What are the different stages that users pass through, in the journey of getting to know and use a product? 

1. Awareness: The customer becomes aware of the brand or company through marketing or advertising efforts.
2. Interest: The customer expresses interest in the brand or company by visiting its website or social media pages.
3. Evaluation: The customer evaluates the brand or company by researching its products or services, reading customer reviews, and comparing it to competitors.
4. Purchase: The customer makes a purchase and experiences a seamless and efficient checkout process.
5. Delivery: The customer receives the product or service in a timely manner and is satisfied with the quality.
6. After-sales: The customer receives excellent customer service and support in case of any issues or concerns.
7. Repeat purchase: The customer is satisfied with the experience and becomes a repeat customer.
8. Referral: The customer recommends the brand or company to friends and family.

By understanding this journey and addressing pain points, companies can create a positive experience for their customers and increase the likelihood of repeat business and positive word-of-mouth.

Why customers buy

Companies can reap significant benefits from treating customers well. According to reports 90% of customers are more likely to make a purchase when dealing with an informed colleague. And nearly 75% of customers, base their evaluation of a brand's overall experience on how well they are treated. Additionally, consumers are more interested in brands that offer satisfying customer experiences. As a result, they purchase 90% more frequently and spend 60% more each time.

What is customer retention?

Customer loyalty, or an organization's capacity to retain customers over time, is measured by a metric called customer retention. Consumer retention can represent or forecast customer satisfaction, repurchase behaviour, customer involvement, and emotional links to a brand in addition to counting the number of devoted customers.

Customer retention numbers are tied to the first transaction made by a customer and include all future contacts, whereas customer relationships often start with an initial engagement. Organizations can use this feedback after customer retention has been assessed to do data analytics on aspects of customer success and customer experience. 

As an illustration, if a decline in client retention is noted, a company can use this information to determine the fundamental cause and modify its product offers.Because it costs significantly more to acquire new clients than it does to keep existing ones, customer retention is crucial. Additionally, returning consumers are more likely to participate in word-of-mouth advertising or serve as brand ambassadors.

Why retaining customers is important ?

An organization risks losing out on recurring business if it does not prioritize customer retention and instead just concentrates on growing its client base. Although the procedure for acquiring new clients, also known as customer acquisition, is crucial, it is also far more expensive. Gaining new clients is crucial, but so is keeping existing ones and turning them into loyal ones.

Here are few reasons why customer retention is always an A game in the business - 

1. Affordability: Retaining an existing customer is 6–7 times more affordable than acquiring a new one.
2. ROI: Increasing customer retention by 5% can boost business revenue by 25–95%.
3. Loyalty: Long-term clients are more loyal and spend more money. They return again and time again after realising the worth of a good or service.
4. Referrals: Loyal, pleased clients are more inclined to sing a business's praises and recommend it to friends and family, bringing in new clients at no cost.

It would seem apparent that businesses should want to keep customers, but when they experience rapid growth and find it difficult to put in place a strong customer care programme, proactive customer assistance for current clients might fall between the cracks.

What are you loosing your customer to?

1. Poor Customer service
   Companies lose consumers mostly as a result of poor customer service. Customers will soon lose faith in a company if it makes promises that it cannot keep or if it fails to deliver on them. Customers anticipate good customer service as a component of every transaction, therefore this can still occur even if the product or service is excellent.
   You must enhance your customer service if you want to grow your business. Companies frequently ignore customer service because they believe it has little impact on their revenue. However, if customers have a negative experience dealing with your firm, they can decide not to use you again.
    
2. Product and Service not upto the expectation
   Another frequent cause of clientele loss is a product or service not living up to expectations. Customers will look elsewhere if they have to pay for something that doesn't fulfil their expectations. Make sure you are familiar with a product's features, advantages, and intended uses before trying to sell it.
   Then, highlight how your business can assist them in achieving those goals faster than anyone else. It's time to reconsider your products and services if you're not happy with them. Customers that are dissatisfied with the merchandise they bought from you won't send it back. They might even complain to their friends about the quality of their goods or services, which could start a downward trend that makes it challenging for them to recover.
    
3. Did not demonstrate the value
   The value proposition is an essential component of any brand's marketing plan, but customers don't necessarily see it in the same way. This may be particularly true if your company is young or if you lack extensive experience with sales or customer service procedures.
   Understanding your clients' viewpoint what they require from you and how they consider their needs before making any purchasing decisions will help you demonstrate value to them. Once you have this knowledge, it will be easier to direct your marketing efforts so that each communication assists recipients in identifying the best solution for their problem (and why)
    
4. Slow response time
   The response speed is essential for retaining customers in today's cutthroat economy. Customers have high standards for the companies they patronize. They anticipate a prompt and effective response from you when they ask questions.
   In order for them to decide whether to buy from you in the first place, they also anticipate that you will give them reliable information about your products and services. Let's say your team isn't prompt in responding to a consumer. If that happens, they might decide against doing business with you again or waiting for a response from someone else who might not even be aware of the problem yet!
    
5. Over Pricing and Under Delivering
   Businesses frequently make promises they can't keep, which irritates and frustrates customers. Employees that can effectively appraise events and provide customers with an honest appraisal of what to expect from your firm will be able to prevent this from happening. People will eventually lose patience and stop doing business with you if you make promises you can't keep.
   Ensuring everyone is always in the loop on events is crucial in this situation, even if it only involves two people. Suppose there is no communication regarding the status of an order or the delivery of a product. In that situation, potential buyers can be perplexed and believe something different from what actually occurred!
    
6. Being Unavailable
   Revenue will be lost if you are unable to answer client questions and give support. If you're not available for customers, they will go somewhere to get better service or products at a lesser price since they don't want to feel like they're bothering you.
   Customers will go somewhere else if you don't respond to them and provide better service. If you don't give your clients the quality of service they anticipate, there is no guarantee that they will remain committed to your company. Additionally, you pass up chances to discover more about your customers. You miss out on important information about what your clients desire and how they utilise your goods or services when you're unable to react fast and effectively

How can you win your customers back?

1. Asking for feedback
   First and foremost, without knowing why they went, you cannot win back lost clients. As a result, engaging with consumers and getting their input might help you figure out why they left and what needs to be improved. Remember that only one out of every 26 clients complains. Make sure your clients are aware of their voice and that it matters in order to gather as much information as possible regarding lost customers.
   By requesting that customers complete surveys or reviews, you can get their input. For instance, you should establish stronger training programmes to improve customer relations if the majority of customers leave due to bad customer service. But if a sizable amount of the feedback is unfavorable, you might need to start over and come up with a strategy for improvement.
    
2. Provide exceptional service
   Poor customer service is the main cause of customer loss for many firms. As an illustration, 33% of customers claimed that they changed brands as a result of just one negative customer service encounter.
   Therefore, offering amazing customer service is a wonderful place to start if you want to win back clients. Even if your consumers love your product or service, they can quit if they don't think they're receiving exceptional customer service. By handling customer concerns and complaints better, you might be able to regain lost clients.
    
3. Provide new products or service
   Using feedback analytics you can understand that clients are leaving because you don't provide the most recent or pertinent products, programmes, or services, think about whether it would be financially feasible for you to start providing such. 
   Regaining a client may be as simple as offering updated, more useful versions of popular products. Try establishing a marketing campaign to inform the public about the company's newly launched items after making and launching these changes to aid in bringing in more revenue.
    
4. Using Feedback Analytics to retain customers
   Feedback analytics can help retain customers by providing insight into customer satisfaction and identifying areas for improvement. This information can be used to address customer complaints, improve products and services, and enhance the overall customer experience.
   Additionally, feedback analytics can be used to identify trends and patterns in customer behaviour, which can inform targeted marketing and retention efforts. Overall, using feedback analytics can help a business better understand its customers and create a more personalized and positive experience for them, which can lead to increased customer loyalty and retention.
    
5. Using Textual Analytics
   Textual analytics can help to retain customers by providing insights into customer sentiment and feedback. By analyzing customer reviews, survey responses, social media posts, and other forms of written feedback, businesses can gain a better understanding of how their customers feel about their products, services, and overall brand. This information can be used to identify areas of improvement and make changes that will enhance the customer experience.
   Textual analytics can also be used to identify patterns and trends in customer feedback, which can inform targeted retention efforts. For example, if a business notices that a particular product or service consistently receives negative feedback, it can take steps to address the issue and improve customer satisfaction. Additionally, textual analytics can be used to identify common themes in customer feedback, such as concerns about pricing or delivery, which can inform decisions about how to retain customers.
   Overall, textual analytics provides valuable insights into customer sentiment and can help businesses to make data-driven decisions that will improve the customer experience and increase customer loyalty and retention.
    

Conclusion

In conclusion, there can be many reasons why a business may lose customers. Feedback analytics and textual analytics can provide valuable insights into customer sentiment and identify areas for improvement. Some common reasons for losing customers include poor customer service, lack of product or service innovation, high prices, lack of convenience, and poor online reputation. By understanding the reasons why customers are leaving, businesses can take steps to address the issues and improve the customer experience.