In 2025, Customer retention is still one of the most underrated growth strategies. Too many businesses waste their money chasing after new, fresh faces when, in reality, focusing on keeping your existing ones happy and loyal can be far more profitable. With a solid strategy in place, it costs five times less to retain a customer than to acquire a new one. So, why not save those pennies and build stronger relationships with your customers?
Even a small 5% increase in retention can boost profits from 25% to 95%! So, what do you think? Is customer retention the new customer acquisition? You can find out with our 5 retention strategies for you to put to the test.
What is Customer Retention?
Customer retention is building relationships with people who choose your products or services multiple times. A loyal customer who comes back again and again brings more value to your business than several shoppers who buy once and disappear. When someone becomes a repeat customer, you can count on their support in a way you simply can’t with newbies.
Whether you love them or hate them (sorry, Android fans), Apple is the gold standard for brand loyalty. Every time Apple launches a new product, hundreds if not thousands of customers queue in front of shops all over the world. It doesn’t even matter about price, Apple consumers show their dedication to the brand time and time again. It is the perfect example of how strong brand loyalty can turn customers into lifelong advocates
1. Make a Great First Impression
Onboarding is your customer’s first real experience with you, so make it count! A smooth start helps them quickly see the value of what you offer.
A great example of this is how Airbnb makes onboarding easy and exciting for both guests and hosts. For travellers, the platform personalises recommendations based on their interests, showing them dream destinations right away. For hosts, Airbnb simplifies the listing process with step-by-step guidance, pricing tips, and beautiful photography services to help them attract bookings.
By making the first impression easy, it ensures that users quickly see the value, whether they’re booking their first stay or earning money from their space. They keep coming back.
2. Use Data to Rescue At-Risk Relationships
Customer behaviour data holds the warning signs of dissatisfaction. Looking for a drop in usage, low engagement, or negative support ticket sentiment can help identify at-risk customers before they decide to leave.
As avid Netflix users (we have our own Slack channel to talk about the latest series), we are pros at spotting when subscribers are drifting away. If you haven’t watched anything in a while, they don’t just wait for you to cancel; they take action to get you back. They send emails suggesting new series based on your past favourites or reminders that something you started is still waiting for you.
They also use push notifications like “New episodes of your favourite show have just dropped!” or “Because you watched X, you might love Y. This kind of personalised engagement is a powerful “rescue protocol” and all they have done is look at their CRM data (viewing habits, engagement levels and pauses in activity).
3. Be Proactive with Customer Service
Don’t wait for problems to find you; hunt them down first! For example, Chewy tracks when customers are likely running low on pet food and sends a friendly reminder to reorder, making life so much easier for pet parents. Life can get crazy busy at times, so they appreciate the nudge!
This “surprise and delight” approach turns potential frustrations into positive moments that build loyalty. Be the business that solves problems customers didn’t even know they had. The way to do this is from our previous point above, it’s all in your CRM data!
4. Create Educational Content
When customers truly understand how to use your product, they discover all kinds of amazing benefits and tend to stick around longer. Take our partner, HubSpot, for example. Their wonderful knowledge base and free Academy aren’t just helpful resources, they’re thoughtfully designed to help customers succeed.
These valuable learning opportunities help users unlock all sorts of HubSpot tools, leading to better customer satisfaction and keeping them coming back. Beyond just teaching skills, these resources create a warm, welcoming community where users feel connected and supported on their journey.
5. Master the Art of the Unexpected Gift
Predictable experiences fade from memory, but unexpected moments of joy create lasting impressions. When a Zappos customer mentioned her struggle to find shoes for her mother with medical needs, a representative sent flowers with a handwritten note. It cost little but created a customer for life. These moments of surprise humanity cut through the noise of business transactions and create emotional loyalty that pricing can’t touch. Some of us have shopped on Etsy and received personalised thank you notes or a little unexpected gift or gesture that goes a long way and makes you want to shop there again.
How to Implement Retention Strategies
Our advice is three simple words: measure what matters. The best retention strategies rely on measuring the right metrics. Beyond basic churn rates, track customer lifetime value (CLV), repeat purchase rates, and net promoter scores to get a complete picture of your retention health. We recommend setting up dashboards on your CRM platform for these key indicators and reviewing them regularly with your team.
Remember, what gets measured gets improved! By establishing clear benchmarks and celebrating when you hit retention goals, you create a company culture that prioritises keeping customers happy, not just acquiring new ones.
How WeDoCRM Can Help Your Retention Strategy
While acquisition might make the headlines, retention is what builds lasting business value. The most successful companies of 2025 won’t be those who chase every new prospect but those who transform existing customers into passionate community members who couldn’t imagine going anywhere else. Remember, a customer who stays isn’t just avoiding churn, they’re providing ongoing revenue, valuable feedback, and authentic word-of-mouth marketing that no advertising budget could buy.
Is it time to audit your current retention metrics and identify your biggest opportunity areas? Which of these five strategies could make the biggest impact on your business right now? If you need support with your CRM or retention strategy, WeDoCRM can help. Get in touch with us today!
Your existing customers are your greatest asset, it’s time to treat them that way.
