In business, there’s a universal rule that retaining an existing customer is 5 times cheaper than acquiring a new one. This rule is even more relevant today, especially that we are in a national pandemic.

Businesses must focus all of their efforts on customer retention because the market has drastically changed since the pandemic hit. Most consumers have pulled back on their spending and are carefully reviewing where to spend their money.

This makes it very difficult and expensive to acquire new customers so it’s a must to prioritize existing customers who already know and trust your brand.

We’ve listed 10 ways on how to assure and keep your clients so you can keep your business up and running during this pandemic.

1. Evaluate Your Strategy And Adjust The Way You Communicate

 If your customer base is not that large, it’s always a good idea to talk to your clients one-on-one. This way, you get to ask them directly what they want and what they can expect from you.

However, if you run a restaurant or an online store, one-on-one conversations might not be the best idea since it’s very time-consuming. What you can do is to conduct polls and surveys on social media to get a surface level idea of what you need to do. Customers are very vocal in voicing out their concerns on social media so it’s a great tool to receive feedback.

Always put the needs of your clients first and avoid the “business as usual” mindset. Adjust and modify your strategy depending on the current market trend.

You should also add a “personal touch” when you convey your message to your clients. Everyone has been affected by the pandemic so be sensitive to the words you say and always show compassion.

Some ways of doing these are sending personalized emails/letters to your clients or even doing one-on-one phone calls with them.

You need to avoid using the pandemic as a way to make money. Stop using terms like “Coronavirus Sale” or “Pandemic Sale.”

2. Go Digital With Your Business

Despite the pandemic, you should still offer your products or services to your clients even if your business focuses on selling physical products or services. Modifying your business strategy may mean that you might need to make use of digital technology.

For example, if you have a restaurant, there’s no way that you can operate at full capacity anytime soon. If you want to keep sales coming in, you can partner with delivery apps like UberEats, DoorDash, or Grubhub and have your food sent straight to your customers’ doorsteps.

But what about services? Should you stop offering them because of social distancing guidelines?

Well, you can still offer your services by doing tutorials or virtual meetups with the use of video conferencing apps. Let’s say you own a plumbing and you can’t go door-to-door

fixing people’s water systems. What you can do is you can offer your services virtually by teaching your clients how to fix the damages through video chat.

Sure, it’s quite difficult to imagine teaching someone how to do plumbing online but we are in drastic times so we need drastic measures.

3. Educate & Inform Your Clients Through Content

Creating educational videos or tutorials for your client will build brand loyalty and trust. Now’s the time to create informative content for clients since most of them are just staying at home and probably binge-watching movies.

Some examples of informative content are webinars, podcasts, and video tutorials. If you’re a make-up artist, you can start creating a vlog and do make-up tutorials as of the moment just to stay relevant to your clientele.

Once the pandemic is over, they’ll most likely get your services because you’ll be the first person that will pop into their head if they need make-up services.

4. Help Your Employees/Salespeople Manage Their Customers

Sometimes business owners tend to focus on customers alone and forget about their employees. Always remember that your employees are an extension of you and your business. Everything that they do will reflect the company’s image.

Now, it’s important to assist your employees with the struggles that they are facing since not all of them can keep up with the pressure that this pandemic brings.

As a business owner, you need to set the tone for everybody and be their beacon of light. Provide emotional or even temporal support for your employees because when all of this is over, they will return the favor and work as twice as hard for the company.

5. Offer Incentives To Existing Clients

You should take care of your loyal customers because they will keep your business alive. One way of doing that is to provide incentives for their purchases.

You can offer discounts, gift cards, or even free trials as a sign of appreciation. Loyalty programs are also very helpful since they encourage customers to continuously patronize your business.

Also, referral programs are very useful. If you’ve heard about AirBnB, they have this referral program where users get cash credits for every person they refer to Airbnb.

Conclusion

As the entire world is adjusting to the “new normal”, you should also adjust your strategy when interacting with clients. The key is to show empathy with clients in all you do so they know that you’re genuine to their meeting their needs during this pandemic. The result will be you and your business being viewed as trustworthy, caring and relatable, which will strengthen your customer relationships for many years to come.