This analysis from Braze is an easy-to-read and understand guide to purposeful Customer Retention strategy and execution. I've said for a long time retaining and growing a current customer is far more profitable than acquiring new ones. It's not to say that both efforts should be part of almost any marketing and sales strategy, but so often, it seems like acquisition is more funded and stressed than retention.

I'll report here on the first part of the report of 7 Key Retention Strategies That Work. All of these are important to help retain and grow current customers, B2B or B2C.

"Above all, retention requires Brand Humility. In other words, if you want customers to stick around, you have to learn how to communicate with them in ways that feel human. That means taking a closer look at your brand's messaging tone, frequency, content and communication delivery methods. And making sure your customer messaging and experiences are tailored -as much as possible- to the specific needs and habits of each customer."

The key for us and you is ShareDirect covers all 7 of the strategies listed above and is made to empower you to scale One-to-Many as you would One-to-One. Let us know if you would like to see how it could provide you a human and personalized approach to Customer Retention.

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I mentioned this about a month ago that we were receiving this recognition. It was a complete surprise since we didn’t know it existed and certainly didn’t pursue it.

I think it validates the tag line in our Heron Martech logo: Innovate-Enable-Engage. It is not an award for John, Marie, me or others in the organization. It shows how we built our company and our technology around Personalization and the Human element and placed our focus on our customers and their success.

I think the team at CIO Review were really impressed with the scalability of our solution and that led to the recommendation to appear on the front page.

Hopefully this doesn’t appear too self-centered but we feel it might result in others realizing the opportunity this technology might provide them. Let me know if you have questions or what you think.

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This article appeared in CMS Wire and is written by Jake Athey, titled Business Has a Trust Crisis. What's the solution? Athey provides several great points related to trust in your business, both B2B and B2C:

• Trust is a competitive edge. Trust is the second most important brand attribute, Trust has a strong positive correlation with loyalty, engagement and advocacy.
• Trust is Primal. What fuels such a belief? The consistency and quality of our interactions with people. When we interact with a brand in person, it's easier to establish that belief.
• Trust Is Omnichannel. Everything your brand does must be oriented around cultivating trust. Quality and consistency of content and customer engagement matters.

And he says what I have been saying:

You can't build Trust with a company, organization or entity. We build Trust with people who are in that company or organization. And I contend that we should not ask for Trust but should earn it with our deeds and words.

We talk a lot about building Trust through our technology, ShareDirect. You are communicating through your Trusted Advisors or Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). And you provide help and understanding through Personalized content and a Human approach. ShareDirect is the “How” to building that trust virtually and with scale.

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I’ve been preaching the need for companies to move beyond just thinking about Personalization (which is very important) to the next step of Humanizing their communications with their customers and prospects. This latest article from CMS Wire provides some context to this evolving story.

Some key points:

• 75% of customers prefer to interact with a real person.
• Customers engage with Humans not companies.
• To make your company sound more Human you must first be a Human.
• Always try to add a face.

All of this builds the image of company representatives being their trusted advisors. Some of this article is built around the use of social media, primarily LinkedIn, to make that Human connection. But you don’t have to go there as ShareDirect is designed and programmed to be Your Solution to the HUMAN Connection. Give your customers what they need and desire; someone who can engage, help and understand them.

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