Top 11 Customer Retention Trends and Predictions for 2020

The 2020 customer retention trends and predictions are here!  According to author and entrepreneur Neil Patel, it can cost up to 7 times more to acquire a new customer over retaining an existing one.  Let’s look at some ways to focus on customer retention with these trends and predictions:

2020 Customer Retention Trends and Predictions

Trend #1 Retention Over New Acquisitions

As obvious as it seems, it is still just now one of the customer retention trends worth noting.  It is more of a focus now than ever, and rightly so.

Trend #2 Consolidations and Partnerships

With all of the different options for technologies and services available, one of the trends in 2020 will be to find some more consolidation and/or partnerships.  For instance, you may start seeing some of the many streaming services available today joining forces to compete with others more strongly.

Trend #3 Focus on metrics

Another trend will be the focus on metrics regarding new and existing customers.  Using some of the technology available to sales and marketing teams, such as predictive analytics, teams will focus on the present metrics as well as those they wish to achieve.

Trend #4 Personalization

With the capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI) and customers’ desire to individualize their experiences, personalization will be a growing trend.  Personalized deals and subscription renewals and email correspondence help customers feel like businesses really care.

Trend #5 Customer Control 

Customers are finding themselves able to have more and more control over purchasing, signing up, canceling, and returning products and services.  This could have an effect on your ability to retain customers, but not giving them the freedom to do so could have an even more detrimental effect on retention.

Trend #6 Focus on Innovation

Status quo won’t cut it for most customers to stick around anymore.  Innovation is key to keep your customers’ attention as they are able to benefit from your new, unique offerings.

Trend #7 Omni-Channel Strategy

It works for acquiring new customers, so why do anything differently to retain your existing ones?  Make sure your customers are able to experience your offerings from any channel and pick up where they left off from one channel to the next.  It will go a long way in keeping them.

Trend #8 Focus on Data Protection

Customer service trends will forevermore involve data protection.  It is that important and that much easier for breaches to happen.  A data breach can be devastating to a business.  It can’t be stressed enough, you need to protect your data.

Trend #9 Even More Targeted Marketing

With the advanced capabilities of targeted marketing, this will also continue to trend in 2020.  It is a very effective technique in customer acquisition so it is necessarily going to be utilized more in retention as well.

Trend #10 Identify Your Niche

In order to keep your customers, you’ll want to stand out from your competition.  Find out what it is that is your niche in comparison.  This may even vary from customer to customer, so do your homework and they’ll know why they want to stick with you.

Trend #11 Subscriptions Will Rule

Subscriptions are now trending much more so than ever before.  For instance, Adobe used to offer their Creative Suite by software purchase.  You now are required to subscribe to the Creative Cloud.  It helps retain customers because they’ll be getting upgraded software automatically and doesn’t require them to purchase and download the latest and greatest version, giving them the opportunity to think about moving onto the competition.

How a CRM Can Help

Many of the customer retention trends mentioned here can be helped with the assistance of an effective customer relationship management (CRM) software.  With enhanced AI capabilities and means to personalize communications and integrate with social media, you’ll be able to manage your entire relationship in one place.

Agile CRM is the 500apps solution to customer relationship management that can revolutionize your existing customers’ experiences.  Plus, as part of the 500apps Infinity Suite of productivity apps, you’ll be able to do your project management, scheduling, time tracking, social media management and much more in one place.

Conclusion

According to the Temkin Group, “Loyal customers are 5 times as likely to repurchase, 5 times as likely to forgive, 4 times as likely to refer, and 7 times as likely try a new offering.”  This describes very well how important it is to retain your customers and turn them into loyal customers.  The work you put into the relationship will pay off in dividends.

These customer retention trends and predictions for 2020 will give you a good idea about what you should focus on in the coming year.  How you decide to focus on retention is ultimately up to you, but it will pay off in the end.

If you would like to see if Agile CRM will help with your customer retention, give it a try for free for the first 10 users.