Do you remember the first time you were introduced to an attentive and knowledgeable customer support agent?
You were most likely floored by how welcoming the agent was and how they quickly became your new best friend. The first few times you’re onboarded with a company, especially when it’s a new brand with an unfamiliar user experience.
That’s because customer support agents must train new customers on how to use the company’s products, services, and applications.
But, more than that, they must teach their new users how to use them correctly and consistently. That’s why it’s so important to onboard customers as soon as possible.
It’s a simple fact of business: a company’s success is driven by an individual’s level of customer loyalty.
The more loyal a customer is to a brand, the more likely they are to be vocal about their experiences with the company. And the more likely they are to become lifetime value customers.
Keeping this in mind, onboarding is one of the most important processes a company can implement to ensure that new customers feel welcome and stay loyal to the brand.
Increasing loyalty, retention, and customer lifetime value are top challenges for businesses of all sizes. Reducing churn, or the percentage of customers who abandon their service is one of the best ways to increase revenue and profits.
In this blog, we’ll explore 7 ways in which you can increase customer lifetime value with onboarding automation. A higher CLV means a more loyal customer who returns again and again. Read on to learn more about this effective retention tactic.
What Is The Buyer Lifetime Value (BLV)
Let’s begin with a definition: The Buyer Lifetime Value (BLV) is the value of a customer in their lifetime, not their annual spend.
This means you need to figure out what your customers are worth, not just their purchases or the revenue they generate.
So why is this so important? Because in order to grow your business, you need to figure out how to increase your buyer’s lifetime value.
Increasing your buyer’s lifetime value means growing your business so you can get more customers for cheaper. Buyers with a high BLV are worth more to your business because they’ll be more likely to buy from you again.
So how can you increase your buyer’s lifetime value? Let’s take a closer look.
Define your buyer’s value
The first step to increasing your buyer’s lifetime value is to figure out what makes your buyer valuable to your business.
This might be the number of purchases they make over the course of their relationship with your brand, or the revenue they generate over the lifetime of their relationship with you.
Once you’ve figured out what makes your buyer valuable to your business, you can focus on how to increase it.
For example, if your business sells coffee, then a high-value customer might be anyone who buys coffee on a regular basis. On the other hand, a low-value customer might be someone who only buys coffee occasionally.
Ditch discounting
One of the biggest mistakes companies make in terms of increasing their buyer’s lifetime value is discounting. Most companies will offer a discount to get new customers, but they often don’t invest enough in their other customers to make up for their loss in sales.
When companies offer discounts, they’re usually offering their best customers a discount, not their full price. This is because businesses don’t have enough data to know what to do with their full-price customers.
Up-sell
Another way to increase your buyer’s lifetime value is to upsell. This means that instead of trying to get your customers to increase their purchases, you try to get them to increase their purchases by you.
For example, if you sell wedding flowers, then you could up-sell your customer by suggesting that they can instead buy a bouquet for their anniversary or birthday.
This will give your customer more value from the flowers they’re already buying, and they’ll be more likely to buy from you again.
Complementary product
Another way to increase your buyer’s lifetime value is to complement your primary product with a complementary product. This means that instead of trying to sell your customer one product, you try to sell them two products.
For example, a laptop company could add a wireless mouse to their laptop bundle, which would give their customer more value from their laptop purchase. This is because they’ll have the wireless capability they need to work from anywhere.
Differentiate with a higher quality product
Another way to increase your buyer’s lifetime value is to differentiate with a higher quality product. This means that instead of trying to sell your product to a general market, you try to appeal to a selective market.
For example, a company that makes smartphones could differentiate by making their smartphones with a higher quality camera. This will increase their buyer’s lifetime value because their customers will be more likely to buy from them again.
You can also differentiate with a higher quality product by making a limited edition of your product. This way, you’re only appealing to a select group of people, and they’re more likely to buy from you again.
Add-on subscription
Another way to increase your buyer’s lifetime value is to add on a subscription. This means that instead of selling your product once every month or year, you sell it to your customer on a regular or semi-regular basis.
For example, a company that sells fitness equipment could add a subscription to their fitness plan that includes personal training. This will increase their buyer’s lifetime value because their customers will be more likely to buy from them again.
You can also add on a subscription by selling one-time-only products. This way, you’re only appealing to a select group of people, and they’re more likely to buy from you again.
How Can You Increase Customer Lifetime Value?
Customer loyalty is a core pillar of marketing. You’d think, right? You don’t want your customers to leave you, so why not show them some love?
It’s a great strategy, right?
Wrong.
Good customer retention isn’t just the result of being nice to your customers. It’s the combination of being considerate of them and giving them what they need to feel valued and stay loyal to your brand.
With this in mind, you might be wondering: how can you increase customer loyalty and loyalty retention?
Let’s take a look at the factors that can help you do so.
This post will walk you through 7 essential ways to increase a customer’s lifetime value with your onboarding process.
1. Make Onboarding Fun
The onboarding process is your chance to welcome new customers and make them feel welcome while they learn about your products and services. You’ll want to do everything in your power to keep that experience fun and exciting.
Install a welcome mat in your reception area, hand out swag, or host an ice-breaker event to get your new hires feeling comfortable as soon as they walk through the door.
As new customers spend more time interacting with your brand, the more likely they are to become loyal customers.
This is why it’s crucial to make the customer-service experience memorable. If you’re able to create a fun and welcoming environment that inspires positivity and enthusiasm, it’s likely that your new hires will begin to look forward to their days at the office.
2. Utilize Automation
Automation is a helpful way to reduce the strain that comes with onboarding new hires. This can be especially helpful when you have a large number of new hires coming in each month.
It’s important to ensure that each new hire feels welcome and comfortable, but also that you have time to properly train them.
With automation, you can create a welcome mat or welcome email, then set up automated phone calls and/or chats with new hires as they come on board.
This ensures that they don’t have to worry about remembering to call their new manager or figuring out who they’re supposed to talk to if they’re hired remotely. It also frees up your time to focus on those who are in the office.
3. Use Video Onboarding
Video onboarding is the best way to welcome new hires. It’s a way to combine visual cues, audio cues, and human interaction to create a memorable experience. It’s not uncommon for companies to use videos for their onboarding process, but most companies are using outdated methods.
With video onboarding, you can make your onboarding experience even more engaging and memorable. Not only do you get to welcome new hires, but you can also have fun while doing it.
If you’re ready to upgrade your onboarding process, try switching to a video-onboarding system.
You can use tools like Intercom, HubSpot’s onboarding platform or Zapier to help streamline the process, create engaging content, and make it even easier to provide consistent training.
4. Train Smart – Not Just Hard
The onboarding process is a great time to train your new hires, but it’s also a great time to test. Each time you train your new hires, you’re also able to test your training materials.
When you spend time testing and improving your onboarding process, it gives you the opportunity to make adjustments and do things better.
It also gives you the chance to identify issues in your training that may be causing pain for your new hires. When you catch these issues early, you can make quick changes to minimize the negative impact.
5. Always Be Proactive
A proactive onboarding process is one that is proactive about identifying new hires. When you know what kinds of people are likely to come through your door, you can make sure that they feel welcome.
Proactively reaching out to colleges, hiring platforms, or hiring managers can help you identify the types of people who are likely to join your team. By proactively reaching out to these types of candidates, you can make sure that they know that you’re hiring.
Proactively reaching out to your current team members can help you identify which members you have who may be leaving. By proactively reaching out to new hires, you can make them feel welcome while also ensuring that you have the opportunity to greet them when they step through the door.
You can also make use of social-media search tools to help you proactively reach out to candidates when you want to make sure that you greet them when they step through the door.
6. Apply Expansion Revenue Tactics
Do you struggle to generate new business ideas? Do you have trouble finding ways to generate new revenue? Do you fear that your business is never going to be profitable? If so, this article is for you!
You’re probably wondering how you can begin generating more revenue in your business, and the answer lies in expanding upon your existing business models.
Just as you would if you were starting a new venture, you need to isolate the specific ways your existing business generates revenue and adopt them as business development tactics.
Read on to discover more about how you can successfully apply expansion revenue tactics.
7. Offer a Referral Program
Your company’s products may be of the highest quality, but without a corresponding strategy to drive value and conversion at every touchpoint, it may not be enough to drive a successful sales process.
That’s why it’s crucial for every company to offer a referral program to both nurture existing relationships with current customers, as well as establish new ones that will drive a continuous cycle of referrals.
Here’s everything you need to know about referral programs to effectively drive product value and conversions at every touchpoint.
Conclusion
The onboarding process is a great opportunity to welcome new hires and make them feel welcome while also providing them with the tools and training that will help them succeed.
The best way to accomplish this is with video onboarding, a proactive approach, and a proactive approach to testing.
These factors will help you keep new hires engaged, happy, and productive. When you do this, you’ll find that your onboarding process is a critical building block for your organization’s success.
