Every customer leaving your manufacturing business means lost sales. If you don’t proactively reduce customer churn, it can hit your revenue hard.
That said, preventing every client from leaving is almost impossible—but proper application of manufacturing sales CRM software and implementing churn management strategies can help reduce customer attrition.
A dedicated CRM for manufacturing companies offers real-time insights into what’s causing your clients to bail out on their contracts. This way, you can eliminate bumps in the customer journey, turn unhappy customers into loyal clients, and reduce customer churn.
In today’s article, we help you craft some CRM strategies that reduce customer churn rates and keep the profit scale high for the long run.
What is Customer Churn?
Customer churn measures the percentage of customers who stopped using your service in a given period.
Let’s say you start the quarter of your manufacturing business with 500 customers and have 440 by the end of it. Your churn rate for the said quarter is 12%, meaning you lost 12% of your total customers.
If losing some customers is almost impossible to avoid, why are we giving it so much priority in the first place?
Because acquiring new customers is far more difficult and expensive than retaining existing ones. Plus, with more ex-customers switching to your competitors, you’ll lose your market share.
6 CRM Strategies to Minimize Customer Churn
Delivering high-quality products isn’t enough for a manufacturer who wants to retain customers. Improving service efficiency and maintaining healthy customer relationships are just as crucial. They reflect customer appreciation, foster loyalty, and convince them to have a long-lasting business relationship.
But how to do it properly? Here are some customer relationship management strategies that will help you reduce churn.
1. Analyze the Root Cause of Customer Churn
If your customers are considering leaving, there has to be some issue with your service. So, the first thing you must do to reduce customer churn is to find out what’s causing it.
Be diligent in measuring customer turnover by gathering relevant sales data from your manufacturing sales CRM software. This includes past interactions, complaints, support requests, purchase history, etc.
Then, pinpoint patterns, such as reduced purchasing frequency, increased customer complaints, or declining engagement, and monitor customer journeys regularly. Set up analytics that delivers real-time reports on customer retention and business health.
Additionally, set up exit surveys. As shown below, personally contact the churned customers to find out what made them leave your company.
Some common causes of customer churn in manufacturing include:
- Delayed delivery
- Better offers from competition
- Poor onboarding
- Lack of quick customer service
Knowing the most prevalent reasons behind the churn will help you craft strategies targeting those issues and improving customer retention.
2. Identify Customers at Risk of Churning
Don’t wait for customers to leave, but be proactive in identifying those considering exiting. In fact, this strategy is the most popular churn reduction tactic used by 85% of B2B businesses. That’s why some CRMs for manufacturing companies offer high-risk customer tracking features, including Pipeline CRM.
Pipeline’s CRM for manufacturing companies lets you set up filters to track clients at risk of churning. By monitoring their sales and communication activities, you’ll be notified about those who remain in the high-risk category for more than seven days.
You can add the following fields in the filter to make the identification process more efficient:
- Days since the last activity
- Total Pipeline or Won Deals value
- Next Milestone Due or Next Milestone Status
- Other custom fields
Consider using the same field in the deal list view. It will help your team detect underlying customer health issues and contact them before they churn.
3. Standardize the Customer Journey for Each Lead
The first step is to map out the entire customer journey, from the moment they discover your website to after-sales support. This map should detail all touchpoints, such as website visits, inquiries, quotes, order placement, production updates, and customer support requests.
Once you understand the customer journey, identify key activity patterns at each stage. Leverage your manufacturing sales CRM to set up automated triggers that deliver personalized communication based on the customer’s needs and progress. This ensures timely engagement and tailors the experience for each individual.
For instance, you can leverage the email drip campaigns within your manufacturing CRM to deliver relevant resources based on customer queries or their position in the sales pipeline. This keeps them informed and engaged throughout the process.
Additionally, you can automate data entry to quickly and accurately capture customer contact information, requirements, order size, and timeline, as well as automate contract and invoice delivery. This way, you save time and ensure efficiency throughout the customer journey.
Pro tip: Check out Pipeline CRM and QuickBooks two-way data sync to help you convert proposals to invoices in just one click!
4. Personalized Onboarding
A customized onboarding experience makes your customers feel valuable, helps them achieve their goals with your manufacturing services, and sets them up for success. It improves their experience, leading to loyalty and enhanced customer lifetime value—all essential elements to reduce customer churn.
Use your CRM for manufacturing companies to analyze client data and understand their needs and pain points. Segment your leads based on factors like industry, company size, or specific challenges. The CRM’s contact management features become even more valuable, allowing you to attach personalized notes like special requests and deadlines for each client.
Now, leverage your manufacturing sales CRM’s automation power. Create customized onboarding workflows for each customer segment, ensuring a targeted and efficient experience. But don’t stop there! Use the CRM’s automation features to send out onboarding surveys, collecting valuable feedback from your clients.
Asking clients for feedback shows your commitment to their success. By understanding “what could have been better” (and acting on it!), you demonstrate a genuine willingness to go the extra mile for their satisfaction. This feedback loop strengthens your relationships with clients and positions you as a service provider truly invested in their success.
5. Offer Incentives
Have you ever received “We Miss You” messages from brands you have stopped purchasing from? If yes, you know most of them are likely ignored.
But do you know what customers notice? Rewards. It shows you value them, making your customers feel appreciated and boosting their loyalty.
Keep in mind that the incentives don’t have to be grand, but they should be personalized enough to entice customers to stay.
Therefore, offer incentives that align with your customer’s current stage. For example, if your contract with one of your customers is about to end, you can offer a discounted deal renewal rate to prevent that client from moving to another manufacturer.
Set up different triggers in your CRM for manufacturing companies so that you get real-time notifications when a client moves from one stage to another in their customer journey.
Add notes to each contact to keep track of their personal details and use them to customize incentives. A small discount for placing the first order with your manufacturing company or a gift voucher on your client’s birthday can go a long way. It’s the thought that counts!
6. Stay Competitive
One reason customers may want to part ways with you is that they get better offers from your competitors. So, always strive to promote your unique selling points (USPs) to existing and potential customers.
That said, don’t just talk about how you are different. Instead, show customers your services can evolve according to their changing needs. Analyze competitors, tally their offerings with yours, and see where you are lacking. This will uncover what can detract your customers from their brand and let you add that competitive advantage to your service before the customer churns.
Choose a sales CRM software that sends real-time customer analytics data. Figure out your USPs, and change your offerings and charges to stay competitive. Subtly mention your competitors on sales calls and show what your clients will miss out on if they decide to end their journey with you.
Top tip: Learn how to appropriately compare your offerings with your competitors without talking bad about them in this sales guide.
Decrease Customer Churn Rates with Robust Manufacturing Sales CRM Software
Retaining every customer you have ever had is unrealistic. But with solid, data-driven CRM strategies, you can retain your most valuable clients and cultivate life-long customer relationships.
Before we conclude, here is a TL;DR version of the most important CRM strategies to reduce customer churn:
- Assess the root cause behind the churns
- See which customers are about to cancel their deal with your manufacturing business
- Follow a standardized process for every customer’s journey
- Offer personalized onboarding to start the partnership on the right foot
- Start an incentive program
- Flaunt your USPs and maintain your competitive edge
If you’re looking for a manufacturing sales CRM that can streamline your customer churn management strategies, Pipeline CRM is an excellent choice.
As one of the best manufacturing CRMs, Pipeline CRM has everything you need to retain your customers. Get real-time customer data to monitor client health, access past sales communication records to analyze what made customers leave, and automate email campaigns to re-engage disinterested customers, among other things.
Want to reduce the customer churn for your manufacturing company to close to zero? Choose your Pipeline CRM package today!
