When trying to acquire a new customer, I truly believe the largest hurdle you have to overcome is trust. The customer wants to feel as though you’re going to meet or exceed expectations for your product or service. In difficult economic times, this can even be more of a factor as prospects are a bit more guarded on the funds they wish to spend. Because of this, you may need to adjust your marketing efforts to lean on your existing customers.
Retention can’t be your entire strategy, through. Retention makes for a profitable company and it means that you’re successful in providing value to your customers. However, if you’re not acquiring new customers consistently, there are downsides:
- Your key clients could leave you vulnerable if they leave.
- Your sales team may not be as active in trying to close and get out of practice.
- You may be unable to substantially grow your business.
In this infographic from First Data, they provide some of the statistics, strategies, and tactics associated with both acquisition and retention strategies. Best of all, they provide guidance on balancing your marketing and sales efforts between the two strategies.
Acquisition vs. Retention Statistics
- It’s estimated that nearly 40% of the revenue from an ecommerce business comes from repeat customers.
- Businesses have a 60 to 70% chance of selling to an existing customer compared to 20% chance for a new customer.
- According to some experts, a well-established business should concentrate about 60% of marketing resources on customer retention. New businesses should devote the bulk of their time on acquisition, of course.
Balancing Acquisition vs. Retention
Your marketing efforts can determine how well you acquire or retain customers. There are five key strategies to deploy for both:
- Concentrate on Quality – attract new clients and encourage existing ones to stay with exceptional service and products.
- Engage with Current Customers – make your existing customer base feel valued by asking them to spread the word about you through online reviews.
- Embrace Online Marketing – Use social media to connect with new customers and focused email marketing to reconnect with existing ones.
- Evaluate Your Customer Base – dive into your data to find out which of your current customers are really worth holding onto and which are not.
- Get Personal – Send handwritten notes to existing customer for effective marketing that helps build strong word of mouth.
About First Data
First Data is a global leader in payments and financial technology, serving thousands of financial institutions and millions of merchants and businesses in more than 100 countries.
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