Atom Payment Gateway: At the PayUmoney blog, we are dedicated to providing all businesses with all the types of information they need to help them operate at optimal levels. Whether it's payments or marketing, we guide businesses through a selection of trends, tips, and advice to help them grow. We love it when industry experts recognise our content and are willing to share their experience and knowledge, and Saurabh is one such expert who focuses on customer retention and believes in putting the customer first. In this article, he elaborates on how startups can focus more on customers from the very beginning. Here are Saurabh's expert insights

"Clients are like boyfriends and girlfriends. If they don't feel the attraction, they will leave quietly and you may never know why!" -- Saurabh Garg, Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer, NoBroker.in

There is currently a lot of talk about customer retention strategies, which are seen as an important pillar of marketing. There are good reasons for this view - research by Bain & Co shows that a 51 TP3T increase in customer retention can increase a company's profitability by 751 TP3T.

While this is relatively easy to achieve in businesses that are frequently used on a daily basis (e.g., grocery shops, e-commerce, etc.), in businesses such as home buying and renting, the customer return rate is not as high. In fact, customers who have used the service will come back again after about a year. In such businesses, customer retention strategies must be more impactful. It's as if you only get one chance a year to impress your customers!

**Products**

Firstly, the strategy of any business is to build a great product that solves real customer problems. The customer is always God and must provide the best service possible. How do you do this? It's through understanding the customer, not just building a "new" product. The product should be "good", not necessarily "new". The product should address the customer's pain points. This trait is what separates successful companies from aspiring ones.

Secondly, any customer will remember quality service. If they are satisfied, they will be happy to spread the word of mouth. Businesses that see their satisfied customers as local brand advocates tend to withstand challenges such as the test of time, lack of funds, and changing trends.

**Life cycle**

Once you have an in-depth understanding of your customers and their behaviour, you can adjust your retention strategy around this. In today's world, customers are exposed to a huge amount of advertising on a daily basis and can forget about a brand after just 3 days. Therefore, it's vital to keep customers engaged throughout the lifecycle until they come back again. It doesn't make sense to engage in untargeted advertising here, as the results will be much less effective.

Take NoBroker for example:

Clients usually come back again 15-18 months after finding a home. Therefore, we divide the life cycle into three stages:

0-12 months: we push engaging and useful content to our clients, such as community highlights they can use once they find a home, decorating and interior design tips, feng shui, and more. This content is pushed out to clients on a regular basis, and because it's all information they find useful, we get a high level of engagement here.

12-14 months: This is the pre-transaction phase where we prepare our clients for the transaction. Therefore, we send out content such as "Moving Guides", "Renting Guides", customer testimonials, and so on. Clients are about to enter the area and find this content very useful.

14-30 months: This is the transactional phase, where we push high-frequency content to our customers, such as "50,000+ agentless listings for you to choose from" and "saved $60 billion in agent fees over the past year". Customers looking for a home receive these messages at the right time and decide to try the service.

**Impact**

In the past year, we've seen a seven-fold increase in returning users, and it's accelerating. It's like a snowball effect that keeps building up.

**Note**

- Integrated communication (IMC) strategies: SMS, Facebook, video, push, email, Google

In lifecycle management, it is important to use an integrated communication strategy. Customers need to be exposed to at least three or more communications before they decide to take action.

- Considering a step forward

For example, in our business, once we know that a client has rented or purchased a property, we don't relax about it. We anticipate what the client might need next - a lease/purchase contract, removal company, etc. Anticipating a client's needs and communicating the service at the right time can be very beneficial in earning client loyalty.

Today's customers seek convenience and value.

If they find a brand that stays with them throughout their rental or moving journey, they're likely to come back again and recommend it to others for a hassle-free experience!

- Encouraging social sharing

Customers are often encouraged to share their experiences on their social media profiles and are rewarded for doing so. The ultimate goal is to form a community of local and highly loyal brand advocates.

**Concluding remarks**

Customer retention is probably the most profitable activity for a company. But it's important to stay true to the nature of a startup and keep experimenting. Don't fall into the trap of conventional customer retention strategies. Understand your customers and what they want. There is no one-size-fits-all strategy that will save you.

The above knowledge, tips and personal experience belongs to Saurabh Garg of NoBroker.You can connect with him on LinkedIn for advice on related topics (see info in the author section below). If you would like to blog for PayUmoney as a guest, please contact us at [email protected]

While your business marketing strategy is in place, it's also a good idea to have an all-in-one payment solution. Enjoy the best payment gateway experience now and grow your business with ease!

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