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Tag: Customer acquisition

  • Top Customer Retention Tools & Software: Boost User Loyalty and Engagement

    It is not exactly a secret that customers are one of the most important aspects of your business. They buy the products and services that bring you profits and ultimately determine your revenue. But in order to maintain good profitability over a prolonged period of time, it is essential that the customers should be repeating.

    It is very crucial that one retains their customers for as long as they can. A loyal customer who trusts your products or services will come back for more every time. But with the rise in competition, this is becoming quite hard to achieve. Reports have shown that 60% of customers leave businesses due to bad customer service. You cannot risk losing your customers, and for that, you need modern approaches to keep up with the times. So, in this article, we will be discussing some of the most popular customer retention tools like Amplitude, Qualaroo, Zendesk, and more that will help you retain your customers.

    What Are Customer Retention Tools?

    Customer retention is a strategy of making customers stay devoted to your business over time. The tools that help in this process are said to be customer retention tools. As good as customer retention sounds, it is not very easy to do that manually. In today’s time, you cannot afford to hire actual people who will study customer behavior. Besides, sending welcome messages and notifications nonstop is a waste of manual labor. Doing this amount of work takes up a lot of time and money. With customer retention tools or software, you can do all this for a lesser price, and that too in much less time. With the help of these tools, one can get detailed data on their customers’ actions. It provides quick services, ensuring that customers never have to wait for long.

    How to Retain Customers

    In this blog, we’re going to check out the “Best Customer Retention Tools.” These tools are like superheroes that help businesses hold onto their customers. So, get ready to explore how technology can make sure you keep enjoying your favorite ice cream shop, or in other words, how businesses can make sure you keep coming back for more!

    Top Customer Retention Tools

    In this time of increasing competition, it is important for any business to attract and retain as many customers as it can. So, to help you achieve this goal, there are various tools available in the market. The following are some of the popular software tools that will help you retain your customers:

    S. No. Tool Key Features Rating
    1 Amplitude Product analytics, behavioral cohort analysis, real-time insights ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.5/5)
    2 Qualaroo On-site surveys, NPS tracking, user feedback targeting ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.2/5)
    3 Zendesk Customer support ticketing, live chat, analytics, multi-channel support ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.3/5)
    4 Userpilot Product adoption, in-app onboarding, user segmentation ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.4/5)
    5 Heap Analytics Automatic event tracking, funnel analysis, user behavior insights ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.3/5)
    6 Gainsight Customer success platform, churn prediction, health scoring ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.2/5)
    7 Tidio Live chat, chatbots, CRM integration, multi-channel messaging ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.1/5)
    8 Hotjar Heatmaps, session recordings, user feedback polls ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.4/5)
    9 Appcues User onboarding, in-app guides, feature adoption tracking ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.3/5)
    10 Crazy Egg Heatmaps, scrollmaps, A/B testing, user session recordings ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.2/5)
    11 Kissmetrics Customer analytics, funnel tracking, retention reports ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.1/5)

    Amplitude

    Website Amplitude.com
    Rating 4.6 out of 5
    Free Trial Available
    Platforms Supported Web
    Best For Know user behavior, interactions, and engagement
    Amplitude - Best Customer Retention Tools
    Amplitude – Best Customer Retention Tools

    Amplitude tool happens to be the best when it comes to analytics that help you know your customers better. It is a very effective tool that has helped renowned companies like Walmart and Ford. These names themselves speak volumes for the software. It increases growth and engagement on your website and reduces manual work on your part. It analyses customer data for you and, with its analytical skills, it can tell you what actions will sell your business more. Not only this, but it also tells you what will keep your customers loyal and coming back every time.

    With Amplitude, one can divide their customers into groups based on their behavior. This further helps in deciding on better marketing strategies according to the target market. Thus, Amplitude is a great customer retention tool that makes your work simple, brings profit, and helps retain customers with its excellent services.

    Ultimate Guide to Amplitude Analytics

    Features of Amplitude

    • With Amplitude’s Event Segmentation feature, users can analyze around five default and ten product-specific top events, event frequency, unique firing events, and user preferences.
    • The platform’s Chart Dashboard feature provides a bird’s-eye view of all relevant charts. By accessing the dashboard, users can set a user segment and data range, view email reports, add behavioral cohorts, etc.
    • The cohorts and Audiences feature allows users to access behavioral and predictive cohort data and gain insights into how user interaction with products can impact retention, conversion, revenue, etc.
    • Users can use the ‘Experiment’ feature to conduct experiments, analyze the results using the experiment’s data, and make future product decisions.

    Pros

    • Amplitude is a leading platform for gaining insights into customer behavior and product usage.
    • It facilitates integration with several business applications.
    • Companies can easily segment their target customers with Amplitude.
    • The tool offers excellent customer support.

    Cons

    • Data provided by Amplitude can be a bit messy.
    • Getting the data in and out of the platform takes a lot of work.
    • The platform needs to provide more capabilities for customizing the dashboard.
    • It’s not as intuitive as other customer retention platforms.

    Pricing Plans

    Amplitude offers a custom pricing plan. Please contact the vendor for pricing details.

    Qualaroo

    Website Qualaroo.com
    Rating 4.7 out of 5
    Free Trial Available
    Platforms Supported Web, Android, iPhone/iPad
    Best For Customer Survey and Feedback Management
    Qualaroo - Best Customer Retention Software
    Qualaroo – Best Tool for Customer Retention

    Qualaroo is another popular customer retention tool on the list that is very good at analytics. It enables you to collect customer feedback that helps you improve your services. Thus, keeping your customers loyal and satisfied. The main purpose of customer retention software is to tell you about customers’ actions. But Qualaroo helps you understand the why behind their actions. Understanding the reason behind your customer’s actions helps you in many ways. For instance, it helps you make improvements, higher sales, create a better website experience, and also leads to a rise in product engagement. It also tracks which sites the customers have visited, and why they have visited the site is also recorded.

    The tool observes customers’ past actions and provides you with the data. This further helps in improving your products and services. Qualaroo has had 15+ billion nudge views and has captured over 100+ million insights.

    Features of Qualaroo

    • Qualaroo’s Survey Templates feature allows users to use numerous built-in templates to question their customers.
    • With the AI Sentiment Analysis feature, Qualaroo analyzes users’ feedback data and creates a unique call to action based on their emotional score.
    • The platform’s Nudge for Prototypes is a no-code feature that helps users collect user insights and verify design decisions during the prototyping phase.
    • The Confirmation Page Surveys feature allows users to ask for customer feedback before leaving the website.
    • Qualaroo can run exit surveys to help users discover why potential buyers are not converting with the ‘Exit Intent Surveys’ feature.
    • The question Branching feature allows users to offer different questions to visitors based on how they previously replied to the survey questions.

    Pros

    • The platform helps users develop a more focused approach toward customer discovery.
    • It creates a survey within a few minutes and uses it to collect feedback.
    • Qualaroo offers advanced reporting, targeting, and sentiment analysis.
    • It supports surveys on users’ iOS and Android apps and websites.

    Cons

    • The platform needs a bulk action button for exporting reports from multiple surveys simultaneously.
    • Qualaroo doesn’t offer a feature to embed surveys directly into the email.
    • It doesn’t create custom charts to view various survey metrics.
    • The tool’s reporting functionality is somewhat limited.

    Pricing Plans

    Plan Yearly Price Monthly Price
    Essentials $ 69/month $99/month
    Premium $149/month $199/month
    Business $299/month $299/month

    Zendesk

    Website www.zendesk.com
    Rating 4.7 out of 5
    Free Trial Available
    Platforms supported Web, Android, iPhone/iPad
    Best For Customer Support Teams
    Zendesk - customer retention tool
    Zendesk – customer retention tool

    Zendesk happens to be one of the best customer retention software out there. Over 10,000 companies use it in over 160 countries and territories. It is a great tool to improve your customer service as it helps you understand what you need to improve and how to do it exactly. It is not too difficult to simply collect the data about customers. But it is difficult to come up with new ideas that will please the customers more.

    Does the goal end at satisfaction? Doesn’t every company want its customers to be ecstatic? Well, Zendesk enables one to reach that goal. It compares your performance and strategies to others and provides you with a unique set of ideas. It also helps your employees to organize the work better and know exactly what to do. Thus, Zendesk is a great choice of tools to opt for improving your customer service.

    Features of Zendesk

    • Zendesk’s Help Desk Automation feature automates repetitive tasks like ticket conversion and reporting, increases data visibility, and enables faster ticket resolution.
    • The SLA Management feature allows employees to set Service Level Agreement (SLA) service targets in Zendesk Support.
    • The mobile Apps feature allows teams and agents to easily handle customer support tickets on their mobile devices.
    • The Zendesk platform incorporates a Multilingual feature that provides users access to over 40 translated languages.

    Pros

    • Zendesk is an all-in-one lead generation and customer satisfaction tool.
    • Chat, email, phone, and social media are all in one place.
    • The platform provides numerous customization options.
    • It facilitates extensive, powerful reporting and analytics features.

    Cons

    • Zendesk can’t be integrated with e-commerce platforms like BigCommerce, Shopify, or Magento.
    • The best features can be accessed only at higher pricing tiers.
    • The platform doesn’t have an intuitive or customizable interface.
    • It takes much time and effort to get familiar with the platform.

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    Userpilot

    Website Userpilot.com
    Rating 4.6 out of 5
    Free Trial Available
    Platforms supported Web
    Best For Product Teams, User Onboarding
    Userpilot - best customer retention software
    Userpilot – best customer retention software

    Userpilot is a dynamic customer retention tool that empowers businesses to enhance user engagement, boost customer satisfaction, and increase retention rates. With its suite of features and capabilities, Userpilot focuses on guiding users through the onboarding process and optimizing their interactions with digital products, ultimately leading to a better user experience and improved customer loyalty.

    It has worked with over 500+ companies, including Adobe. This software provides you with easy-to-use tools. These tools help you track the different aspects of your business, especially the ones that are making your customers the happiest. After you find that out, you can focus on these aspects and have an even more successful business.

    UserPilot helps you get the most genuine feedback from your customers, which further enables you to focus on the changes that are to be followed. This software does not require any high level of coding and is very easy to use for everyone, yet that does not stop it from yielding excellent results. It is an amazing tool that makes the customers feel heard and thus helps companies achieve high profits.

    Features of Userpilot

    • The user Segmentation feature of Userpilot allows businesses to create bespoke experiences with smarter customer segmentation, understand user behaviors, and trigger real-time events.
    • With the Event Tracking feature, users can create and track combinations of different in-app events, track behavior, and analyze all custom events.
    • Userpilot’s Flow feature can help users build interactive product tours, stimulate feature discovery, and announce new features and updates.
    • The platform’s Checklists feature enables users to set up checklists to encourage customer activation quickly.
    • The Self-Service Support In-App feature allows users to provide their customers with a meaningful support system exactly when needed.
    • The platform’s Net Promoter Score (NPS) feature helps users quickly create, customize, and launch NPS surveys for customer feedback.

    Pros

    • The platforms come with an easy-to-use Chrome Extension builder.
    • Userpilot facilitates multiple UP patterns to build customized flows.
    • The software makes it simple to build interactive walkthroughs.
    • It offers advanced analytics and user segmentation capabilities.

    Cons

    • Users can’t run the software on mobile devices.
    • The platform offers limited integrations.
    • Userpilot’s web app, used to manage the content and subscription, is slow.
    • The learning curve of this platform can be a bit confusing.

    Pricing Plans

    Plan Price
    Starter $249/month
    Growth Custom Price
    Enterprise Custom Price

    Heap Analytics

    Website www.heap.io
    Rating 4.5 out of 5
    Free Trial Available
    Platforms supported Web
    Best For Data-Driven Businesses
    Heap - client retention software
    Heap – client retention software

    Serving more than 8000 companies, Heap Analytics is another best analytical tool on the list. It gives you real and accurate data about your customers’ actions. Unlike many software, Heap Analytics automatically records when an action is made by a customer without doing any manual work. So, you do not need any engineers or analysts to work with this tool.

    Heap’s analytics capabilities allow businesses to delve into user journeys, identifying key touchpoints and pain points within the user experience. By understanding these patterns, businesses can pinpoint areas for improvement and implement changes that enhance user satisfaction and engagement, leading to higher customer loyalty.

    It keeps you up-to-date on your customer data, as it tends to change every few months, so that you remain relevant all the time. Heap Analytics is easy to use, accurate, and relevant.

    Heap: A Smarter Approach to Product

    Features of Heap Analytics

    • The Session Replay feature is designed to enhance searchability, collaboration, and privacy while helping businesses see their products through the eyes of their consumers.
    • The heatmap feature can ignite users’ insights by knowing what catches their consumers’ attention and what they ignore.
    • Heap Analytics’ Segments tool creates customer cohorts based on actions taken on the user’s site or app to help users understand customer behavior and build customer segments.
    • The platform’s Dashboards help business teams align on core metrics and coordinate insights-driven action across the company.

    Pros

    • It facilitates integrations with several best-of-breed tools to create unforgettable customer experiences.
    • The platform facilitates robust automated analysis of consumer behavior and interests.
    • It’s an intuitive tool equipped with good analytics features.
    • The platform is easy to set up and use.

    Cons

    • Users need basic HTML tagging knowledge to use the software.
    • Users need to create events and map pages, which can be time-consuming.
    • Some reports can be slow.
    • The platform’s customer support can take too long to respond.

    Pricing Plans

    Amplitude offers a Free plan up to 10k monthly sessions. Others are custom pricing plans. Please contact the vendor for pricing details.

    Gainsight

    Website www.gainsight.com
    Rating 4.4 out of 5
    Free Trial Not Available
    Platforms supported Web, Android, iPhone/iPad
    Best For Customer Success Teams
    Gainsight - customer retention software
    Gainsight – customer retention software

    Gainsight stands as a powerful customer retention tool tailored to bolster businesses’ efforts in maintaining and nurturing customer relationships. With a focus on customer success, it provides the means to understand, engage with, and enhance the experiences of customers, ultimately leading to higher retention rates and increased customer satisfaction.

    It helps you understand customer data from a centralized view of your customers. It also helps you create new solutions to retain customers for a long time. Gainsight encourages you to take risks by studying accurate customer data and not just by doing it blindly. There is nothing like getting feedback from your customers directly, as it helps in the improvement of your business.

    This software enables you to send your customers notifications via email. Those emails can consist of your upcoming offers and new launches. One can also send reminders to customers, reminding them to complete a purchase. Gainsight helps you with everything about customer service. It makes sure that your customers not only stay with you but are also happy to.

    Features of Gainsight

    • The Predictive Analytics feature enables organizations to analyze customer data and anticipate their future behaviors.
    • Gainsight’s Customer Health Score feature allows business teams to measure the health of their customers by tracking vital metrics like usage, engagement, and satisfaction.
    • The platform’s Automation feature helps users automate manual processes and many aspects of the customer lifecycle, such as onboarding, upsells/cross-sells, renewals, etc.
    • With the Data Management feature, companies can collect, store, and manage data from multiple sources in a centralized location.
    • Collaboration Tools of Gainsight enable teams across departments to collaborate for customer success management-related projects.

    Pros

    • It’s incredibly intuitive and easy for business teams to log customer activity.
    • Gainsight is easy to use and slick to navigate.
    • The platform is super flexible, with a responsive customer support team.
    • Gainsight offers world-class training and guidance on its robust platform.

    Cons

    • Users find reports difficult to configure and customize.
    • The platform sometimes experiences glitches.
    • Gainsight lacks user alerts.
    • The platform is heavy on resources when it comes to software implementation.

    Pricing Plans

    Gainsight offers a custom pricing plan. Please contact the vendor for pricing details.

    Tidio

    Website www.tidio.com
    Rating 4.8 out of 5
    Free Trial Available
    Platforms supported Web, Android, iPhone/iPad
    Best For Live chat, messenger and email
    Tidio - customer retention tool
    Tidio – customer retention tool

    Tidio is the ultimate tool to increase the quality of your customer service. It combines live chat and chatbot tools to support excellent customer service for your business. It is the best way for you to build a trustworthy relationship with your customers. Through Tidio Live chats, one can see who visits their website and when and why they leave. The tool offers various templates that help you automate 40% of your customer conversations. It also sends out a farewell message expressing gratitude when people leave your site.

    The tool also offers various discounts to its users. It is all based on the principle that you should keep your customers happy all the time. The 1900+ positive reviews about the tool are a huge proof that it helps businesses reach their goals by effectively solving customer queries.

    Turn Your Website Visitors Into Customers by Using Tidio

    Features of Tidio

    • With the Chatbots feature, businesses can automate their conversations, sales, and processes.
    • Lyro AI can provide personalized support and solve 70% of customer problems by leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI).
    • The Order Management tool allows integration with Shopify to use its in-built actions during conversations, understand customers, reply faster, and recommend better.
    • Tidio’s Ticketing feature helps businesses solve customer problems by tracking, tagging, and prioritizing tickets.

    Pros

    • The live chat feature gives a competitive edge to businesses.
    • Tidio’s interface is easy to use.
    • Tidio offers excellent technical support.
    • Users find it easier to implement the platform.

    Cons

    • The platform is all drag and drop, so the chatbot can start forming a jumbled mess if the user is not careful.
    • If a user exceeds the included 100 interactions, the platform asks for an additional fee for the chat widget to engage customers.
    • Users can’t view messages from multiple sites in the same Tidio tab.
    • Tidio can be expensive for small businesses.

    Pricing Plans

    Plan Price
    Free $0
    Starter $29/month
    Communicator $25/month
    Chatbots $29/month

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    Hotjar

    Website www.hotjar.com
    Rating 4.7 out of 5
    Free Trial Available
    Platforms supported Web
    Best For Digital experience insights for online businesses
    Hotjar - Customer Retention Tool
    Hotjar – Customer Retention Tool

    Hotjar serves as a versatile customer retention tool that empowers businesses to delve into user behavior and gather insights that drive improvements in user experiences. By combining various tools within a unified platform, Hotjar enables businesses to better understand their customers’ interactions, pain points, and preferences, ultimately leading to increased retention rates.

    Hotjar facilitates a comprehensive view of user interactions, helping businesses optimize their digital experiences and make data-informed decisions that result in improved customer retention and satisfaction.

    Features of Hotjar

    • The Heatmaps feature lets business teams know where their customers move, click, and scroll on their websites to remove friction and convert confidently.
    • The Recording feature lets users put themselves in their customers’ shoes by watching customers’ journeys through their site and identifying and fixing issues.
    • Hotjar’s Surveys feature allows businesses to bring the voice of customers to their decision-making process to improve user experience with confidence.
    • A Feedback feature is available to help business teams understand how and what customers feel and think about their websites.

    Pros

    • The platform’s support team always seems ready to provide assistance and support.
    • Hotjar offers a lot of filtering capabilities within session recordings.
    • Its user interface is easy to use and simple to navigate.
    • The platform can be easily set up, allowing tracking codes and visiting recordings.

    Cons

    • Hotjar offers limited capabilities to do several session recordings on different areas of the website simultaneously.
    • The software doesn’t automatically set up heatmaps on all the web pages.
    • It’s a reasonably expensive platform.
    • Users find it frustrating to constantly restart recordings of creating new heatmaps.

    Pricing Plans

    Plan Yearly Price Monthly Price
    Basic $0 $0
    Plus $32/month $39/month
    Business $80/month $99/month
    Scale $171/month $213/month

    Appcues

    Website www.appcues.com
    Rating 4.8 out of 5
    Free Trial Available
    Platforms supported Web
    Best For Product Teams, User Onboarding
    Appcues - customer retention tool
    Appcues – Best customer retention tools

    Appcues is a robust customer retention software that empowers businesses to create personalized user experiences, boost engagement, and improve customer loyalty. With a focus on user onboarding and engagement, Appcues offers a suite of features designed to help businesses guide users through their digital journey and keep them engaged over time.

    Appcues’ user onboarding software simplifies the process by providing no-code flow builders, analytics, and in-app messaging. This empowers you to guide users effectively towards essential features, accelerating their connection with your product and nurturing their enthusiasm.

    The tool’s analytics capabilities allow businesses to track user interactions and behaviors within their application. This data-driven approach helps identify areas for improvement and opportunities to optimize user experiences, ultimately leading to higher customer retention rates.

    Features of Appcues

    • With the Flows feature, users can design flows to create product tours and other in-app communication with customers to make onboarding processes a breeze.
    • The Checklists feature allows business teams with enterprise plans to create checklists.
    • The platform allows users to conduct NPS surveys with the NPS Surveys feature and measure customer loyalty to their products or services.
    • Appcues’ Events Explorer feature was introduced recently to make it easier for users to view, validate, and visualize events in one place.

    Pros

    • The platform allows the creation of flows and testing them in real time.
    • With Appcues, users can easily segment their targeted customers.
    • It is an easy-to-use platform that doesn’t require prior training.
    • Users find the platform easy to set up.

    Cons

    • The platforms offer limited in-built customer segment options.
    • The survey option is also limited to NPS.
    • Appcues offers minimal features to the users.
    • Appcues needs to optimize its performance.

    Pricing Plans

    Plan Price
    Essentials $249/month, paid annually
    Growth $879/month, paid annually
    Enterprise Custom Pricing

    Crazy Egg

    Website www.crazyegg.com
    Rating 4.5 out of 5
    Free Trial Available
    Platforms supported Web
    Best For Optimizing your site design
    Customer Retention with Crazy Egg
    Customer Retention Marketing Tools with Crazy Egg

    Crazy Egg focuses on enhancing website usability and optimizing user experiences. Through its suite of visual analytics and optimization tools, Crazy Egg empowers businesses to identify user behavior patterns, pinpoint areas of improvement, and implement changes that contribute to higher customer engagement and retention rates.

    Crazy Egg produces heatmaps that visually reveal the sections of your website that receive the most clicks and scrolling from customers. While raw data and spreadsheets provide valuable insights, they may not provide a direct view of how customers truly engage with your creation. Heatmaps offer a perspective from your customers’ standpoint, spotlighting the areas they find most appealing. This enables you to eliminate obstacles and cater to your customers’ requirements. By streamlining these hurdles, you lessen sources of frustration that contribute to customer attrition and cultivate an improved user experience.

    Features of Crazy Egg

    • Crazy Eggs’ Snapshots feature can help users track how customers interact with a specific version of the web page.
    • The platform’s Heatmaps feature pulls data from customer visits to show users which elements on their page get the most attention and which are ignored.
    • The Confetti feature at Crazy Egg shows users where people click on their pages, and it takes things a step further by showing individual clicks.
    • The Scrollmap feature lets users know how much of their content visitors see before leaving the site.

    Pros

    • Crazy Egg is easy to set up, manage, and track customers’ behavior on websites.
    • It helps businesses increase their website engagement and conversion rates.
    • Users find it easier to track scrolling, click rates, and recordings with Crazy Egg.
    • Insights provided by the platform are easy to read and understand.

    Cons

    • The platform should share a high level of reporting.
    • It should come up with a native app option.
    • Sometimes, snapshots don’t record any visits.
    • Sometimes, not all reports are downloaded when users download several reports simultaneously.

    Pricing Plans

    Plan Price
    Basic $29/month, paid annually
    Standard $49/month, paid annually
    Plus $99/month, paid annually
    Pro $249/month, paid annually
    Enterprise Custom Pricing

    Kissmetrics

    Website www.kissmetrics.com
    Rating 4.3 out of 5
    Free Trial Available
    Platforms Supported Web
    Best For Customer analytics and retention tracking
    Top Customer Retention Tool - Kissmetrics
    Best Customer Retention Software – Kissmetrics

    Kissmetrics is a product analytics tool that helps businesses understand how customers use their products. It gives insights into user behavior so you can improve the experience, keep more customers, and grow your business.

    You can make custom reports and dashboards to track important metrics and see how your marketing campaigns are performing. Funnel analysis shows where users drop off in their journey, helping you make smarter decisions to boost retention.

    Key Features

    • Track customer behavior
    • Create custom reports and dashboards
    • Funnel analysis to see drop-offs
    • Segment users for targeted actions
    • Real-time analytics for quick insights

    Pros

    • Detailed customer behavior tracking
    • Custom reports and dashboards
    • Funnel analysis to identify drop-offs
    • Real-time analytics for quick insights
    • User segmentation for targeted actions

    Cons

    • Can be expensive for small businesses
    • Steeper learning curve for beginners
    • Limited integrations compared to some competitors
    • Reporting setup can take time

    Pricing Plans

    Plan Price
    Basic $299/month, billed annually
    Growth $499/month, billed annually
    Enterprise Custom Pricing

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    Conclusion

    Customer retention is an essential part of running a business as the repeat loyal customers are mainly responsible for bringing in the most amount of revenue. Retaining customers might feel like an easy task, but it demands a lot of time and effort on the part of a business. In today’s time of increasing competition, it is important for any business to stay ahead in the market, and that requires building loyalty with the customers. Thus, the above-mentioned tools are some of the most popular customer retention tools that will help you reach your business goals and be successful.

    FAQs

    What is retention analysis?

    Retention analysis refers to the analysis of the user metrics to understand the customers and their activities. It helps businesses to know how to improve customer retention and increase new customer acquisition rates.

    What are customer retention and loyalty?

    Customer retention refers to the prevention of loss of customers whereas customer loyalty means building a continuous and sustainable relationship with the customers.

    What are the 3 phases of CRM?

    The three phases of CRM are:

    • Customer acquisition
    • Customer retention
    • Customer extension

    Some of the popular customer retention tools include:

    • Amplitude
    • Zendesk
    • Qualaroo
    • Heap Analytics
    • Userpilot

  • Reasons Why Referrals Are the Most Cost-Effective and Efficient Customer Acquisition Strategy

    This article has been contributed by Aniish Shah, Founder and CEO, Earth Harvests.

    In this competitive world of business, acquiring new customers is often a daunting and costly task. However, if you are confident about your product and customer niche, one strategy that has consistently proven to be highly effective and efficient at bringing in new customers without breaking the bank is referrals.

    To understand this strategy better, imagine you’re at a cool party where you meet an eclectic mix of individuals who are just as excited about your product or service as you are. As you engage in conversations and build connections, these individuals can’t help but gush about your offering to their friends, families, and colleagues. It’s like a chain reaction of enthusiasm, where word-of-mouth spreads like wildfire and potential customers start flocking to you effortlessly, and that is what I call the power of referrals as the most effective acquisition strategy.

    According to Social Media Today, 78% of B2B marketers say referral marketing initiatives produce good or exceptional leads and 54% claim that compared to other channels, referral programs have a lower cost per lead.

    Building Trust With Personal Recommendations

    Referrals work their magic by tapping into the trust and credibility of existing customers. When someone recommends a product or service to their personal network, it carries much more weight than any advertisement or marketing gimmick. After all, when was the last time you bought something solely based on a flashy commercial?

    Think of referrals as a secret society of satisfied customers who voluntarily become brand ambassadors, spreading the gospel of your offering without even being asked to do so. They do this because they are genuinely happy with what you provide, and they want others to experience the same joy and benefits they have. 

    Creating Emotional Bonds for Lasting Trust

    Trust gradually starts to build when the product becomes a daily part of customers’ lives, solving a particular purpose or adding some new spark to it, and that’s when the product becomes an emotion. Founders and businesses need to connect to their customers’ emotions and build trust by listening to them.

    As the Chairman of Colgate-Palmolive India Limited said in his 2023 Chairman’s speech, “Colgate is not just an organization anymore, it is an emotion and therefore comes a responsibility on all of us which we should take very seriously. After all, we pride ourselves on being a caring, innovative growth company that is reimagining a healthier future for people and our planet.”

    It is the responsibility of businesses to deliver a remarkable product or service that wows their customers and exceeds their expectations.

    So yes, you don’t need to spend a fortune on flashy billboards or viral videos. Instead, you invest in making your product or service exceptionally good, thereby nurturing the relationship with your existing customers and providing exceptional value. You also unleash an army of advocates who help you acquire new customers effortlessly.

    Dropbox’s Referral Success: Rapid Growth and Cost Efficiency

    One of the best examples to show why referrals are the most effective acquisition strategy is Dropbox in its early days. Dropbox employed a referral program that rewarded users with additional storage for every friend they referred to the platform. The program skyrocketed its user acquisition, resulting in exponential growth. Within 15 months, the company’s user base grew from 100,000 to over 4 million. This remarkable success showcases the power of referrals in driving rapid customer growth.

    And let’s not forget the added bonus: referrals are not only effective, but they are also cost-efficient. While other acquisition strategies often require hefty investments in advertising campaigns, referrals tap into the limitless potential of human interaction.

    Key Reasons to Use Referrals for Effective Customer Acquisition

    As the founder of Earth Harvests, a sustainable food company, I have witnessed firsthand the power of referrals in acquiring new customers, and that is why, in the initial stage of my business without much investment in marketing, I could still see the graphs of customer acquisition going upwards at a steady rate.

    For better understanding, here I list a few reasons that make referrals the most effective customer acquisition strategy:

    1. Building Trust and Credibility: Referrals hold a significant advantage over other customer acquisition methods as they inherently come pre-qualified. When individuals refer your product or service to someone they know, they are implicitly vouching for your credibility and trustworthiness. This personal endorsement helps overcome initial skepticism and builds trust with potential customers.
    2. Cost Savings: One of the main reasons why referrals are highly effective is their cost efficiency. Traditional marketing channels such as advertising, social media campaigns, or search engine optimization demand substantial financial investments. In contrast, referrals are primarily driven by your existing customers, making them a cost-effective acquisition strategy. According to a study by the Wharton School of Business, referred customers have a 16% higher lifetime value than non-referred customers, demonstrating the long-term financial benefits of referrals.
    3. Enhanced Customer Lifetime Value: Referrals not only contribute to immediate customer acquisition but also have a substantial impact on customer lifetime value. Referred customers tend to be more loyal and spend more money with the company over time. In fact, research from the Journal of Marketing states that referred customers have a 25% higher customer lifetime value compared to non-referred customers. This increased customer loyalty helps generate a steady revenue stream while reducing the need for additional marketing efforts.
    4. Increased Customer Retention Rate: Customers are significantly more likely to stick with your business when they participate in referral programs. This is often one of the top advantages of referral marketing because attracting new customers is typically more expensive than keeping your present clients.
    5. Great Return on Investment: Compared to other forms of advertising, like traditional web ads, referral marketing is more cost-effective, even though discounts and gifts will cost your business little. By integrating your referral marketing system rewards into your regular loyalty rewards program, you can save even more money by giving out points for each referral rather than an immediate gift or discount.

    So, the next time you’re planning your cost-effective customer acquisition strategy, think of referrals as the path to the coolest party in town. Get your customers excited, make them feel special, and watch as their enthusiasm sparks a chain reaction of growth and success. It’s like having your own personal network of raving fans, building your business one referral at a time. Now, isn’t that an exciting and interesting way to acquire customers without breaking the bank?

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  • Customer Acquisition 101: The Essentials You Need to Know

    Customer acquisition is a crucial aspect of any business, whether it’s a small startup or a large corporation. It’s the process of finding and persuading potential customers to buy your products or services. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore the key elements of customer acquisition, including the definition of terms, strategies, costs, and channels. By the end, you’ll have a solid understanding of how to effectively acquire and retain customers for your business.

    Table of Contents

    Defining Key Terms

    Customer Acquisition Strategies

    Calculating Customer Acquisition Costs
    Customer Acquisition Tools
    Creating a Successful Customer Acquisition Strategy

    Defining Key Terms

    Before diving into customer acquisition strategies, let’s clarify some essential terms that are often used in this context.

    Current Customers

    Current customers refer to individuals or businesses that have already purchased from your company. However, the definition of a current customer may vary depending on factors such as purchase frequency or time frame. Each industry and company may have its own criteria for categorizing customers. It’s crucial to define this group accurately to develop effective customer acquisition strategies.

    New Customer

    New customers are individuals or businesses that have recently made their first purchase from your company. The definition of a new customer may also vary based on factors like previous purchase history. For example, some businesses may consider a customer new if they haven’t purchased within a specific time frame. Acquiring new customers is a primary goal of customer acquisition strategies, as it expands your customer base and drives revenue growth.

    Customer Acquisition

    Customer acquisition is the process of attracting and converting potential customers into paying customers. It involves targeting individuals who are not already part of your customer base. Customer acquisition is a growth strategy that aims to increase revenue without altering the core product or service. To acquire new customers, businesses must identify their target audience, develop effective marketing campaigns, and optimize the customer journey.

    Prospect

    A prospect is a potential customer whom you target with your marketing efforts. Prospects have unmet needs that align with the value proposition of your product or service. Identifying and effectively reaching prospects is a key step in customer acquisition. By understanding their needs and preferences, you can tailor your marketing messages to resonate with them and increase the likelihood of conversion.

    Target Audience

    The target audience refers to the specific group of people or businesses that you want to reach with your marketing efforts. This audience can include both current customers and potential customers. Identifying your target audience allows you to focus your marketing resources on the individuals or businesses most likely to be interested in your products or services. By understanding their demographics, interests, and behaviors, you can create targeted marketing campaigns that yield higher conversion rates.

    Customer Acquisition Strategy

    A customer acquisition strategy is a comprehensive plan that outlines how you will acquire new customers. It involves identifying the most effective channels, messaging, and tactics to reach and convert prospects into paying customers. A well-designed customer acquisition strategy considers the entire customer journey, from building brand awareness to driving sales conversion. It should be carefully planned, tested, and optimized to ensure maximum effectiveness.

    Customer Acquisition Cost

    Customer acquisition cost (CAC) refers to the marketing expenses incurred to acquire a single customer. It is calculated by dividing the total cost of sales and marketing by the number of new customers acquired. Understanding your customer acquisition cost is essential for determining the profitability of your marketing efforts. By analyzing and optimizing your CAC, you can improve your profit margins and make informed decisions about resource allocation.

    Acquisition Channel

    An acquisition channel is a marketing venue or platform used to find and acquire new customers. Different businesses may find success with different acquisition channels, depending on their target audience and industry. Common acquisition channels include websites, blogs, email marketing, organic social media, paid advertising platforms (such as Facebook and Instagram ads), customer support, and referrals. Testing and analyzing different acquisition channels is crucial to finding the most effective ones for your business.

    Customer Acquisition Funnel

    The customer acquisition funnel represents the stages a potential customer goes through before making a purchase. While there are variations of the funnel, the most basic version includes three stages: awareness, consideration, and decision. At the top of the funnel, the goal is to generate awareness and leads among your target audience. In the middle, you focus on nurturing leads and guiding them toward a purchase decision. Finally, at the bottom, prospects convert into paying customers. Understanding the customer acquisition funnel helps you develop targeted strategies for each stage.

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    Digital Marketing

    Digital marketing encompasses various online marketing strategies and tactics used to acquire and engage customers. It includes channels such as email marketing, content marketing (e.g., blogs, newsletters), search engine optimization (SEO), organic social media, paid advertising (e.g., Facebook ads, Google Ads), influencer marketing, and the use of analytics tools like Google Analytics. Digital marketing offers powerful and cost-effective customer acquisition opportunities, allowing businesses to reach their target audience with precision and track the effectiveness of their campaigns.

    Retention

    While customer acquisition is crucial, customer retention is equally important. Retention refers to the ability to keep customers coming back to make repeat purchases and develop long-term loyalty. Retaining existing customers is often more cost-effective than acquiring new ones, as it maximizes customer lifetime value. By ensuring customer success and delivering on marketing promises, businesses can maximize customer retention and drive sustainable growth.

    Now that we have a clear understanding of the key terms related to customer acquisition, let’s explore various customer acquisition strategies in detail.

    Customer Acquisition Strategies

    To acquire new customers effectively, businesses must implement targeted strategies that resonate with their target audience. Here are eight proven customer acquisition strategies to consider for your business:

    Pay-per-click (PPC) Ads

    Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is a popular and effective way to acquire new customers online. PPC ads allow you to display targeted ads to potential customers and only pay when someone clicks on your ad. Platforms like Facebook Ads and Google Ads provide extensive targeting options, allowing you to reach a specific audience based on demographics, interests, and behaviors.

    Advantages of PPC ads:

    • Fast Growth: With paid ads, you can quickly scale your business and acquire new customers by increasing your ad budget
    • Targeting Abilities: Platforms like Facebook Ads offer precise targeting options, enabling you to reach a specific niche audience

    Potential pitfalls of PPC ads:

    • Expensive: The cost of PPC advertising can vary, and rising competition may increase costs over time
    • Learning Curve: Running successful PPC campaigns requires experience and testing different strategies to optimize your ads

    Good for: Businesses with a budget and creative assets that can attract new customers through compelling ad creatives.

    Influencer Marketing

    Influencer marketing leverages the popularity and credibility of social media influencers to promote your products or services. By partnering with influencers who have a relevant and engaged following, you can reach a larger audience and benefit from the trust they have built with their followers. Influencers can create sponsored content, reviews, or endorsements to introduce your brand to their audience.

    Advantages of influencer marketing:

    • Brand Awareness: Influencers can expose your brand to a wider audience and create brand awareness through their content
    • Niche Targeting: Working with micro-influencers allows you to reach a specific niche audience that aligns with your product or service

    Potential pitfalls of influencer marketing:

    • Tracking ROI: Measuring the exact impact of influencer marketing can be challenging without proper tracking mechanisms
    • Upfront Payments: Influencers often require upfront fees calls to action or product donations, which can be a financial commitment

    Good for: Businesses with products that require demonstration or have a trendy appeal, and those looking to tap into an influencer’s engaged following.

    Email Marketing Campaigns

    Email marketing is a powerful tool for customer acquisition and retention. Building an email list allows you to nurture leads and convert them into paying customers over time. You can create targeted email campaigns, personalized messages, and automated sequences based on customer behavior and preferences.

    Advantages of email marketing campaigns:

    • Recurring Revenue: Email marketing enables you to engage with customers over the long term, increasing customer lifetime value
    • Customer Data: Email lists can be used to create lookalike audiences, allowing you to find new prospects who resemble your existing customers

    Potential pitfalls of email marketing campaigns:

    • Delivery Rates: As spam filters become more sophisticated, ensuring deliverability to customers’ inboxes can be a challenge
    • Low-quality Emails: Building a large email list is not enough; the quality of leads and conversion rates must be considered

    Good for: Businesses with consumable products or complementary product lines, and those planning new product launches.

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    Referral Programs

    Referral programs encourage existing customers to refer new customers to your business. By offering incentives or rewards to customers who refer others, you can leverage personal recommendations and increase customer acquisition. Referral programs can be implemented through software platforms, allowing you to track and incentivize referrals effectively.

    Advantages of referral programs:

    • Low Cost: Referral programs are often cost-effective, as they rely on the loyalty of existing customers
    • Repeat Purchases: Referral programs can also drive repeat purchases from existing customers, increasing revenue

    Potential pitfalls of referral programs:

    • Low Engagement: Not all customers may be willing to participate in referral programs, depending on their satisfaction and loyalty
    • Organization and Tracking: Managing and tracking referrals, rewards, and loyalty points requires effective organization

    Good for: Businesses with an existing customer base and loyal customers who are likely to refer their friends.

    Traditional Advertising

    While digital marketing has become prevalent, traditional advertising methods can still be effective in customer acquisition. Print ads, billboards, TV commercials, and radio ads provide opportunities to reach a broader audience and build brand awareness. Technology has made traditional advertising more accessible and cost-effective for small businesses.

    Advantages of traditional advertising:

    • Consumer Trust: Traditional ads are often perceived as more trustworthy, contributing to brand credibility
    • Local Targeting: Local businesses can benefit from targeted print, TV, and radio ads within their specific area

    Potential pitfalls of traditional advertising:

    • Tracking: Traditional ads lack the precise tracking capabilities of digital channels, making ROI measurement challenging
    • Upfront Investment: Traditional advertising requires an upfront budget commitment and offers less flexibility compared to digital advertising

    Good for: Local businesses targeting specific geographic areas and businesses with high-priced products and strong profit margins.

    Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

    Search engine optimization (SEO) focuses on improving your website’s visibility in search engine results. By optimizing your website content and structure, conducting keyword research, and building authoritative backlinks, you can increase organic traffic and acquire new customers through search engines like Google.

    Advantages of SEO:

    • Passive, Organic Traffic: SEO can generate ongoing organic traffic without continuous ad spend
    • Evergreen Content: Well-optimized content can rank on search engines for extended periods, driving consistent traffic

    Potential pitfalls of SEO:

    • Slow Growth: Achieving high rankings on search engines takes time and requires continuous effort to stay ahead of competitors
    • Competition: Some niches have high competition for search rankings, making it more challenging to achieve top positions

    Good for: Those willing to invest in a long-term strategy and businesses with content creation capabilities and a focus on quality.

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    Audience Building

    Audience building involves cultivating a dedicated online following through social media platforms. By consistently creating valuable content, engaging with your audience, and leveraging social media tools, you can build an organic audience of potential customers. Your online following provides a loyal customer base that you can reach whenever you want to promote new products or increase sales.

    Advantages of audience building:

    • Organic Traffic: Social media platforms can help organically share your content and attract new followers.
    • Social Proof: A large and engaged online audience adds credibility to your brand and attracts potential customers.

    Potential pitfalls of audience building:

    • Slow Growth: Building an organic audience takes time and consistency, requiring patience compared to paid advertising
    • Algorithm Changes: Platform algorithm changes can impact your ability to reach and engage with your audience effectively

    Good for: Businesses with content creation capabilities and those seeking a cost-effective way to attract potential customers.

    Blogging

    Blogging provides an opportunity to create valuable and engaging content that attracts potential customers. By sharing industry insights, advice, and educational content related to your products or services, you can build trust, credibility, and brand awareness. Blogs can drive organic traffic and serve as a platform for converting visitors into paying customers.

    Advantages of blogging:

    • Thought Leadership: Blogs position your brand as an authority in your industry, building trust among potential customers
    • Conversion Opportunities: Blogs can include calls to action, encouraging readers to take the next step in the customer journey

    Potential pitfalls of blogging:

    • Content Creation Demands: Maintaining a blog requires consistent content creation and updates, which can be time-consuming
    • Competitive Landscape: Many businesses have blogs, so standing out requires unique and valuable content

    Good for: Businesses with expertise or insights to share, and those looking to establish themselves as industry leaders.

    By adopting one or more of these customer acquisition strategies, you can effectively reach and convert potential customers into loyal brand advocates. However, it’s essential to calculate and optimize your customer acquisition costs to ensure profitability.

    Calculating Customer Acquisition Costs

    Understanding your customer acquisition costs (CAC) is crucial for determining the return on investment (ROI) of your customer acquisition strategies. It allows you to evaluate the effectiveness of your marketing efforts and make informed decisions about resource allocation. To calculate your CAC, use the following formula:

    Customer Acquisition Cost = Cost of Sales and Marketing / Number of New Customers Acquired

    By tracking and analyzing your CAC, you can identify areas for improvement, optimize your marketing campaigns, and increase your profit margins. It’s important to note that customer acquisition costs can vary across different channels and strategies, so it’s crucial to monitor and adjust your marketing efforts accordingly.

    Customer Acquisition Tools

    Implementing customer acquisition strategies requires the use of various tools and platforms. Here are some essential tools that can help you effectively acquire and retain customers:

    • Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software: CRMs help manage and analyze customer data, track interactions, and automate marketing processes, allowing for personalized customer experiences.
    • Email Marketing Software: Email marketing platforms enable you to create and send targeted email campaigns, automate sequences, and track engagement metrics.
    • Referral Program Software: Referral program tools help you set up and manage referral programs, track referrals, and reward customers for successful referrals.
    • Analytics Tools: Platforms like Google Analytics provide valuable insights into website traffic, user behavior, and conversion rates, allowing you to optimize your customer acquisition strategies.
    • Social Media Management Tools: These tools help schedule and manage social media content, track engagement, and monitor brand mentions.
    • SEO Tools: SEO software assists in keyword research, competition analysis, backlink monitoring, and tracking search engine rankings.
    • Paid Advertising Platforms: Platforms like Facebook Ads, Google Ads, and LinkedIn Ads offer robust targeting options and analytics for running paid ad campaigns.

    By leveraging these tools, you can streamline your customer acquisition efforts, track performance, and make data-driven decisions to optimize your strategies.

    Three Customer Acquisition Channels That Actually Work

    Creating a Successful Customer Acquisition Strategy

    To create an effective customer acquisition strategy, follow these steps:

    • Define Your Target Audience: Identify your target audience based on demographics, interests, and behaviors. Understand their pain points and motivations to tailor your marketing messages effectively.
    • Set Goals: Define specific and measurable goals for your customer acquisition efforts. Whether it’s increasing website traffic, improving conversion rates, or driving revenue growth, clear goals provide a direction for your strategy.
    • Choose the Right Channels: Identify the customer acquisition channels that align with your target audience and business objectives. Consider the effectiveness, cost, and reach of each channel and test different options to find the most successful ones.
    • Develop Compelling Content and Messaging: Create valuable and engaging content that resonates with your target audience. Craft clear and persuasive messaging that communicates the unique value of your products or services.
    • Implement Tracking and Analytics: Set up tracking mechanisms to monitor and analyze the performance of your customer acquisition strategies. Utilize analytics tools to gain insights into customer behavior, conversion rates, and ROI.
    • Test and Optimize: Continuously test different strategies, channels, and messaging to identify what works best for your business. Use A/B testing to refine your campaigns and optimize your customer acquisition efforts.
    • Focus on Customer Experience: Provide an exceptional customer experience at every touchpoint, from initial awareness to post-purchase support. Nurture relationships with customers to drive retention and foster brand advocacy.
    • Measure and Adjust: Regularly measure the effectiveness of your customer acquisition strategies and adjust your approach based on data and insights. Continuously refine your tactics to improve ROI and drive sustainable growth.

    By following these steps and adapting your strategy based on insights and feedback, you can develop a successful and scalable customer acquisition strategy.

    Customer acquisition is an ongoing process that requires strategic planning, targeted messaging, and continuous optimization. By implementing the right strategies, tracking your metrics, and staying customer-focused, you can effectively acquire and retain customers to drive long-term growth for your business.

    FAQs

    What is Customer Acquisition?

    Customer acquisition is the process of attracting and converting potential customers into paying customers. It involves targeting individuals who are not already part of your customer base. Customer acquisition is a growth strategy that aims to increase revenue without altering the core product or service.

    Define the term Customer Acquisition Strategy.

    A customer acquisition strategy is a comprehensive plan that outlines how you will acquire new customers. It involves identifying the most effective channels, messaging, and tactics to reach and convert prospects into paying customers.

    How can Influencer Marketing help in acquiring customers?

    Influencer marketing leverages the popularity and credibility of social media influencers to promote your products or services. By partnering with influencers who have a relevant and engaged following, you can reach a larger audience and benefit from the trust they have built with their followers.

    What is the formula to calculate Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)?

    Customer acquisition cost (CAC) refers to the marketing expenses incurred to acquire a single customer. It is calculated by dividing the total cost of sales and marketing by the number of new customers acquired.

    Customer Acquisition Cost = Cost of Sales and Marketing / Number of New Customers Acquired

  • Dropshipping – A New and Viral Business Model

    Starting a business is a very famous idea for earning money. You can meet a salaried person and he/she will tell you about his/her dream of starting a business and earning with no cap. There is no denial to the fact that money is a necessary requirement and everyone works to earn some money, some do a job and others are self-employed. However, in the real world, a business is a very popular way of earning among people. The reason could be watching multi-millionaires online and noticing that they all are businessmen. Also, a job is a fixed and tied-up income stream which makes the business the most lucrative income-generating activity out there.

    Having said that business is popular, it is also to be mentioned that starting a business and sustaining it is not easy. It requires capital, skills and many more qualities. Thus, it is not anyone’s cup of tea. However, there are some people who try to hack systems to create businesses that do not even require them to get off the couch. This sounds imaginary, right? But it is true. The business that we are talking about is Dropshipping. This is a very modern and famous form of business that has grown so much in the past years. One of the reasons for the scope is TikTok trends but this form is really easy and doable business. This article talks about how this new form of business has covered the whole world.

    What Is Dropshipping?
    Dropshipping Business Model
    Why Is Dropshipping So Famous and Viral?
    Side Effects of Dropshipping
    Shopify
    Gymshark: A Case Study

    What Is Dropshipping?

    Dropshipping is nothing but another form of retail business. In a dropshipping business, the seller looks out for customer orders and accepts them as he/she has the stock but does not keep goods sold in stock. Dropshippers take direct orders from customers and then they contact sellers of that product and ask them to ship directly to the customer. Acting as an intermediary, they earn the difference that lies in between the transaction.

    Dropshippers can be seen as an intermediary. The social media advertisements of products that you see on Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram are most of these sorts. These ads are run to get the attention of the potential customers who will place the orders. They take advantage of the mindlessness with which people scroll their smartphones and click anywhere and buy mindlessly. Some sellers even make millions of dollars from overseas dropshipping without touching the goods. While others use it as a  scheme of gambling scams that hurt legitimate businesses and humble customers.

    Dropshipping Business Model

    At the inception is a drop shipper who thinks to sell something online to someone without owning that product. He searches the web all over to find products that might be huge in demand and products which people will pay money for. After they figure out a product to sell, then it is time to set up a store just for that product. There are many services available online that can be used to set up online stores for free or with minimal payment. One of them is Shopify, and we will discuss the company a little later. Once a store is set up for a product, it is time to get to the most important part of the business. The most important part of the business, also known as the customers, but how to reach the customers?

    Global Dropshipping Market from 2022 to 2024

    In this technological world where people are more online than they are offline, gives a pretty good reason to reach people online and not offline. Not only are online methods very messy and can reach millions of people but they are cheap too. At this step, when a product is chosen and a shop is set for selling the product, the dropshipper now has to reach online customers who might be interested in the product. This is when advertising the product gets into the picture. This is the time when the dropshipper looks out for good advertising platforms. Most of the dropshippers look up to Instagram as they go to places for their advertisements. Others might also choose other social mediums like Facebook, or YouTube depending on their target audience and the sort of product that they are trying to sell.

    Let us take the example of Instagram. Let’s say a dropshipper chooses IG as their advertisement place and they set up advertisements on social media. The target is to run ads hoping that some person will look out for your product and buy it. Most of the time, these advertisements promotional giveaways are targeted to some specific sorts of people, as we can display and list our preferences according to our product. The hook or the trick here is to make the advertisement as catchy as possible. It can be hard for a person to stop scrolling and look at a specific post (Ad) and click on that and make an impulsive purchase. Thus, the dropshipper has to pay extra attention to this detail and has to set up some really smart hooks for the customers to get. The customer can come through two routes, one is to buy thoughtfully and another route is to buy the product impulsively.

    Once a customer has clicked your link, or ad, and is taken to the online shop page of your product. That online shop that you created should work efficiently with the payment system. It should involve all the famous payment methods because the customer will be needing a speedy cash-out option when buying something online. Plus, the store should be believable so that the customer who is about to buy that product believes that it is authentic. Once they make the payment, you go and order that product from a big wholesaler who will give you a good discount on the deal just enter the address of the customer who purchased it from you. It is noted that most retailers are from China as it is the manufacturing hub of the world, and examples include Alibaba’s online enterprises.

    Why Is Dropshipping So Famous and Viral?

    Dropshipping is one of the most viral business models and has amassed a lot of views and beliefs from audiences of all sorts. Especially on the short video platform, TikTok. People on TikTok use the social media platform to promote a product and then sell it online using an online shop.

    Global Dropshipping Market by Product

    One reason is that we all are always online, which lead to the success of huge social media apps like TikTok and Instagram. This reason, that the internet gets a lot of screen time, makes dropshipping a viable business option. One can operate very easily with this sort of business model. Dropshippers just need a computer with a stable working internet connection and can even work from home everywhere.

    Another reason includes the easy set-up of an online business. It has become increasingly easy for a person to set up an online store and list an item or product to sell it. Interestingly, people can ship their products anywhere in the world now, due to advancements in tech and transport sectors.

    Side Effects of Dropshipping

    Not every online store and product is not true to its customers. There are many cases of counterfeits and fake products being peddled in the market. They must be believable and true to the nature of the products. There are also a lot of fake and counterfeit sellers online that pose to be true but they are fake. Due to the high popularity of this model of business, people often fall prey to such mischief.  

    “What happens is then a whole cascade of different events where you buy fake reviews to distinguish yourself. You buy fake ratings, fake upvotes, a lot of ads, marketing, but all that adds up,” said Saoud Khalifah, founder of consumer protection software company Fakespot.

    Fakespot has a Chrome plug-in that alerts shoppers if a seller on Amazon, Walmart, Ebay, Best Buy or Sephora can’t be trusted. It recently added capabilities to detect untrustworthy stores on Shopify. “They made this a one-stop-shop for you to set up a store, and it’s just super easy for you to start selling online and a lot of these dropshippers know it,” Khalifah said.

    This is a drawback of this model being super famous, there are people all over who try and convince you that online shopping is not authentic. In an analysis of more than 124,000 Shopify stores, the analysis agency, Fakespot found out that about 25,000 shops set up online are involved in counterfeit activity, data leaks and fake reviews mafia. Out of those twenty five thousand online shops and stores, almost about 72% showed traces of bad dropshipping tactics.

    Shopify

    Shopify is an online store creator which helps people to set up online stores for little or no fee. It is easy to sign up and set up an online store for a product. It has all the features enabled for a store, including payments, cart and delivery services. There is also fraud detection and consumer protection in the platform. On Shopify’s Help Center, there’s an entire section devoted to tips and strategies for dropshipping. This helps in regulating the online storage space.

    The company makes money by charging transaction fees on sales made through its platform and offering paid add-ons and services such as custom themes, advanced shipping and payment options. Shopify earns revenue from its app store, where third-party developers can sell their tools and services to Shopify merchants. The platform caters to businesses of all sizes, from small, independent retailers to large enterprises.

    Gymshark: A Case Study

    Gymshark, which is a company dealing in the business of gym wear and athletic apparel, has a great influence. The company initially used influencers to promote their products and it used its power of audience to market its product. The effect of which was that the brand was able to generate a cult-like following all over the place. Be it the internet and offline spaces, the company was successful in creating a stir in the public.

    The story does not end here, in fact, it is the beginning of dropshippers in context. The huge success that gym shark created for itself was also apparently used by dropshipping people all over the states. Yes, dropshippers actually started making that cash and capitalised on the company’s success. Gymshark CCO Niran Chana said he’s seeing more and more copycat drop shippers selling knock-offs.

    “Someone else is acting as the brand at that point. And we put a lot of investment into assets, content, etc. So for someone to come and almost copy that is frustrating,” Chana said.

    “Where we could really do with their help and support is actually when people are abusing those brand rights and running away with a business model that is unsustainable for both themselves and/or Gymshark if they regulate that better. They have the right to be able to say we’re going to pull this site down or you guys are trading sort of uncompetitively,” Chana said.

    Gymshark, for now, is working on building a legal team. The legal team will be at the front of safety and security to protect intellectual property, but Chana also called on Shopify to help.

    This above example of Gym shark proves the fact that dropshipping can take the shape of something really ugly. People can try to tarnish the brand image of a company just by setting up individual shops which operate in an independent form. This is one of the many examples which shed light on the credibility of online shopping of any sort, it has to be hugely regulated nonetheless.

    Conclusion

    Dropshipping is a very famous model of business. It is not a surprising fact, as for a businessman it is easy to just order something that he does not own, and delivering it to the customer is rather easy. Another reason for the business to be a famous model of business is that the product can be marketed easily. It is easy to market products with platforms like TikTok and Instagram. You just have to create a trend or just stick to a trend and market the product that you are selling.

    Stores like Shopify make it really easy to set up online stores for every product and it also comes with all the features of a full-fledged online store. From the payments interface, and cart features to the proper listing of products, everything is listed here and plain. The fact that this business model is easy to carry out, makes it prone to viruses. There are people of all sorts out there who are trying to sell counterfeit products online. They can sell fake products, they can come up with some really mischief tricks to trick customers online. There are however regulations and strict rules that try to minimise fake selling, and the number of originals is expected to go up. On the contrary, the business model has supported many people financially. No one can point out the general profitability but if you stick to a trend and create good marketing, the product will sell, even overseas.

    FAQ

    Is TikTok good for dropshipping?

    TikTok live is a great dropshipping tool for all independent content creators, businesses, and brands, TikTok is a great platform to promote their work, products, personalities, and ideas in creative and entertaining ways to a global audience.

    Is drop shipping still a good business model?

    Yes. If you choose the right niche, implement a proper marketing strategy and constantly improve your customer support, dropshipping will be the most profitable business model to run.

    Which social media is best for drop shipping?

    Instagram is a top-rated social media platform for dropshipping businesses, primarily because it’s so visual. So it’s a great idea to use a few product photos and then mix these up with videos and images that complement what you’re selling.

    What is the weakness of drop shipping?

    Dropshipping isn’t simple. It has challenges like suppliers, order processing, returns, customer support, website maintenance, attracting online traffic, and tracking inventory changes and shipping prices with manufacturers, all requiring time.

  • How IKEA Dominates the Retail Market with the Psychology of Selling

    Ever wonder what happens behind the scenes of a successful sale? It all starts with understanding the process of selling. Sales are the process by which goods and services are sold. When business and sales are combined, it is possible to create a powerful combination that can be used to drive success.

    It is also important to understand the strategies and tactics that can be used to make the most of these two forces. With the right knowledge and understanding, business and sales can be used to generate success in any organization. There is one organization that has taken the principle of sales to new heights. That company is Ikea and is so famous that its tricks are a benchmark in the sales world.

    The IKEA effect is a cognitive bias in which consumers place a disproportionately high value on products they partially created. Consumers tend to have greater satisfaction with the products they partially assembled than with the same products when fully assembled by the manufacturer. The IKEA effect is seen as a form of the endowment effect, in which people overvalue things simply because they own them. Shocked by this? There are plenty more business tricks in the belt of  IKEA.

    What is IKEA?
    IKEA’s Psychological Tricks
    The IKEA Effect
    Location
    The Long Maze
    Guiding arrows
    Fully closed stores
    Listing help
    In-house dining
    Mirrors everywhere
    Colour Coding
    Limited Edition Products
    Smells

    What is IKEA?

    IKEA is a multinational group of companies from Sweden that designs and sells ready-to-assemble furniture, kitchen appliances, and other home accessories. It is one of the most popular eCommerce and recognized home furnishing brands in the world. It is famous for its modern designs, low prices, and innovative flat-pack assembly system. The company’s furniture is designed to be disassembled and reassembled easily so that customers can fit it into their homes.

    IKEA has become a global leader in home furnishings and is renowned for its commitment to style, affordability, and sustainability. It is also famous for its wide selection of stylish yet affordable furniture, along with its clever and efficient use of space. Products are easily recognizable for their modern, minimalist design, and its reputation for providing quality furniture at a low cost has made it a favourite of consumers around the world.

    Additionally, IKEA’s flat-pack furniture, which is designed to be easily assembled by customers, has made it a popular choice for those who want to save money on furniture, as well as those who prefer to build their furniture themselves.

    IKEA’s Psychological Tricks

    IKEA, like many retailers, uses a variety of marketing techniques to attract customers and encourage them to make purchases. These techniques can include creating a visually appealing store layout, offering discounts and promotions, and using persuasive language in advertising and signage. Some specific psychological tricks that IKEA use are as follows

    The IKEA Effect

    The IKEA effect is a cognitive bias in which consumers place a disproportionately high value on products they partially created. It is named after the Swedish furniture company IKEA, which sells many do-it-yourself products. The effect implies that consumers typically place a higher value on products that they have invested effort into assembling or creating themselves, rather than products that are sold pre-assembled. This is because they feel a greater sense of ownership or pride in the product they have created.

    The IKEA effect named after the Swedish furniture retailer IKEA, which sells many ready-to-assemble furniture products that require the customer to assemble them.

    IKEA worldwide Retail Sales Share

    Location

    Store locations: Stores away from the town centre often have lower overhead costs due to the lower rent and property taxes. Store location is one of the key factors to attract more customers. This allows them to pass those savings on to their customers, resulting in lower prices and more competitive offerings.

    Less Competition: Many stores located away from the town centre may have less competition, as most local businesses tend to be located closer to the town centre. This can benefit business owners as it allows them to have a more competitive edge in their local market.

    More Space: Stores located away from the town centre often have more space for customers to move around and for the store to be laid out more attractive and organized, which can help boost sales.

    Better Parking: Stores located away from the town centre often have more dedicated parking, making it easier and more convenient for customers to park their vehicles.

    Better Customer Experience: Stores located away from the town centre may be able to offer a better customer experience with less rushed shopping as there may be fewer customers in the store at any given time.

    It is through sales that customers are attracted to a company’s products and services, and it is through sales that a company can generate revenue and profits. It is through sales that a company can increase its market share and gain a larger share of the market.

    The Long Maze

    The IKEA stores are designed in a labyrinthine fashion, with customers having to pass through several sections of the store before reaching the checkout. This encourages customers to stay in the store longer, exposing them to more IKEA products. The layout of IKEA stores is often referred to as a “maze” design because it guides customers through a series of winding paths and corridors that lead them through the different departments and product displays.

    The purpose of this layout is to encourage customers to spend more time in the store and to expose them to a wide range of products. One reason IKEA uses this layout is to create a sense of discovery for customers. By guiding them through different areas of the store, IKEA can showcase different products and create a sense of excitement and surprise as customers encounter new items.

    Another reason for the maze design is to increase the likelihood that customers will make impulsive purchases. By leading customers through a series of twists and turns, IKEA can expose them to more products than they might see if they were able to walk straight to the items they came to purchase simply. This can increase the chances that customers will see something they hadn’t planned on buying and decide to add it to their cart.

    The maze design is also intended to create a sense of disorientation for customers, making it harder for them to keep track of where they are in the store and how much time they have spent there. This can make it more difficult for customers to make quick decisions and leave the store, encouraging them to spend more time browsing and potentially causing more purchases.

    IKEA Global Retail Revenue

    Guiding arrows

    When you see directions, you relax and give your decision-making skills to the GPS. This is the same with IKEA. Its stores are designed to guide customers through a series of winding paths and corridors that lead them through different departments and product displays. To help customers navigate the store, IKEA provides a variety of directional aids, including:

    Maps: IKEA stores typically provide maps near the entrance that show the layout of the store and the location of different departments and amenities. These maps can help customers plan their route through the store and find the products they are looking for.

    Signage: IKEA stores use a variety of signage to help customers find their way around. This includes directional signs that point the way to different departments and product displays, as well as signs that indicate the location of restrooms, customer service, and other amenities.

    Floor markers: IKEA stores often use floor markers or markings to help customers follow the correct path through the store. These markers may be arrows, dots, or other symbols that show the direction to follow.

    Staff assistance: IKEA stores also have staff members who can assist customers with directions or help them find specific products. Customers can ask for assistance at any time if they need help navigating the store or finding a particular item. All these tricks help not only the customers to navigate but also the company to navigate to higher revenues.

    Fully closed stores

    Customers lose the sense of time while shopping at IKEA. The combination of the store’s layout, the wide range of products, engaging displays, and customer amenities can all contribute to people losing track of time while shopping. The stores offer a wide range of products, including furniture, home decor, kitchen and dining items, and more.

    This can be overwhelming for some customers and make it more difficult for them to stay focused on shopping goals. These stores often use visually appealing and interactive displays to showcase their products. Customers may be drawn to these displays and spend more time exploring them, which can cause them to lose track of time.

    Listing help

    Writing down a shopping list can be a useful psychological sales trick for retailers because it helps customers focus on their specific needs and goals and can encourage them to make more thoughtful deliberate purchases. Some specific ways that writing down a shopping list can be a psychological sales trick include:

    Clarifying priorities: By writing down a shopping list, customers can prioritize their needs and focus on the items that are most important to them. This can help them make more targeted, efficient purchases and avoid unnecessary or impulse buys.

    Creating a sense of commitment: When customers write down a shopping list, they are more likely to feel committed to sticking to their plan and making the purchases they have listed. This can reduce the likelihood of them being swayed by other items or promotions that they encounter while shopping.

    Increasing perceived value: By writing down a shopping list, customers may perceive the items they purchase as being more valuable because they have taken the time to carefully consider their needs and make a plan. This can increase their satisfaction with their purchases and their loyalty to the retailer.

    In-house Dining

    IKEA offers free meals in its restaurant, which encourages customers to stay in the store longer, increasing the chance of them making a purchase. In-store dining is a common amenity offered by retailers, including IKEA, and it can be used as a psychological sales trick to encourage customers to spend more time in the store and potentially make more purchases. One way in-store dining can be used as a psychological sales trick is by creating a sense of comfort and relaxation for customers.

    When customers feel comfortable and relaxed while shopping, they may be more likely to spend more time in the store and explore different products. This can increase the chances that they will make impulsive purchases or simply spend more time browsing and potentially making more purchases overall. In-store dining can also create a sense of community and socialization, which can be appealing to customers. By offering a place for customers to sit and relax, retailers can create a sense of belonging and encourage customers to stay in the store longer.

    Another way in-store dining can be used as a psychological sales trick is by providing an opportunity for retailers to upsell or cross-sell products. For example, If a customer is dining in an IKEA cafe, the retailer may suggest that they purchase a particular item or offer them a special promotion while they are there.

    Overall, in-store dining can be a useful tool for retailers to create a positive shopping experience for customers and encourage them to spend more time in the store, potentially leading to increased sales.

    Mirrors everywhere

    Mirrors are a common feature in retail settings, and they can be used for a variety of purposes. One psychological sales trick retailers may use mirrors is to create the illusion of more space in the store. By strategically placing mirrors, retailers can make a small space feel larger and more open, which can be appealing to customers. Another psychological trick retailers may use mirrors is to create the illusion of increased activity or interest in the store. For example, If a store has a lot of mirrors, customers may see reflections of other customers and perceive the store as being more popular or busy than it really is. This can create a sense of social proof, making customers more likely to feel that they should be in the store too.

    Retailers may also use mirrors to influence how customers perceive themselves and the products they are considering purchasing. For example, if a customer sees themselves in a mirror while trying on clothes, they may be more likely to focus on their appearance and how the clothes look on them, rather than just considering the clothes themselves. This can make the customer more likely to make a purchase.

    Overall, mirrors can be a powerful tool for retailers to use in their marketing efforts, as they can create the illusion of increased space, activity, and self-perception, all of which can influence customers’ behaviour and purchasing decisions.

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    Colour Coding

    IKEA color codes its products and store sections to reinforce brand recognition and make it easier for customers to find what they’re looking for. One way that color coding can be used to influence customer behaviour is by creating a sense of order and organization. By using different colors to indicate different categories of products, retailers can make it easier for customers to navigate the store and find what they are looking for. This can create a sense of calm and control for customers, which can make them more likely to make purchases.

    Another way that color coding can be used in marketing is to associate certain colors with specific emotions or meanings. For example, Retailers may use the color red to indicate a sale or special offer, as it is often associated with feelings of excitement and urgency. Retailers may also use color coding to create a cohesive brand image by using specific colors consistently throughout the store.

    Limited Edition Products

    IKEA releases limited edition products to create a sense of urgency among customers and encourage them to buy the items quickly. The principle of scarcity is based on the idea that people value things more when they perceive them as being rare or hard to obtain. By creating a sense of scarcity around a product, retailers can increase its perceived value and encourage customers to make a purchase. They may look like these headings

    Limited-time offers: Retailers may create a sense of urgency around a product by promoting it as a limited-time offer. This can make customers feel like they need to act quickly to take advantage of the deal, which can increase the likelihood of a purchase.

    Limited quantities: Retailers may create a sense of scarcity by promoting products as being in limited quantities. This can make customers feel like they need to act quickly to secure the product before it runs out, which can increase the likelihood of a purchase.

    Rare or hard-to-find items: Retailers may promote certain products as being rare or hard to find, which can increase the perceived value of the product and make it more appealing to customers.

    Sold-out items: Retailers may promote products as being sold out or unavailable to create a sense of scarcity and encourage customers to purchase similar or related items.

    Smells

    IKEA uses the smell of cinnamon buns in its stores to encourage customers to stay in the store longer. It is common for retailers, including IKEA, to use various sensory elements, such as smells, as part of their marketing strategy. The use of pleasant smells in retail environments can be a form of sensory branding, which is the practice of using sensory elements to create an emotional connection with customers and strengthen the brand’s identity.

    In the case of IKEA, the use of smells can be an effective way to create a positive shopping experience for customers and influence their behaviour. Some specific ways that IKEA and other retailers might use smells in their marketing include

    Creating a welcoming atmosphere: Retailers may use pleasant smells, such as the aroma of coffee or baked goods, to create a warm and inviting atmosphere in the store. This can make customers feel more comfortable and encourage them to spend more time shopping.

    Enhancing the appeal of products: Retailers may use smells to enhance the appeal of specific products, such as by using the scent of freshly baked cookies to draw attention to a display of kitchenware.

    Triggering memories and emotions: Smells have the ability to trigger memories and emotions in people, and retailers may use this to their advantage. For example, the scent of pine trees may be used to create a festive atmosphere during the holiday season, or the aroma of lavender may be used to create a relaxing atmosphere in a bedding department.

    Conclusion

    Business and sales can be used to attract customers, generate revenue, and increase market share. In order to be successful in business and sales, it is essential to understand the power of these two forces.  IKEA uses a variety of psychological tricks to attract and persuade customers to make purchases. These techniques include creating a visually appealing store layout, using scarcity and loss aversion to create a sense of urgency, and leveraging the power of social proof to encourage customers to follow the lead of others. IKEA uses techniques to create positive shopping experiences and inform customer purchasing decisions, as part of their overall marketing strategy. These techniques are not deceptive or unethical.

    FAQ

    What is unique about IKEA’s strategy to attract customers?

    Using mono-segment, adaptive and aesthetic types of product positioning. The furniture retailer targets a cost-conscious customer segment that prefers to get value for the money they pay. Accordingly, IKEA has adapted as the unique selling proposition of the brand.

    What is the Ikea effect in psychology?

    The IKEA effect, named after everyone’s favourite Swedish furniture giant, describes how people tend to value an object more if they make (or assemble) it themselves. More broadly, the IKEA effect speaks to how we tend to like things more if we’ve expended effort to create them.

    What are the key factors for the success of IKEA?

    At the heart of Ikea’s success is value: You know what you’re going to get when you shop at Ikea, and it’s going to be affordable. In fact, price is so important to Ikea’s strategy that the company first decided on the price of a piece of furniture and then reverse engineers the construction.

    What is unique about IKEA’s business model?

    IKEA uses the services of around 1400 suppliers from over 60 countries. These suppliers form a big chain and also help IKEA in venturing into fresh markets. Additionally, it uses semi-skilled and skilled labour that becomes an integral component of its supply system.

  • How to Reduce Customer Churn Rate: 5 Proven Strategies

    A churn is a user or revenue loss in a given period. Customer churn is determined by the number of customers that end to use the product and service during a given period.

    In a more refined way, the number of customers you lost in the quarter in comparison to the number of customers you started with the sales quarter. Customer retention is the major factor in a company’s success. If you have a customer retention rate is 75%, it means you have a low churn rate of 25%.

    Most often SaaS companies face a high churn rate due to the falling demand for existing products and services. The SaaS business evolves constantly so they need to constantly upgrade their products and introduce new services to sustain old customers and engage new customers. If the product is not fulfilling customers’ expectations and marketing demand, the churn rate will increase. Losing customers means losing revenue. So, if you want to reduce customer churn rate follow these best strategies.

    How Customer Churning is Affecting Businesses?
    Customer Churn Vs Revenue Churn
    How to Reduce Customer Churn?

    How Customer Churning is Affecting Businesses?

    Customer churning is greatly affecting the business and if above than 10% of customers are cancelling the product, it is difficult for long-term growth. It also means that you are losing more customers than acquiring them and which is seriously impacting your revenue.

    According to a survey, companies lose $1.6 trillion per year due to customer churn. You need to permanently fix the root cause of churning to run your business for the long term. Every customer is different, you need to make strategies to make existing customers stay content and happy with the products and services.

    According to the Forrester analysis, acquiring new customers is 5 times cost more than maintaining the existing customers.

    Customer Churn Rate in United States in 2020
    Customer Churn Rate in United States in 2020

    Customer Churn Vs Revenue Churn

    Customer churn is the number of customers you are losing in a given time frame. Revenue churn is slightly different from customer churn. Revenue churn is the loss of revenue that is not necessarily happening because of customer churning.

    Revenue churning means that you are not making enough money from your existing customer base than you were making before. There could be several reasons for this such as, your customers might have shifted to lower subscriptions, declined a few paid features, got discounted features, and so on.

    Analyze all the business metrics, competitors’ graphs, target customers, and long-term customers and determine the most useful customers that stay long with you. Retain your loyal customers and try to compensate for your revenue loss with flexible customers.

    If you have a diverse customer base, most likely you cannot satisfy all customers. Hit the majority of your target customers and meet their requirements and expectations, instead.

    How to Reduce Customer Churn Rate?

    According to Gartner’s survey report, approximately 80% of a company’s future revenue come from just 20% of its existing customers. So, 60-70% of the marketing focus remains on selling products to old customers.

    Many companies are understanding the importance of low churn and proactively implementing reduce churn strategy. They emphasize improving customer relationships and communications and removing all bottlenecks that come in between product and customer experience.

    According to HubSpot’s 2021 State of Inbound report, over 50% of companies are giving top priority to increasing customer satisfaction and generating leads. They are incorporating occasional rewards, free offers, and promotions to retain customers for a long time with the product.

    Implement a systematic retention process that brings you the actionable insights to generate new ideas to reduce churn. Break down your churn into its component parts (pricing, types of users, product features, support, etc) and experiment with different parts and resolve all aspects of churn.

    Here a few strategies are given to maximize customer satisfaction and reduce churn:

    Analyse the Cause

    Analyze why customers are leaving? There could be lots of reasons for customer churn such as pricing, product quality, customer experience, etc. To track the problem in the right direction, collect customers’ insights and their issues through email, feedback, and surveys, and build strategies proactively to prevent churn.

    The survey is useful and easy. You can get the survey through email, SMS, live chat, social media, etc. Analyze their response and work on the points which are causing you more revenue loss.

    Moreover, find out the specific reason for leaving the product after 30 or 60 days of using it. Talk to your customers and offer a discount or incentive to engage them with the product.

    If there is any technical issue regarding the improper functionality or lack of understanding about the product, communicate with them and provide all technical support to reduce customers’ dissatisfaction with the product. Ask cancellation reasons in the form of a survey to get valuable product insights.

    Spot the customers who have not been contacted for a while. They might be in the risk group and can impact the churn badly. Take preventive measures to include them in regular conversation. Start email conversations, feedback, and survey to foresee the problems.

    Engage with Customers

    Ensure quality customer service for successful onboarding and implementation. Guide them in every step so they get familiar with the product features. Provide a guided tour for all functionalities, and give value-added support and FAQs so they don’t feel clueless on handling basic issues.

    Offer free training, webinars, video tutorials, and product demos to make them comfortable with the product. Demonstrate the full potential of the product so customers can see the value of using the product.

    When customers feel the product/solution is helping them to achieve target expectations in business they are less likely to leave the product/solution. You need to constantly keep monitoring and communicating with them. Constant feedback keeps you aware of customers’ inclinations and expectations. Amazon has excellent customer service that gives it leverage over its competitors.

    Proactive Customer Services

    Sometimes customers struggle to navigate the website and didn’t get exactly what they are looking for. Confusion around a product or service and a lack of effective and timely support around for a particular issue increase their disappointments.

    Use Live chat to engage with them throughout their product journey and have your customer support system ready to address product-related issues. When customers get an immediate solution and it enhances their overall user experiences.

    Very likely, customers may overlook small glitches if they get timely support and stay with the product. You also get time to improve on technical things without losing your customer base.

    According to a Harvard Business School report, 65% of the company’s business comes from existing customers.

    Build a personalized relationship after onboarding the products and maintain a friendly rapport with your customers. The Starter Story and Pigeon had reduced their churn rate with personalized emails and customer support, only.

    Build Customer Loyalty

    Make your customers feel that they are a part of a brand community. Invite guest posts, question-answer discussions, and community forums where they can share their views and suggestions. It keeps them engaged with the product and if there is any issue or dissatisfaction, it can be solved within the community.

    You can also get insights into customers’ perspectives and get time to resolve them early. Offer discounts, promos, and loyalty programs to keep them stuck with the product. Occasional discounts and incentives are offered to show how much you value your customers for the business. If the customer is approaching to end of their subscription, you can offer discounts to elaborate the subscription and retain your customer.

    Be honest and transparent with your customers and share your revenue report and business metrics openly.

    Reeboks and Nike have huge customer loyalty bases. Smaller SaaS brands like Ahrefs and e-commerce software Shopify also have a big loyal customer base that contributes to their growth.

    According to research from Bain & Company, a 5% increase in customer retention can increase profits margin by 25% to 95%.

    Improve Customer Experience

    According to Forum Corporation’s research, 70% of churning is happening because of slow services and uncooperative support staff. Delight your customers with Thank You or Welcome Note after their subscriptions or purchasing the product. A Reddit uses a handwritten thank you message for its subscribed customers to give them value and importance.

    If your customers are happy, they may refer you to others and help your business to expand. Celebrate your long-time customers by rewarding them with badges or highlighting their success on social media and your website. For example, freelance marketplace Fiverr highlights its customers’ stories on its blog.

    Good customer service can reduce churn for a long time. Improve customer services to hook the customers with your brand. Attend every complaint seriously so the customers stay with the brand.

    Conclusion

    Nothing is going to change overnight! Follow the process and observe closely what areas in the company are causing churn problems. Retention is cheaper than customer acquisition. The KPMG survey revealed that customer retention drives 52% of the company’s revenue. You already have customers, engage with them and make sure they too stay with you.

    FAQs

    What is the churn rate?

    A churn rate is when your customers stop using your services within a certain period of time.

    Why is the churn rate important?

    Calculating the churn rate is important, as it shows how many customers you have lost and lost customers mean less revenue.

    What is a good average churn rate?

    A 5% – 7% churn rate annually is considered an acceptable churn rate.

  • Things to Know Before Hiring a Lead Generation Agency

    A lead generation agency can have a significant impact on the success of your business. By generating leads, they can help you increase sales and revenue. In addition, a lead generation agency can also help you build relationships with potential customers and clients. You can contact these individuals and offer them your products or services by providing them with leads. By doing this, you can establish trust and credibility with potential customers and clients, which can ultimately lead to increased sales and revenue.

    Things to Know Before Hiring a Lead Generation Agency

    Reasons to Hire a Lead Generation Agency

    What are the Best Sources that Generate Leads To Your Agency?
    What are the Best Sources that Generate Leads To Your Agency?

    Things to Know Before Hiring a Lead Generation Agency

    There are a few things you should consider before hiring a lead generation agency. First, think about your budget and what you’re willing to spend on lead generation services. Next, consider what your lead generation goals are – do you want more website visitors, more newsletter signups, or more sales? Once you know what you want to achieve, you can start looking for an agency that specializes in that area. Finally, read reviews and case studies to learn more about the agency’s work and see if they’re a good fit for your business. With these things in mind, you’ll be able to find the right lead generation agency for your needs.

    The following are the points that need to be considered before hiring a lead generation agency:

    Define Your Lead Generation Goals

    Before hiring a lead generation agency, you need to define your lead generation goals first. What are you looking to achieve? Do you want to increase brand awareness, drive more traffic to your website, or generate more leads? Once you know what your goals are, you can start to look for an agency that can help you achieve them.

    Do Your Research

    Once you know what you’re looking for, it’s time to do your market research and find the right agency for you. There are a lot of lead generation agencies out there, so take your time to find one that’s a good fit for your business.

    Set a Budget

    Before you start working with a lead generation agency, you need to set a budget. How much are you willing to spend on lead generation? This will help you narrow down your options and find an agency that fits within your budget.

    Ask for Referrals

    If you know anyone who has worked with a lead generation agency before, you can ask them for referrals. This can be a great way to find an agency that you can trust your business’s marketing with.

    Sales Aladin - Lead Generation Company in India
    Sales Aladin – Lead Generation Company in India

    Check Out Their Portfolio

    When you’re looking at different lead generation agencies, make sure to check out their portfolios. This will give you an idea of the type of work they have done in the past and whether or not they are a good fit for your business.

    Read Online Reviews

    In addition to checking out an agency’s portfolio, make sure to read their online reviews. This can help you better understand the agency’s work through others’ points of view and experiences.

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    Ask About Their Process

    When you’re considering working with a lead generation agency, ask about their process. How do they generate leads? What kind of methods do they use? This will help you determine if they are the right fit for your business.

    Inquire About Pricing

    Pricing is an important consideration when you’re hiring a lead generation agency. It is essential to understand their plans and pricing upfront to know what to expect.

    Get a Contract in Writing

    Before you start working with a lead generation agency, get a contract in writing. This will protect both you and the agency, and it will ensure that everyone is on the same page from the start.

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    Reasons to Hire a Lead Generation Agency

    As your business grows, so does the complexity of your sales process. You can no longer rely on a single salesperson to generate all of your leads and close all of your deals. Instead, you need to build a team of specialists who can each play a role in generating and nurturing leads until they’re ready to buy.

    That’s where a lead generation agency comes in. A lead generation agency can help you build an effective lead generation system, from generating initial leads to qualifying and nurturing them until they’re ready to buy.

    Here are a few reasons why you need to hire a lead generation agency:

    • It has the expertise and experience to build an effective lead generation system.
    • It makes use of various categories for the organization of data to make it more relevant to the target market.
    • It knows how to work with special marketing tools and thus, better sales for your business.
    • It can help you measure and optimize your lead generation efforts.
    • It can help improve your business’s online visibility.

    Thus, a growing business demands a need to hire a lead generation agency as they have the expertise and experience to build an effective lead generation system that can help you generate leads on a large scale.

    Conclusion

    Before you hire a lead generation agency, ask them about their process and how they plan to generate leads for your business. Ask for case studies or references from previous clients to get an idea of the quality of leads the agency has generated in the past. And finally, make sure you have a clear understanding of what the agency will and will not do for you.

    FAQs

    What does a lead generation agency do?

    A lead generation agency combines the information of customers and businesses that it can sell to a particular business wishing to buy new leads.

    Is hiring a lead generation agency worth it?

    Yes, hiring a lead generation agency is worth it as the businesses with efficient lead generation practices have a 9.3% higher sales success rate.

    Which are some prominent lead generation companies in India?

    • Sales Aladin
    • TDCX
    • Invensis
    • B2B Associates
    • Flatworld Solutions

    What is the difference between lead generation and digital marketing?

    Lead generation simply means initiating customers’ interest in your products and services. On the other hand, digital marketing focuses on the entire journey of buyers.

  • Gallabox – Empowering Businesses to Connect Effectively with Customers

    Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by Gallabox.

    Digital technologies have revamped business processes, culture, and customer experience across verticals. To be competitive and profitable in a growing digital environment, end to end transformation is necessary for every business, be it a SME or the big giants.

    Gallabox is an easy-to-use, no-code conversational growth engine on WhatsApp for SMBs.

    Gallabox helps businesses increase sales and streamline all customer interactions. By deploying intuitive workflows, the tool puts an end to mediocre and broken conversations.

    Gallabox – Company Highlights

    Startup Name Gallabox
    Headquarters Chennai
    Industry SaaS
    Founder Karthik Jagannathan, Yathindhar Panchanathan, and Yogesh Narayanan
    Founded 2020
    Website gallabox.com

    Gallabox – About
    Gallabox – Industry
    Gallabox – Founders & Team
    Gallabox – Idea & Startup Story
    Gallabox – Name, Tagline, and Logo
    Gallabox – Products & Services
    Gallabox – Business Model & Revenue Model
    Gallabox – Customer Acquisition
    Gallabox – Funding
    Gallabox – Competitors
    Gallabox – Recognition and Achievements
    Gallabox – Future Plans

    About Gallabox

    Gallabox – About

    Gallabox helps companies run their business on WhatsApp empowering them to market, sell, and support better — via a communication channel that feels robust to the core. Whatsapp is becoming India’s favourite super app and that has left room for a plethora of opportunities in the fast growing super app genre.

    In terms of vision, Gallabox believes that all organisations – small, medium, and large need a powerful messaging platform like WhatsApp to manage their inbound and outbound customer conversations. Thus, Gallabox is proving to be a key player in providing customised business solutions over WhatsApp.

    Gallabox – Industry

    Gallabox focuses upon three major problems:

    1. There are about 50 Billion WhatsApp messages that get sent and received every day, but unfortunately, businesses struggle to manage their customer interactions on WhatsApp at scale.

    2. Businesses are still sending around 1.3 billion SMS Per day whereas their customers have already moved to WhatsApp

    3. Businesses find it very hard to build their workflows on WhatsApp, integrating their existing databases with APIs require coding knowledge.

    In terms of the industry size, they see a huge opportunity in the related circles. There are 500 million users that use WhatsApp, and at least 95% of this demographic opens the app once in a day. From this we can infer that WhatsApp has swiftly become apart of their daily lives. Among 500 million users of WhatsApp in India, there are at least 20 million WhatsApp business users. Assuming that about one-third of these businesses require a more sophisticated solution, where they are able to leverage the possibilities of WhatsApp makes this opportunity worth $4 billion per year.

    The second opportunity is that the SMS market globally has reported revenues of $90 billion dollars. According to a recent study about 40 million SMS’s get sent per month and the estimation is that there are a hundred thousand businesses in India sending SMS till date. SMS is really analogue in nature and it really doesn’t allow for any kind of interactivity. So, Gallabox took this as an opportunity.

    The two large opportunities for Gallabox are:

    • To move businesses that are already on WhatsApp business to offering them a more sophisticated solution that can help them leverage the possibilities of this super app: better team collaboration via a shared team inbox, streamlining marketing efforts through broadcast campaigns, simplified support with chatbots and easy integrations to build better workflows.
    • To move companies that are sending SMS today onto the WhatsApp messaging platform thereby empowering them to increase sales and support efforts to scale their business.

    For the last three years, Gallabox’s founders have been observing and working very closely with the WhatsApp team, they recognized the kind of feature functionality that is possible. In the market today, there are some companies that are building their product to use WhatsApp as a messaging channel but over the next couple of years, Gallabox predicts that WhatsApp could transform into an end-to-end business platform where customers can literally do everything from discovery of products, to purchasing, and accessing required support. Gallabox at this position is being able to leverage this opportunity ahead of us.

    Gallabox – Founders & Team

    Gallabox Founders – Yogesh Narayanan, Karthik Jagannathan, and Yathindhar Panchanathan

    Karthik Jagannathan, Yogesh Narayanan, and Yathindhar Panchanathan are the founders of Gallabox. Karthik is the CEO of Gallabox, Yogesh serves as CTO, and Yathindhar serves as CPO at Gallabox.

    A common denominator among the three co-founders has been that they have worked at Sulekha for almost A decade together starting from 2007/2008. All three of them have worked in different roles. It gave an in-depth view of how SMBs and midsize businesses were digitizing the marketing operations, trying to acquire leads from the internet and that was another generation where they saw the SMBs up-close.

    Yogesh has 13 + of experience in full life cycle software development for consumer internet, digital marketplaces and products. Just after Sulekha, he spent three years building the fintech Marketplace at Cred Avenue. Yogesh is a largely self-taught self-made engineering person who has a fantastic balance between Engineering Technology Outlook as well as a business Outlook. He is able to toggle between the two.

    Yathindhar has 17 plus years of experience managing the SMB facing product while at Sulekha, where he also managed the entire value delivery piece so they were collecting money from SMBs which means delivering value back to them in some form. Yathindhar built entire infrastructure to be able to track that and he has also spent a significant part of his career on digital marketing. Just before Sulekha, he was with Xerago, a digital marketing company that manages large clients and after Sulekha, Yatin spent a couple of years at Matrimony where he helped build wedding services Marketplace.

    Karthik has 20 plus years of experience in marketing sales and overall P&L management. He has a strong India SMB focus and mid-market customer expertise. He started his career in advertising and then he spent a good part of his career at Sify between 2000 and 2005. Then after that, he worked at Tata Teleservices in telecom sales for a couple of years after which he was at Sulekha for a little over a decade, where he was part of the original founding team that built this Sulekha local services business and subsequently, Karthik spent a couple of years at Matrimony where he was the business head for the wedding service marketplace business.

    They came from a very strong consumer internet background and were very interested to see how businesses can be helped using technology. This was their core focus as they dabbled in multiple Ideas.

    Towards the end of 2019 is when the three of them decided that they want to start something of their own and noticed a commonality of thoughts. One was the burning desire to be on their own and found a company. Second, was their passion to genuinely help businesses using technology. Third, they felt that an era of digitisation is coming up and they should be ready for it and contribute in some form to the digital transformation. After 6 months of brainstorming they incorporated the company in June 2020.

    Yathindhar manages the product design and the digital marketing piece. Yogesh takes care of the entire Technology architecture, the Visioning as well as the actual building of the product and deployment.

    Karthik takes care of overall distribution which is the sales marketing piece and fundraising activities. The company currently has 24 employees and is actively growing.

    Gallabox Team
    Gallabox Team

    The culture of the company is of shared ownership. The early team members bring a larger dose of passion into the team and new team members are equally amazing with the ability to quickly understand the business, understand the customer and being able to deploy it in the market.

    Their core values are that of focusing on the customer first. They believe that they exist to grow their customers business. They like to raise the standard. The team is always curious to know more and hungry to improve its best performance. They work fast to completion. They think simple is beautiful. Simple is the most sophisticated thing that you can ever ask for. So Gallabox team work hard to make products simple and light to use.

    They nurture talent, embrace the diversity of ideas and team members respect & rely on each other. They place integrity on a very high pedestal because integrity is about doing the right thing even when nobody’s watching. Each of the founders owns the cost and takes accountability for decisions & actions.

    They have a lot of fun at work. They have a Badminton Court next door. So, they go out there and play once a week at least. They also have a Gallabox Shuttles League (GSL). They arrange and play tournaments. They believe that Sports brings people together and it’s a great team-building exercise even if that goal is not team building it inadvertently happens.

    Their hiring funda is that they want to have people who want to build something. They want to build a product, they want to build on an idea, want to build on the career, want to build on the conviction. They look for builders. They do not look for managers. They look for team players who can take something up, own it and go about building it.

    Gallabox – Idea & Startup Story

    With the rapid digitization that we came to see through the last decade businesses started to rely on the Meta, Facebook, Alphabet, and Google ecosystem to attract users. They became the discovery engines to aid businesses in showcasing their product offerings and increase revenues by doing so. A key take back from this new workflow was that customer satisfaction was of utmost importance.

    Brands needed a platform that is readily available to be of service, personalized, and easy to access for users and team members. When Gallabox’s founders started to ideate on the best possible solution for digitising businesses, they realized that at least eight out of ten companies had the components to put together a better workflow but they did not have a platform to bring it all together. Either they were having a CRM or they were getting a CRM done, or they had integration partners that were aiding the workflow but, they weren’t able to unify all these processes into one singular flow.

    Apart from partnering platforms/services, businesses were ready to improve their customer services at scale. This meant for most of them that an increase in resources was the best possible solution. The founders of Gallabox wanted to change this thought, they truly saw potential in this grey area. This was how Gallabox was founded.

    They brainstormed the best solution for any small to medium size business – a single collaborative platform that allows for engaging interactions with customers, predefined or custom integration workflows, no-code conversational bot flows to services customers 24×7, an easy to use tool to launch marketing campaigns at scale and, a shared inbox for teams to better communicate without having to switch between channels.

    Gallabox was named after the cash register – Galla Petti. The Galla Petti symbolises healthy business.

    They focus on minimising marketing wastage, improving efficiencies in marketing as well as in sales effort and customer support efforts and focusing on enabling winning conversations with prospects and existing customers. Gallabox is building a product to streamline and reduce the multiple efforts of sales, support and marketing teams.

    The three large touchpoints of the customer are – Discovery, purchase, and support. Gallabox helps businesses to manage these customer conversations across 3 milestones. The goal is to provide their clients/customers with a tool that works like a charm, is simple to use and feature rich to scale their business operations.

    The Gallabox logo has two perspectives. One perspective is, it is supposed to be a box, a cube and therefore drawing parallel to the brand name. The other perspective is that of the blue arrow that is pointing towards the right side. It symbolises the rising graph of a business. The focus is to enable their clients’ business to improve. This Arrow symbolises what Gallabox wishes to provide to their clients business.

    Gallabox – Products & Services

    Companies want to be able to deliver a great experience to the customers across three milestones – Discovery, purchase, support and of course, there are multiple in between. In pursuit of these goals, most of them have a website, some of them have a mobile app and which is where their products, services and their profile and their reason to believe – all of these things really are sitting out there.

    Several of them also have CRM which is a repository of customer information. Often, CRM is integrated with the website so therefore there is a way in which the discovery, purchase, and support functionalities could be delivered to a certain threshold level of quality but unfortunately, their customers are sitting on WhatsApp and the island is not connected to any of these. So what WhatsApp is allowed to do and what Gallabox is building on – is being able to connect the website, mobile app, and the CRM with WhatsApp and be able to offer an end to end business solution for clients.

    Through Discovery, Purchase, and Support, Gallabox offers a set of features or a way in which teams can collaborate with each other, with the multi-agent team inbox, clients can run marketing campaigns with the WhatsApp broadcast feature, they can run automation capabilities with a chatbot and start a conversation with the prospect or with the existing customers and then hands off to an agent at some point of time. Gallabox can integrate nicely with that including CRM and payment systems and so on. Gallabox is working on building the E-Commerce engine and the business app templates.

    The entire journey is multiple touchpoints with the customer, from the time the prospective walks in – to the time the prospect is converted to a customer, customer conversation leads to the engagement and then some kind of support to the customer request. Gallabox really offers all of these features covering the touchpoints of the customers.

    It’s not easy to be able to imagine this kind of ambit. Gallabox wants to make it as easy as building a templated website. There are several tools available now on the internet you know if you have a couple of hours, people sit down and create a good looking website for yourself. They are developing the capabilities to be able to do that on WhatsApp. Gallabox builds plug-n-play tools supporting hundreds of workflows.

    Let’s take an example – A travel portal integrates with Facebook & Razorpay’s payments gateway or an Edtech company integrates with Stanley to generate leads. The integration will help them send message notifications through a bot on WhatsApp or they can send automated reminders to the users on Whatsapp. They are building a library of industry-specific templates and workflows. They have already built more than 250 such workflows. Working with more clients will help the company gain more experience and expertise.

    A client can come in, filter by industry and pick the workflow that they want and start deploying. So, Gallabox is really building a do-it-yourself toolkit for companies to build their business app on WhatsApp. However, the founders are also Cognizant of the fact that India and several other emerging economies are where the do it yourself phenomenon may not be as prevalent and therefore there is a dependence on developers to build software products.

    So, for instance, Shopify has a fairly robust do-it-yourself toolkit for people to be able to create a website but , businesses still depend on developers to be able to build the shopping website and so is the case with Magento, woo commerce, Wix, and several others. There is a huge ecosystem of developers offering such services to clients. What Gallabox is doing is it is building a product initially which is a do-it-yourself toolkit for companies and, it is also building a platform that necessarily is a developer tool for them to build a WhatsApp business app.

    Gallabox – Revenue & Business Model

    Gallabox is a product, therefore, it’s on the subscription business model. Customers can pay on a monthly/annual basis. They have very comfortable pricing starting from 2500 rupees or even lower depending on prepaid going up to 9000 Rupees.

    They have experimented with what clients really require and therefore based on that they have treetop rising over the last six months. The core philosophy behind the pricing is it ought to be a small ratio of a benefit that the client accrues by using Gallabox. As they focus on improving the quality of customer conversation with that two benefits accruing to their client – one is it can increase the sales and or it can reduce their support cost, which means there is an ROI by using Gallabox.

    Gallabox aims to get a small percentage of the lift or on the cost savings that they are able to enable for their clients. This way they have figured out a pricing model. Gallabox pricing includes the cost of the business, WhatsApp business API and all the other related costs.

    Their focus is not on profitability at a unit level but to ensure that they get the pricing right and should be fair on both parties and should ensure that it is easy for customers to adopt Gallabox and help scale the customer acquisition engine.

    Gallabox – Customer Acquisition

    Gallabox can be used by anyone without any coding knowledge. Most of the businesses in India does not prefer DIY and instead hire individuals like freelancers or outsource to small companies.

    However, very interestingly, Gallabox is enquired by these freelancers and companies who ask them how they can use Gallabox to make their work easier for integration. Gallabox has got a great connection with the developers’ community and this is how they acquired most of their initial customers.

    Gallabox – Funding

    The founders bootstrapped the startup since its inception while the MVP was being built. In April 2021, Gallabox raised a pre-seed capital of Rs. 3 Crore from angel investors by issuing CCPS. They began deploying this capital from June 2021 to augment the team and acquire customers using a variety of GTM tools.

    Gaurav Kumar (Founder, CredAvenue), Pramod Kumar(Cofounder, Wealth Advisors India), Kapil Ramamurthy (Cofounder, Spark Capital), Swaroop Reddy (Founder, SeedTime Ventures), and Kris Karaikudi (Global Data Strategy Lead Slalam, US) are Prominent angel investors of Gallabox. They are also the advisors for the company.

    Gallabox – Competitors

    ‌Top competitors of Gallabox are:

    • Wati.io
    • Yellow.ai
    • Interkat
    • Engati

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    Gallabox – Recognition and Achievements

    Gallabox receiving TANSEED Grant‌
    Gallabox receiving TANSEED Grant‌

    Gallabox has Received TANSEED GRANT from Govt. of Tamil Nadu and CM MK Stalin.

    Gallabox received the TANSEED grant funding of Rs 5 lakhs from Hon’ble Chief Minister MK Stalin on the 23rd of December, 2021. Gallabox was one of the 19 startups from across the state that was selected in the second edition of the Tamil Nadu startup Seed Grant Fund. The Grant is for a total of Rs 10 lakhs per winner, the first tranche of which is Rs 5 lakhs.

    Gallabox – Future Plans

    Customers make great efforts to discover and interact with a brand or business. In these countless interactions — lie opportunities for you to make the right impression. These touch-points where customers and your teams meet are sacred for a business. Gallabox powers these connections to make them more impactful.

    FAQs

    When was Gallabox founded?

    Gallabox was founded in June 2020.

    Who is the founder of Gallabox?

    Karthik Jagannathan, Yogesh Narayanan, and Yathindhar Panchanathan are the cofounders of Gallabox.

    What is Gallabox pricing?

    Gallabox pricing ranges from 2000 – 9000 depending upon the client requirements.

  • Customer Acquisition Cost By Industry | How to Calculate CAC?

    I’m sure you know that your customer acquisition cost (CAC) is the price you pay to convert a lead into a customer. And for most companies, that’s a pretty huge expense. According to a 2017 CMO survey, businesses spend over 11% of their total company revenue on marketing. The CAC metric is important to two parties: companies and investors. The first party includes outside, early-stage investors who use it to analyse the scalability of new Internet technology companies. They can determine a company’s profitability by looking at the difference between how much money can be extracted from customers and the costs of extracting it.

    The other party interested in the metric is an internal operations or marketing specialist. They use it to optimize the return on their advertising investments. In other words, if the costs to extract money from customers can be reduced, the company’s profit margin improves and it makes a larger profit. In this article, you will get to know about some CAC benchmarks for different industries.

    How to Calculate your Customer Acquisition Cost?
    Customer Acquisition Costs by Industry
    Cost per Acquisition on Google ads
    Cost per Acquisition for Facebook Marketing
    Cost per Lead for B2B Marketing Channels

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    How to Calculate your Customer Acquisition Cost?

    LTV should be 3x CAC
    LTV should be 3x CAC

    Basically, the CAC can be calculated by simply dividing all the costs spent on acquiring more customers (marketing expenses) by the number of customers acquired in the period the money was spent. Consider a SaaS company that spent $125,000 on sales and marketing in a month, including salaries, commissions, ad spend and trial support. 50 new customers were signed up during the same month. In this case: CAC = $125,000/50 = $2,500.
    Congratulations! You’ve calculated your CAC.

    But here’s the thing: knowing your customer acquisition cost is fairly meaningless if you’re not comparing it to the lifetime value. You want to see a LTV three times higher than your CAC.

    Balance between CAC and LTV
    Balance between CAC and LTV

    A higher ratio than 3x means you could actually be growing faster if you invested in the right channels. Anything lower than 3x means you need to be exploring these options for either growing your LTV or lowering your CAC.

    How to calculate & Track Customer Acquisition Cost

    Customer Acquisition Costs by Industry

    Customer Acquisition Cost by Industries
    Customer Acquisition Cost by Industries

    Customer acquisition cost varies across industries due to a number of different factors — including, but not limited, to: Length of sales cycle, Purchase value, Purchase frequency, Customer lifespan, and Company maturity.
    Here’s a rundown of average customer acquisition cost by industry:

    • Travel: $7
    • Retail: $10
    • Consumer Goods: $22
    • Manufacturing: $83
    • Transportation: $98
    • Marketing Agency: $141
    • Financial: $175
    • Technology (Hardware): $182
    • Real Estate: $213
    • Banking/Insurance: $303
    • Telecom: $315
    • Technology (Software): $395.

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    Cost per Acquisition on Google ads

    CPA on Google ads
    CPA on Google ads

    To many, Google Ads is still the most effective ingredients in their digital marketing mix, allowing you to widen your reach and promote your product to millions of users. In terms of averages, CPA is lowest in the auto industry, which acquires new customers at only $33.52 a head, while the tech industry spends a whopping average of $133.52.

    Cost per Acquisition for Facebook Marketing

    CPA for Facebook Marketing
    CPA for Facebook Marketing

    In marketing circles, Facebook is considered the most important platform for both B2C and B2B businesses. In fact, the social platform already has 80 million business pages online – and numbers don’t seem to be slowing down. There are more stats, of course. 78% of Americans discover new products through Facebook and 30% of marketers believe it has the highest ROI of all digital ads. As for average cost per acquisition numbers, education gets a big bang for its buck by paying only $7.85 per customer, in contrast, of course with tech’s $55.21.

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    Cost per Lead for B2B Marketing Channels

    CPA for b2b channels
    CPA for b2b channels

    One of the most common B2B lead generation channels is email marketing. On average, a lead from email marketing costs $53. On the high end, a lead can cost around $72, and on the low end, around $33.

    If you’re a B2B business that targets medium to enterprise-level clients, LinkedIn advertising can be incredibly effective. On average, a lead from paid LinkedIn advertisements costs $75. On the high end, a lead can cost around $99, and on the low end, around $51.

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    Conclusion

    A Good Customer Acquisition Cost varies by the industry and tactics used. But a good way to benchmark your CAC is by comparing it to Customer Lifetime Value (also known as LTV). It is said that an ideal LTV to CAC ratio is 3:1. We hope these cost per acquisition averages assist you in making better marketing decisions in 2020.

    FAQs

    What CAC means?

    Customer acquisition cost (CAC) is the cost incurred to acquire a new customer.

    What is considered a good CAC?

    A ratio of LTV/CAC greater than 3 is considered good.

    How do you predict CAC?

    CAC is calculated by dividing marketing expenses by the number of customers acquired in the period the money was spent.

    What is average customer acquisition cost by industry?

    Average customer acquisition based on industries are:

    • Travel: $7
    • Retail: $10
    • Consumer Goods: $22
    • Manufacturing: $83
    • Transportation: $98
    • Marketing Agency: $141
    • Financial: $175
    • Technology (Hardware): $182
    • Real Estate: $213
    • Banking/Insurance: $303
    • Telecom: $315
    • Technology (Software): $395

  • Ozonetel: Disrupting The Cloud Telephony Market Through AI

    Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by Ozonetel.

    The internet has showered us with myriad useful tools, cloud communication being one of them. Cloud telephony is all about internet-based voice and data communication where telecommunication applications, switching, and storage are hosted by a third party that falls outside the organization using these. Cloud telephony is among the latest tech that moves your business phone system to the cloud, allowing you to manage your business calls without compromising on quality and cost.

    An emerging player in this domain is Ozonetel Communications—a cloud software solution that replaces your conventional business telephone setup with their VoIP services and widgets. Get an insight on Ozonetel Communications Success Story, Revenue Model, Growth, How it began?, Acquisition and Future Plans.

    Transform Customer Experience with Ozonetel Communications

    Ozonetel – Company Highlights

    Startup Name Ozonetel
    Headquarters Hyderabad
    Founders Murthy Chintipalati
    Sector Cloud Telephony
    Founded 2007
    Website Ozonetel.com
    Parent Organization Ozonetel Communications Pvt. Ltd.

    Ozonetel Communications – About
    Ozonetel Communications- Solutions/Services
    Ozonetel Communications – Teams
    Ozonetel Communications – Vision and Mission
    Ozonetel Communications – How It Began?
    Ozonetel Communications – Name And Logo
    Ozonetel Communications – Startup Launch
    Ozonetel Communications – Revenue Model
    Ozonetel Communications – Funding
    Ozonetel Communications – User Acquisition and Growth
    Ozonetel Communications – Startup Challenges
    Ozonetel Communications – Competitors
    Ozonetel Communications – Mergers and Acquisitions
    Ozonetel Communications – Future Plans
    Ozonetel Communications – FAQs

    Ozonetel Communications – About

    Ozonetel is a pioneer in providing on-demand cloud communication services in India. The full-stack customer experience software was built from the ground up to solve the practical problems that keep call centers worldwide from making the most of their communications platform. It is mainly known for developing and launching the first cloud-based customer experience platform in the Indian marketplace.

    Ozonetel Cloud Communication
    Ozonetel Cloud Communication 

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    Ozonetel Communications – Solutions/Services

    The solutions offered by Ozonetel are KooKoo CloudAgent and KooKoo Interactive Assistant.

    KOOKOO CloudAgent

    It is a call center software solution functioning as an inbound and outbound call center. CloudAgent shifts a company’s entire contact center and related setup into a single browser, making it easier for the workforce to monitor, track and make critical decisions. Equipped with business intelligence, the KOOKOO CloudAgent ensures that businesses provide a world-class experience to their customers. It provides a platform for them to engage with their customers through multiple channels such as voice, email, chat, SMS, and social media.

    Ozonetel’s inbound call center solution is bundled with the following features:

    • CRM Integration.
    • IVR flexibility: The KOOKOO speech API lets users speak to the IVR instead of punching numbers.
    • ACD software distributes calls, SMS, emails and social media messages based on customer needs and agent skill set.
    • Improves agent productivity time and cost per ticket.
    • Improves speed of resolution.
    • Exceed SLA’s, boost CSAT.
    • Reduces call queues by live monitoring.

    Ozonetel’s outbound call center solution comes with interesting features:

    • Clients can choose from multiple power dialers as per their business needs. Ozonetel offers both progressive and predictive dialing modes. These dialers can double agent productivity.
    • Remote dialing.
    • Improves agent productivity.
    • Reduces unproductive work.
    • Burns through the call list.
    • Easy integration with third-party solutions.
    • Data to be dialed can be prioritized based on various parameters.
    • Supervisors can monitor the agents on a real-time basis.
    • Outbound IVR lets send personalized automated messages to a large database.
    • Number Masking to protect consumer privacy.

    Ozonetel provides more than 70 reports that give a detailed picture of the call center operations. Currently, Ozonetel has ready-made implications for the major CRM solutions as well as social media integration with Facebook, Whatsapp and Shopify.

    KOOKOO Interactive Assistant (KIA)

    A first-of-its-kind widget enables customer service help desks to run voice calls and chat sessions in parallel. The KIA widget integrates with Zendesk, Salesforce, Zoho CRM, and all other CRM solutions to automatically capture lead details.

    By integrating the Kookoo interactive assistant with its website, a company gets the following benefits:

    • Customers browsing the company’s site can instantly contact agents through a click.
    • On-call agents can send critical details to the customer through the live chat window.
    • Visual IVR lets customers connect to agents in the right department.
    • It automatically captures customers’ details in the CRM.

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    Ozonetel Communications – Teams

    Murthy Chintipalati, Atul Sharma, Chaitanya Chokkareddy and Rajiv Bharathan are the people behind the technology of Ozonetel Communications.

    Murthy Chintipalati, Atul Sharma, Chaitanya Chokkareddy and Rajiv Bharathan
    Murthy Chintipalati, Atul Sharma, Chaitanya Chokkareddy and Rajiv Bharathan

    Murthy Chintipalati is the Founder and CEO of Ozonetel. He started Ozonetel along with his co-founders by leveraging the core strengths of his team to solve the most pressing enterprise communication challenges. Even after a decade leading Ozonetel, he ensures being available in real-time to address his clients’ needs. He has been a serial entrepreneur for 25 years and is vested in starting his own initiatives in the software, hardware, semiconductor, systems spanning networking, security, telecom, embedded systems, and applications segments.

    Atul Sharma is the Chief Technology Officer of Ozonetel. He is responsible for identifying the right technology for the platform, making it future-proof and highly scalable while keeping the overall cost affordable for the clients. He is also responsible for managing and driving the technology team for network, telecom, application, security, operations, delivery, pre-sales. He brings deep domain knowledge of self-service applications & Customer Interaction Management to bear on the solutions Ozonetel delivers.

    Chaitanya Chokkareddy is the Chief Innovation Officer of Ozonetel. He works with the latest technological breakthroughs and sees what innovative products can be built on top of them. This includes grid computing, cloud computing, cloud telephony, WebRTC, No SQL databases, and now AI. He makes sure that the right technology can be used in the Ozonetel stack at the right time. He has more than 15 years of experience working with the latest tools and loves bringing the latest research to life and applying it to this industry.

    Rajiv Bharathan is the Sr. VP of Sales at Ozonetel. He collaborates closely with clients to find the best solutions to their call center challenges. Since 1980, He has worked in sales across IT and Telecom with major companies like HCL, HP, Wipro, and Reliance Communications. He has been with Ozonetel since 2012. He is passionate about being in the thick of the action from landing new accounts to helping existing customers get more out of their platform.

    Ozonetel Communications – Vision and Mission

    Ozonetel Communications provides a cloud communication software suite as a service to their customers. The company envisions making business communication seamless, intelligent, cost-efficient and easily available. Its mission is to provide a scalable multi-channel communication platform on the cloud to enterprises & entrepreneurs on the OPEX/ transaction model, enabling them to provide value-added communication services to their customers.

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    Ozonetel Communications – How It Began?

    Murthy Chintipalati, Atul Sharma, Chaitanya Chokkareddy had come back from the US and wanted to get their hands in entrepreneurship. They recognized that when businesses were in the initial stages of setup, they’d been extremely serious about the company website but would rarely focus on setting up the right business phone system. In fact, many businesses did not even have a proper business phone system. The trio realized that it was happening because setting up a business phone system wasn’t as easy as ABC. They then decided to make the process of “setting up a business phone system” as convenient as “setting up a business website”. With that in mind, Ozonetel Communications first launched the KOOKOO cloud telephony platform followed by CloudAgent, the world’s first cloud contact center solution.

    Ozonetel Communications – Name and Logo

    Ozonetel wanted to be a layer around telephony, thus come out as the amalgamation of Ozone (layer) and Tel (telephony). The name KOOKOO was conjured in a jiffy (the team wanted a name with lots of vowels, like Yahoo!).

    Ozonetel Logo
    Ozonetel Logo

    Ozonetel Communications – Startup Launch

    Murthy Chintipalati, Atul Sharma, Chaitanya Chokkareddy launched their product at the Unplugged Conference. Their marketing strategy at the time revolved around blogging and networking at startup events. Word-of-mouth feedback from satisfied customers played a major role.

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    Ozonetel Communications – Revenue Model

    Ozonetel Communications is a SaaS company and has a “per agent/per month” revenue model.

    Ozonetel Communications – Funding

    Ozonetel has not raised any funding to date. It is a Bootstrapped Company. Bootstrapping means building a company from scratch with no outside funding. All the fundings are invested by the owner itself.

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    Ozonetel Communications – User Acquisition and Growth

    Ozonetel’s only hack has been customer happiness. Interestingly, the company does not spend anything on marketing. Most of its leads are generated through blogs and word-of-mouth publicity.

    With over 1500+ enterprise clients across 20+ verticals, Ozonetel’s KOOKOO platform supports over 50,000 live agents and has handled over 3 billion calls.

    Ozonetel Communications currently serves in India, the USA, UAE and South East Asia. Reputed brands like Food Panda, Practo, Big Basket, Uber, WeWork, Medlife, HUL, Healthcare at home, and Zomato are some of its top clientele.

    Ozonetel Communications – Startup Challenges

    The major challenge Ozonetel faced early on its journey was technical in nature. It couldn’t guarantee on-call quality with the store-bought PRI cards; it overcomes this obstacle by designing custom PRI card hardware.

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    Ozonetel Communications – Competitors

    Some of the Top Competitors of Ozonetel are:-

    • Knowlarity
    • ZipDial
    • Sytel
    • Sunoray
    • Ameyo
    • Capzest
    • BigV Telecom
    • Fonebell
    • Spark TG Info

    Ozonetel considers US-based Twilio as a source of inspiration aside from the competition. The venture tries to stay ahead in its segment through innovation. Ozonetel launched the world’s first cloud contact center product and is now bolstering its existing solutions by incorporating AI.

    Ozonetel Communications – Mergers and Acquisitions

    Ozonetel acquired Yantrasoft, a speech recognition company, in 2014.

    Ozonetel Communications – Future Plans

    Ozonetel is looking forward to disrupting the contact center industry through AI-based techniques.

    Ozonetel Communications – FAQs

    What is Ozonetel?

    Ozonetel is India’s No. 1 contact solution provider. It is a cloud-based telephony service provider that enables businesses to communicate with their clients effectively and efficiently via all the channels, i.e. chat, email, social media, call, SMS, on one platform with no capital investment. The solutions offered by Ozonetel are KooKoo CloudAgent and KooKoo Interactive Assistant.

    How does Ozonetel make money?

    Ozonetel Communications is a SaaS company and has a “per agent/per month” revenue model.

    What is cloud communication?

    Cloud communications are Internet-based voice and data communications where telecommunications applications, switching and storage are hosted by a third-party outside of the organization using them, and they are accessed over the public Internet. It is a totally fresh approach to building, deploying and scaling enterprise communication systems. Cloud communications have the potential to reduce expenses and provide higher quality services.

    How are customers finding value in Ozonetel’s products?

    Ozonetel helps contact centers go live in a day with a reliable platform that improves customer experience and agent productivity at a lower total cost.

    How does Ozonetel see the road ahead in cloud telephony technologies?

    Ozonetel is going to be about omnichannel and AI in the coming future. Customers can reach out to businesses on multiple channels like Whatsapp, email, chat, SMS, video, etc. and will expect a quick resolution.