The document outlines 5 steps to improve customer retention: 1) Track customer retention metrics; 2) Listen to subscriber feedback; 3) Reward loyal customers to ensure satisfaction and increase revenue; 4) Identify and reduce common pain points in the customer experience; 5) Communicate changes to customers to build trust and loyalty. Improving customer retention can significantly increase company profits by reducing customer acquisition costs.

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5 Steps to Improve
Customer Retention
© 2015 Vindicia, Inc. All rights reserved. Vindicia Confidential.

2. 2
5 Steps to Improve Customer Retention
© 2015 Vindicia, Inc. All rights reserved. Vindicia Confidential.
Customer retention greatly improves profits, so it's important to spend time focusing on
the customers you already have. According to the Harvard Business School, when a
company increases their customer retention rate by five percent, they can increase
profits anywhere from 25 to 95 percent. The same research found attracting new
customers costs 20 to 40 percent more – depending on the industry and market – than
trying to keep the ones you already have. Those two stats create a strong case
for improving your customer retention.
Here are five steps to make customer retention efforts more effective:
Step 1: Track customer retention
Subscription based business needs to be tracked so you can easily see how you're
doing. While tracking subscriber information is important for financial purposes, it's also
very important for customer retention. You need to know how many subscribers you're
gaining and losing. Look for seasonal or economic trends and adjust your business
accordingly. While seasonality isn't as big a deal for subscription based businesses, it
is still important to note. The more you know, the better you'll be able to adapt as
necessary.

3. 3© 2015 Vindicia, Inc. All rights reserved. Vindicia Confidential.
Step 2: Listen to subscribers
You need to listen to what your subscribers have to
say. Without them, you wouldn't have a business to
run, so it's important to make sure that you're paying
attention to the things your customers say about your
products and services.
"Every shipment you
send can be a way to
connect with the
customer."
Step 3: Reward loyal customers
While you're tracking customer retention and analyzing the responses you're getting
from subscribers, it's important to not neglect your loyal customers. Customers who
have had subscriptions for a while and are faithful to your brand deserve a reward. By
giving your customers something you're ensuring they will stay happy. Special
programs can have a dramatic affect on customer satisfaction and your business as a
whole. According to Entrepreneur, online retailers saw a dramatic increase in their
revenue after increasing customer rewards programs.
Try to engage them on social media, through email campaigns, voluntary surveys,
review boards and more. You should look at the opinions of current subscribers and
former subscribers to try to find a way to make your business better. Every shipment
you send can be a way to connect with the customer and try to get information about
their experience with the business. Include questions about shipping options, payment
processes, product offerings and customer service.

4. 4© 2015 Vindicia, Inc. All rights reserved. Vindicia Confidential.
Step 4: Reduce pain points
Once loyal customers are taken care of, you can put what you've heard and
the information you've been tracking to work. Through your research, identify what the
common pain points are for most of your subscribers. After those pain points are
identified, you can start eliminating or reworking areas of the customer experience that
cause negative reactions. Common pain points include shipping problems, long
checkout processes and insufficient payment options. While some things will be easy
fixes, others may take some time.
Step 5: Communicate with customers
Making changes to increase customer retention should help with customer retention but
you have to show customers you're making changes. If you're not communicating with
your customers, some may leave before the changes can be made. Regular subscriber
updates can be a simple way of communicating changes to your customers. This can
be a simple monthly email notifying customers of all the changes that have been made
or of ones that will come in the future. By showing your customers their opinions
matter you'll build trust and loyalty.

5. 5© 2015 Vindicia, Inc. All rights reserved. Vindicia Confidential.
About the Author: Bryta Schulz
Bryta joined Vindicia in 2013 and serves as Senior Vice
President of Marketing. She is responsible for building brand
awareness, creating go-to-market strategy and promotion, and
driving growth. With over a decade of executive level marketing,
product management and PR experience, Bryta has led
marketing teams in enterprise technology and SaaS companies.
Her experience includes heading product marketing at GoGrid,
PGP, RSA and Symantec and business development and
product management positions at Xcert, Thales, and
Persistence Software. Bryta holds a MA in Translation from the
Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and an MBA from the
University of Reutlingen.
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© 2015 Vindicia, Inc. All rights reserved. Vindicia Confidential.