Understanding Customer Drift: What It Is and Why It Matters
Ever wondered why customers seem to lose interest in a business over time, even if nothing concrete has happened. That's customer drift. Itâs sort of that weird grey zone between your business mattering and customers not caring at all.
Itâs common. Happens to the best of businesses too, so youâre not alone. The way I see it, the thing is - customer drift can be hard to spot.
Unless youâre really paying attention, you may not notice that 10 loyal customers havenât placed their quarterly orders until theyâre gone. And by then, getting them back is never as easy as getting rid of customer drift from the start.
This is where conscious decision making comes into play. To do anything about customer drift, you have to first notice it. So, how do you spot customer drift.
The obvious answer is when regular customers stop showing up or making purchases with the same frequency as before. They might still engage with your company online but thereâs a bigger gap between purchases now or someone who used to be around all the time now only turns up around a sale event. Seems like every single one of your campaigns gets less and less engagement from the same group of people every time.
This is a rather confusing experience because customers havenât left completely. Sort of.
Theyâre still around but they donât share the same connection with your company that they once did. This means they wonât hesitate to switch businesses if you ever drop the ball with them and even if you donât, they might find a compelling enough reason to leave eventually because thereâs no longer anything keeping them anchored to your business anymore. Understanding customer drift means accepting that it happens for a variety of different reasons and can look very different for every business out there but keeping an eye out for signs that customers are pulling away from your company before they actually do can help you keep them around longer and more engaged than ever before.
Identifying the Signs of Customer Drift
Looks Like i know what youâre thinking: why do some customers who seem to love everything suddenly go radio silent or disengage altogether. Itâs maddening to pour your heart and soul into cultivating a brilliant service experience only to find that someone disappears without a trace. The thing is, it doesnât always have to come as a shock. More or less.
In fact, there are some telltale signs you can look out for and address before things go too far. The most obvious is presumably communication changes. If your customer was previously happy with weekly check-ins but suddenly requests fewer updates from you, it may be time to ask how theyâre feeling about things.
It seems like this is especially important if you notice your emails are not getting their usual enthusiastic responses - sometimes, they stop replying altogether. They might also reschedule or cancel meetings on short notice - not just with your team but internally as well.
But communication isnât the only warning sign of drift. You may notice that they arenât using your products or services quite as often as they used to - this usually indicates lost interest or interest in something else (even if itâs temporary). Or if thereâs been an uptick in customer complaints, that could mean customer satisfaction has gone down - this one can lead to churn very quickly.
It feels like customer drift comes out of nowhere, but if we really look at the signs, it makes sense more often than not. It can be difficult to get re-engagement when communication stops abruptly, so try and proactively catch these warning signs before they become a bigger problem. Identifying the signs before customers completely disengage can help you mitigate drift successfully and foster better relationships with them long-term.
The Power of Personalized Communication
Doesn't everyone like feeling a bit special. Even when we know it's marketing, there's something about seeing our name pop up in an email or message. I get it.
It's all about connection - sometimes artificial, but always intentional. And you'd be surprised at how powerful personalised communication can be in customer retention. People want to feel valued as individuals, not just as numbers or transactions. When businesses address customers by their names or refer to past interactions, it makes a difference.
If you were wondering what would work to keep customers from becoming inactive, this seems like the most obvious answer - but surprisingly, it's also one of the most effective ones. Also sounds like a lot of effort on the company's part. Sort of. But that's fine, because some effort makes for better relationships with customers.
All relationships thrive when you make someone feel special and show them that you care about who they are and what they're doing. This can potentially look like celebrating milestones with them (birthdays and anniversaries) or simply showing that you've taken the time to understand and remember their preferences. It shows commitment to customer satisfaction, encourages engagement with your services/products, and ultimately promotes loyalty to your brand. People will always drift away when they don't feel connected.
As far as long-term brand loyalty goes, personalisation helps shape strong memories which can then act as triggers for further engagement in the future - maybe even long after they've stopped using your products/services regularly.
Creating Engaging Customer Experiences
What makes a customer keep coming back to the same store or shopping online from the same platform. Is it loyalty rewards, sales, or freebies. Itâs actually that they have a good time when theyâre shopping. The goal when youâre selling something is to make your buyer feel like you care about them, because if you donât then they probably wonât care about your product or service.
And thatâs not to say that you have to fake it. When you know what goes into creating an engaging customer experience, it gets quite easy to actually care for your customers.
Itâs a lot about good communication and being mindful of how you speak as well as listen. People like to share and talk about the things that bring them joy, and one way to make sure people enjoy their buying journey with you is evidently by nurturing and encouraging this emotion - joy. Your customer is pretty much also unique and no two people are ever the same, so what may work for one shopper may not work for another.
Selling doesnât mean getting people to buy from you in a transactional way, it means building relationships with each of your customers so they keep coming back to you over the years. Once people are able to trust your business and feel like you have their best interests at heart, theyâll naturally become loyal buyers.
And this can come from simple things like remembering their birthdays (and treating them), taking feedback seriously and acting on it (even when it stings), resolving issues in a timely manner (not making your customers wait), using genuine language (not pushing sales down their throat), personalising interactions (not copy-pasting automated responses), among others.
Leveraging Feedback for Continuous Improvement
Do you ever feel like you're shouting into the void when you ask for feedback. It can sometimes seem that way sometimes. But feedback is a lot more than a tool for measuring satisfaction or collecting new ideas.
It can also act as an anchor to keep customers engaged and to make sure your products or services stay relevant. Feedback can give you a direct line into what your customers are thinking, feeling, and expecting from your brand. Collecting this data helps you find out whatâs working and whatâs not in terms of offerings, delivery, communication, support, and experience. Even though nobody likes to hear negative feedback, these complaints often serve as beacons that help you identify trouble spots.
And the act of providing feedback can make customers feel more involved with your brand. That being said, collecting feedback alone isnât enough. Businesses need to engage with this data to learn how to prevent drift.
They need to show customers that their voices are heard and that the company values them enough to act on the information they provide. This makes people feel important and cared for. They may even reward your brand with loyalty.
The way I see it, donât just talk about the changes your brand is making - show them what youâre doing differently as a result of customer opinions. Showing customers that their words are a bit put into action helps them understand that they have an influence over business decisions.
It also encourages customers to become more invested in your brand and it increases the chances that theyâll continue engaging with your company in the future.
Building Long-Term Relationships Through Trust and Value
Have you noticed how you are always drawn to certain stores even if thereâs a better deal elsewhere or their website or storefront is sort of outdated and not visually enticing. When people stick with their favourite brands, even when faced with such limitations, theyâre enjoying the perks of a long-term relationship based on trust and value. I suppose we tend to choose the things that are familiar because we have come to trust them and rely on them. It is the same thing with businesses - if your customers can rely on you, theyâll come back for more.
Brands and businesses that have successfully established themselves as reliable and trustworthy make sure that they keep the interest of their customers at the centre of all transactions. That trust becomes valuable for both parties. You can keep this going by consistently providing value to your audience - exclusive deals, discount offers, first-in-line sneak peeks.
And while value-based deals are good for business, making it worth your customerâs time becomes more important when youâre building relationships. Customers should feel valued and appreciated for doing business with you. Sometimes, being communicative does most of the work in creating an image of a trustworthy brand.
By keeping your word and being transparent about delays and hiccups, you show respect for your customersâ needs and lives outside of your business. I think simply providing what they need when they need it will give you leverage in their eyes too. Prioritise honest communication over making flashy promises if you want to create loyal customers who will do business with you for years to come. If things go off track one day or there is something that threatens to hurt these relationships, youâll still have a strong foundation to get things back up quickly if trust is part of the equation.