How to keep your customers engaged with your business? You need to be more intentional about customer retention. Many companies invest a lot in marketing but most of their campaigns are for winning new buyers, using hype to prop up sales. Most of the time these only work for a while.

I co-founded a socially responsible virtual workforce company called Greymouse and I am happy to say that we have effectively retained a lot of our customers through the years. But it takes a lot of work, it takes commitment to continually delight clients. There are really no secret formula, but I believe it all boils down to three very simple things:

Know who you serve

Business owners should invest time in knowing who their customers are. This is not just about what they buy and how much they spend on your shop. You also have to know their age, where they live, their interests, and how your products and services are making a difference in their lives. The more things you know about them the better you can sell to them.

Some of our customers at Greymouse are rapidly growing start-up businesses. This gave us the idea of offering a new off-shore service where they can have a remote office, staffed with people who have the skill set they need to drive their expansion. Today our Virtual Branch department is serving a sizable client.

We simply strive to understand our customers and their pressing needs and then we provide a service they cannot resist. The more useful you are to your customers’ lives, the more they will likely come back and do business with you again.

Know what your customers want to buy

You have to know what is hot in the market. You need to have the flexibility to change your offerings from what is selling fast. Have a survey conducted, engage customers over social media, or ask your sales people what’s trending. When you find out what is working well for the company, adjust your priorities right away.

We realized that many of our existing clients want to strengthen their social media presence. What we did was hone our social media skills, hire people with the right expertise, and then offer social media services to our clients. The response we got was very good.

Know what your customers want to buy from you and secure the future of your business.

Stop bothering your captured market

If you have nothing new to offer, stop badgering your existing customer base with marketing pitches. This will cause them to disengage from you. This can also erode brand loyalty or push them away for good. Be careful with how frequent you sell to them.

Be very methodical in attracting and retaining customers. Having a flashy ad or a cool video just won’t cut it all the time for you. You have to know who you are selling to and their current needs, while respecting their space (do not be an obnoxious seller).