January 24, 2020
Grow Saas Customer Retention with a Giving Mindset
“The more you put into the product, the more you’ll get out of it.”
In SaaS companies, I often hear this reciprocal one-liner bestowed upon new customers to set fair expectations about a product’s performance potential and trajectory.
It puts the onus back on the customer to create their own fate through positive actions (not just intent).
But what if we turn the tables and apply this give-and-take philosophy to our own customer relationships to foster customer retention?
Reframe the context as the more knowledge, appreciation, and attention you put into your customers, the more value, loyalty, and advocacy you’ll get out of them. You begin to earn what your marketing dollars can’t buy: social currency—the gift that keeps on giving to your bottom-line.
So, how can your business build up customer retention?
In short, you need to provide your customer with equal parts value and gratitude.
Your product may have gotten you in the door, but customers won’t evangelize your brand if they don’t feel appreciated and part of a community. As Theodore Roosevelt said, “Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care.”
And, just like any committed relationship, words (read: thank you emails) aren’t always enough to express your gratefulness. It takes altruistic action.
Here’s a few ways ChurnZero shows our customers we 😍them.
Fly Your Freak Churn Flag
Fantastic shot of @GatherTech's Client Success team posing with their Fight Churn Flag. Thanks for sharing it with us! 📸 #CustomerSuccess pic.twitter.com/wJNHPi8bhq
— ChurnZero (@churnzero) October 9, 2019
We love to see our customers flying the Fight Churn flag. Thanks to @DonorSearch for sharing this snapshot from Halloween #CustomerSuccess #fightchurn pic.twitter.com/dDZaHgpOMG
— ChurnZero (@churnzero) November 5, 2019
Reward Customer Feedback
Impart the Gift of Knowledge and Networks
You can also offer up your connections. Do you have a current customer that has an opening on their team, and know of someone in your network that could be a good fit? Then set up that introduction! You strengthen your customer’s team, provide a referral for someone in your network, and build trust with all involved. It’s a win-win for everyone.
Any time you provide proactive Customer Success, where you anticipate your customers’ future needs, you, in turn, give them additional value that they didn’t even have to search or request. Customer Success Managers find opportunities to make things better, take things further, and use their account and product mastery to prepare customers for the next phase of their business growth.
Look for ways to think outside of the box (literally) and give other contributions like; the gift of knowledge, the gift of encouragement, and the gift of community.
Spread the Saas Love
Tweets and Tokens of Appreciation
Thanks for the #customerlove @HubSpot! We agree – We will succeed because our customers did! #CustomerSuccess pic.twitter.com/p24ulCWaE3
— ChurnZero (@churnzero) June 11, 2018
Congratulate Personal and Professional Achievement
Thanks to @trustradius for our Top Rated Award cookies! There are only three Customer Success Software vendors in the TrustRadius Top Rated report, and we are highest rated of all three! Learn more about why customers love us – https://t.co/wVGU6BYF3I #TruthSells #TrustRadius pic.twitter.com/ku9jPXOgCB
— ChurnZero (@churnzero) April 8, 2019
Proud to be a @G2Crowd Leader in the Customer Success category! Thanks for the swag! We succeed because our customers do! #usersloveus #G2Proud #customersuccess pic.twitter.com/OfeP8mUrHl
— ChurnZero (@churnzero) October 24, 2018
As a Customer Success provider, we love when we see other companies take a sincere interest in getting to know their customers. That’s why when G2 sent our Director of Marketing a bottle of champagne after she mentioned her first-time home purchase during a routine customer call, we were impressed. Attention to and consideration of the small details are how you cultivate strong customer rapport, affinity, and influence.
A Lifetime Subscription to Service
SaaS companies rely on monthly and annual recurring revenue, so they can’t (successfully) operate using a set-it-and-forget-it customer mentality once a sale closes. Thriving in the subscription economy takes an ongoing commitment to not only invest in and improve upon your product, but also your customers. If most of your customer interactions involve you soliciting something from them, then you’re in a one-sided relationship. Your customer will eventually wise up and realize that there’s someone else out there who will treat them better. Lasting customer relationships give more than they take. That’s how you win subscribers for life.
Want to learn more ways to build customer retention through sending? Check out our eBook below for fun and creative ideas to engage your customers.