Marketers look to lower churn

Source: Accenture research

Churn is what happens when customers switch away from their current brand or service provider. It happens all the time, yet much of this churn can be avoided by paying attention to the basics, notes Accenture, the international consultancy. The graphic above, from Accenture's recent report, shows the top six reasons why customers would stop doing business with a firm.

Another study of satisfaction, by Capgemini and Efma, shows that a mere 30% of customers worldwide report a positive experience with insurance firms. In other words, 70% are dissatisfied or neutral about their customer experience, opening the door to switching if these customers accept the marketing overtures of other insurance firms.

Bank marketers are starting to implement new measures to avoid churn and improve satisfaction. For example, Lloyds is now planning to award bonuses to branch staff based on customer feedback.

Improving customer satisfaction and reducing churn opportunities is vital as the UK Payments Council introduces account switching rules that, from September, will make it faster and easier to change from one bank to another.

Look for more marketing programmes to strengthen loyalty as the economy improves and customers open their wallets even wider.