Looking to retain memberships from directory listing owners? Learn how to reduce customer churn using three simple tips!
There are many benefits of making and running a directory website. However, retaining memberships and reducing customer churn can be challenging.
Your customer churn rate plays a major role in the success of your product or service. Keeping your current clients satisfied can make it easier to grow your operation through repeat memberships. Customer satisfaction can also help attract new customers.
In this post, we'll introduce you to customer churn. Then, we'll provide you with three key tips for reducing it. Let's dive in!
An overview of customer churn rates
Customer churn rate is the percentage of users that cancel within a certain period. It is also referred to as ‘customer attrition'.
Customer churn rate is important because it can help show how effective or ineffective your current strategy is. If you're struggling to keep customers, you're not alone. It's something that affects companies across nearly every industry.
Before we talk about reducing customer churn, let's first look at some of the common reasons that customers leave. These include:
- Pricing is too high for the value received (or perceived)
- Poor Customer Experience (UX)
- Poor customer service
Sometimes a business or brand is simply not the right fit for a customer. However, you might notice a steady decline in client memberships and retention rates. Customer feedback may show that users are leaving for similar reasons. If so, it's probably time to look at what you can do to improve these key areas.
How to reduce customer churn (3 key tips)
We've just covered why customer churn rates are so important. Now, let's take a look at marketing strategies to improve yours with three key tips.
1. Keep track of key metrics and analytics
You might be looking to assess and improve your performance as a business. If so, you need a set of accurate metrics. Making a benchmark gives you a starting point from which to measure your progress.
For example, you could use the following formula to determine your current customer churn rate:
Annual Churn Rate = (Number of Customers at Start of Year – Number of Customers at End of Year) / Number of Customers at Start of Year)
Tracking key metrics and analytics can also identify opportunities for your existing customers. For example, displaying vital stats to listing owners can help prove value to them. In turn, it can make them more likely to renew their listings.
One way to do this is by using Business Directory Plugin (any current plan) with MonsterInsights Pro. You can install both plugins and then navigate to Directory → Settings → Listings → Statistics.
Here, you can enable different settings:
The integration lets you display the MonsterInsights Page Insights in the admin bar for listing owners. You can also add the number of views for the listing in the same place:
This tool makes it easy for owners to see how many users are coming across their listings. If they notice high traffic, it could prevent them from ending their services with you.
The integration also makes it quick and convenient for your listing owners to find important statistics. So, it can improve their overall experiences with your directory site.
Add directory listings stats now
2. Prioritize customer success
In any industry, it's important for customers to feel like they're a priority. Therefore, another way to reduce customer churn is by focusing on providing the best possible support for customer happiness.
Of course, there are many ways to do this. However, one of the most effective strategies is improving the speed of your service.
According to Forrester Research, about 66% of people say valuing customer time is the most important part of good customer service. So, it's vital to get back to your clients' questions and concerns as soon as possible.
A handful of WordPress plugins can help streamline your customer support operations. For example, you could install a tool like Tidio for live chat:
It makes it easy to add a live chat feature to your site. It can help you respond to clients quickly. You can also provide customers with helpful resources to improve their experiences.
If you can address customer concerns sooner, it will be easier to prevent clients from canceling their services with you. So you can retain your memberships and subscriptions.
3. Offer tiered pricing plans
As we mentioned earlier, pricing contributes to customer churn. If listing owners can't see the value in your services, they're likely not going to keep paying for them.
However, you can offer a variety of pricing plans. By providing tiered fees, you help make your services accessible to customers with different budgets.
For example, with our Business Directory Plugin, you can create multiple listing plans. You can do this by heading to Directory → Plans → Add New Listing Fee:
Then you can adjust each type as needed. For example, you can determine whether it's a one-time fee or recurring. You can also decide how long each listing is available.
Wrapping up on customer churn
Finding and onboarding new clients is one thing. However, holding onto your existing customers and reducing churn can be a whole different story.
In this post, we provided you with three tips for how to reduce customer churn and retain memberships:
- Keep track of key statistics and analytics with tools such as MonsterInsights and Business Directory Plugin.
- Prioritize customer service and get back to clients as soon as possible.
- Offer tiered pricing plans to help make your services accessible to all budgets.
Business Directory Plugin can help you achieve much of what we discussed in this article and more. If you're running a listing site, it can streamline your processes and increase conversions. Check it out today to learn more!
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