existing customers into loyal buyers. Research shows that a 5% increase in customer retention can increase your profits by up to 95%. There are other benefits to focusing on customer retention policies. It can help you understand your customers\\\' satisfaction and what might be disappointing them. Retaining customers is also much cheaper than acquiring new ones.

Not sure how to retain customers? Here are seven tips to help you get started.

1. Educate your customers
Once your clients sign up, don\\\'t let them fend for themselves. Instead, help them learn how to use your product by providing the right resources.

The most common approach is to provide product guidance. This provides simple tips and tutorials to guide new customers. You can achieve similar results by sending a series of lifecycle emails to all new customers.

For customers who prefer self-help training, an online training resource academy is available. The Academy may include on-site courses that anyone can register for. One-on-one training sessions with onboarding experts are also worth it.

2. Offer surprise reciprocity
Surprise reciprocity is one of the most effective ways to retain customers. You could even argue that reciprocity is one of the factors that make the world work.

Reciprocity is a simple concept: people will respond according to the way you treat them. If you\\\'re nice to someone, they\\\'ll be nice to you too. That\\\'s why offering a good service is a great way for people to recommend your product.

Now, the important thing about reciprocity is that when it\\\'s unexpected, it works better. Do you remember the last time someone suddenly did something good for you? Even if this gesture is not a big deal, it may still leave an impression on you.

Well, the trick is to surprise your customers with a nice gesture from time to time. You can send them swags, even handwritten notes. Although these may seem dated, they can still make your customers feel special.

3. Do a good loyalty program
Many businesses use customer loyalty programs, but few are effective. Good news: There\\\'s plenty of research that can help you get it right.

For example, did you know that the biggest pitfalls of loyalty programs are getting started? If a customer starts automatically immediately after registration, they are twice as likely to complete their loyalty card. We call this the Gifted Progress effect.

In addition, customers like to become \\\"Gold\\\" or VIP members. The only problem is that there needs to be a class below them on the totem pole. If you implement Silver and Gold, you should see an increase in gold membership engagement.

With the right loyalty program software, it\\\'s much easier to create a loyalty program. This gives you all the tools you need to improve the customer experience.

4. Insist on something
Most customers don\\\'t feel like they have a relationship with the brand. However, among those who do, most cite shared values as the main reason for this relationship.

Why is this happening? Well, it\\\'s all about a cognitive bias known as implicit egoism. People have an unconscious preference for things that are similar to themselves. If you want loyal customers, you need to let them know what values you share.

Many companies shy away from this strategy because it is \\\"political.\\\" This is a flawed line of thinking because all companies have some sort of political agenda. Make the most of the things you represent and make them a part of your brand.

5. Grasp the momentum
Making exciting improvements to your product can be a huge driver of power. That said, your customers may not feel the same way.

One thing you can do is share your work. Let customers know what the latest version of your product can get them to do. This also helps existing customers, as many of them may miss out on new features.

In addition to creating excitement, this momentum will continue into your sales. Research shows that introducing a new product to a customer increases their likelihood of re-purchasing or recommending it to someone else by 30%.

6. Focus on quality rather than speed
In an ideal world, your customer service would score perfectly in terms of speed and quality. In fact, the latter is much more important than the former.

See, if customers find their service helpful, they\\\'re more likely to engage with the brand. That\\\'s why spending more time with customers leads to a more positive experience. Urging them may create more problems than are solved.

A fast service can also help, but only if you provide what your customers want. If you don\\\'t, customers are more likely to feel overlooked. For example, if people don\\\'t get enough support, they\\\'ll be more sensitive to price changes.

7. Reward your advocates
When it comes to how to retain customers, loyalty is very important. That\\\'s why it\\\'s important to reward your brand advocates whenever they have the opportunity.

Let\\\'s say you see someone recommending your product on social media. Most of the time, the right thing to do is to reply thanks to them. This indicates that 1) you are following, and 2) their gestures make sense to you.

For bigger rewards, consider using a referral program. One way to do this is to give a $100 Amazon gift card when a customer refers someone. Consider giving new customers some credit.

Other customer retention policies
You\\\'ll notice that none of the customer retention policies above include shortcuts. It\\\'s by design – business relationships are a lot like personal relationships.

Here\\\'s the final tip of the road: exceed your promises. Customer expectations are unprecedentedly high, so it\\\'s not easy to impress them. The best way to stay competitive is to exceed customer expectations.