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The success of a recurring service brand can depend on a positive customer onboarding experience. This article investigates the most common obstacles of effective onboarding that lead to customer churn. It also provides best practices to enhance the onboarding. It then provides a solution that automatically integrates best practices into operations, ensuring an excellent and efficient customer onboarding experience.    In this article: Your Customer Onboarding Challenges Onboarding Best Practices Let Subscription Management Software Automate Best Practices for You Customer onboarding is important because it kickstarts a subscription experience.   It’s also the first chance a customer has to watch a recurring service in action. It sets the tone for the customer relationship.   Because recurring revenue services feel pressure to deliver smooth onboarding, knowing best practice is invaluable.   This article explores the challenges of onboarding for your recurring service business. Then we’ll talk through the best practices, and how to action them easily.  Your Customer Onboarding Challenges   Onboarding consistently can be difficult when there are so many internal and external factors that can impact your process at any time.   The average onboarding time is 20-90 days  It involves at least 10 follow-ups   The cost averages between $20,000 and $30,000.  Delays can cost revenue losses as high as $25,000.  Do any of these challenges sound familiar?   The customer wants to change the terms of the contract just before they start – Last minute changes can cause delays that push onboarding back or make it more complex.   Finance didn’t get the contract and offering terms on time - Finance teams need vital information like contract terms from sales and customer service teams as fast as possible. This helps them set up the correct invoicing and payments. If the team is stuck chasing up information, that can severely delay onboarding.   The offering, the terms, or the onboarding are unclear - If customers aren’t sure about the subscription plans, pricing, features, invoicing, and payment methods, they can get frustrated and make the wrong choices. Then Customer Service then has to spend time and potentially offer discounts to keep them onside.   There’s an error in resource allocation - Your installation team or virtual engineers can be impacted by mistakes in resource allocation. That’s more delays.   The experience isn’t personalized - A generic customer onboarding experience can make customer satisfaction take a nosedive. Recurring services is an arena where ongoing loyalty is a must, so personalization must be part of it.    Scaling puts too much pressure on the process - A sudden surge in subscriptions can overpower your end-to-end operations, and delay things indefinitely until you’re caught up.   Any delays lead to customer unhappiness. And it’s expensive too.   Fortunately, there are actions you can take to reverse these challenges. Onboarding Best Practices    There are best practices that will help you steer around onboarding problems:  Proactive Communication Channels: Proactive anything might sound tough to deliver because your resources might already be stretched to the limit. But giving customers multiple channels for support, guidance, or clarification can stop bigger problems down the road.   Try personalized emails, live chat support, tutorials available 24-7, and even a designated rep to sort out questions fast and build trust and reliability.    Interactive Onboarding Resources: Resources that are interactive and gamify the process will help customers feel more involved and invested in the process.  Video tutorials, product demos, interactive apps, or guided tours can boost customer understanding and engagement.   Continuous Feedback Loop: Customers should feel free to share their experiences, suggestions, and concerns.  Activity seeking their feedback via surveys, feedback forms, or follow-up calls/emails, gives valuable insight into their pain points so that you can adjust collectively and individually.    You also show your customers that you’re committed to improving and optimizing their experience. That’s a great way to start a relationship.   These best practices take time and resources. But what if you don’t have a lot of either?   Let Subscription Management Software Automate Best Practices for You    Subscription management software can take care of the best practices (and more!) for you with AI-driven automation.   Here’s what it does for your operations:   Automates welcome sequences: You’ll be able to set up automated welcome sequences that give your new customer what they want, when they want it. Resources, next steps, constant communication and help all ensure smooth onboarding. It saves your teams untold hours and boosts engagement.   Personalizes the customer onboarding journey: Data-driven personalization brings customer preferences, behaviors, and interactions into the onboarding experiences. The more tailored the content, notifications, recommendations, and journey, the happier the customers.  Tracks and Optimizes Onboarding Metrics: Analytics and reporting tools will track your onboarding metrics (including activation rates, time to value, and user engagement). You’ll spot bottlenecks, optimize workflows, and better-informed decisions to improve the onboarding experience. It’s a chance to constantly make things better.   Conclusion Customer onboarding sets the stage for great long-term relationships with your new customers.   That’s why it’s important to make the recurring service onboarding process as easy and enjoyable as possible. And not just for your customers; for you and your teams too.   Bringing in best practices and automating them so that nothing falls between the cracks saves time and money. It also boosts the customer experience.   Everyone wins.   Want to learn how subscription management software can change your customer onboarding experience? Book a free Discovery Call with our team today.

When done right, subscription boxes can bring customers a lot of joy. But there are a lot of things that can go wrong, jeopardizing a customer’s relationship with the brand. This article talks about how automation can sort out the biggest challenges to smooth delivery success, enhancing the customer experience and boosting revenue and brand competitiveness.   In this article: The Havoc of Missed and Late Deliveries  Technology to the Rescue  It’s All About Growth If you’re a box subscription customer, you know what it’s like to get that box on your doorstep. They’re little curated collections of goodness, just for you.   It can be like Christmas, minus the huge cost, argumentative family members, and the big mess to clean up afterward.   That’s why we as subscription customers love our boxes. They’re fun. Unless they’re late, or worse, they’re not what we expected at all.    If you’re on the other side of the subscription box, working tirelessly to source and process products, then deliver them on time, you’re caught in a logistical challenge.   Spending countless hours on spreadsheets. Chasing after suppliers. Double-checking delivery schedules. And dreading customer disappointment.  The Havoc of Missed and Late Deliveries  If you want to keep customers, you’ve got to turn their disappointment into a YES every time you have a point of contact.  Churn in the subscription box industry is high. One big cause of churn is delivery problems. No matter what the cause, you have to deal with the financial consequences.  Technology to the Rescue    Fortunately, you can turn things around, easily. You just need the right tool. And that’s automation. It’s like having an invisible assistant who doesn’t need to take a break or ever go home.   Automation does all the stuff you hate to do including managing orders, tracking shipments, and updating customers. Specifically, it brings your business advantages like:   Fulfillment thanks to a comprehensive inventory management system Great inventory management runs end-to-end, from suppliers to fulfillment.   The best solutions offer real-time visibility into your stock levels, supplier lead times, and customer demand patterns. It can anticipate shortages and adjust if stock levels don’t meet demand. It can adjust product selections (even when customers make last-minute changes) and it ensures that every box is packed with the right goods and shipped on schedule.  Customer knowledge driven by AI-driven analytics  Analytics transform data into actionable insights. The right system looks at your customers’ behavior, purchase history, trends, and seasonality to accurately predict future preferences.  With this foresight, you can customize how customers experience your website. And you can offer personalized product selections and pricing. Subscribers love a personalized experience - it matters when a business offers things that they love!   Streamlined operations and cut costs  Automation handles the worst, time-consuming, soul-sapping repetitive tasks easily:  Sorting customer inquiries  Managing subscriptions   Creating sales opportunities including add-ons and upgrades  Invoicing and payments   Optimizing delivery routes  Not only does that save you time and money, but you’ll be free to focus on high-value work like development and strategy.    Less stress thanks to real-time tracking Customers love to know where their packages are. Real-time tracking means customers don’t have to worry about the whereabouts of their packages.    And you’re spared the avalanche of worried messages and frustrated queries that come from uncertain customers.   Clarity in recognizing revenue   Automation makes revenue recognition an easy ask.   All your revenues and expenses will be accurately allocated to the right periods, even if customers change their subscriptions. And you get real-time visibility into financial health whenever you need it.    Less risk thanks to compliance   Compliance isn’t just about revenue recognition. Automation brings you certainty about rules regarding consumer protection, data privacy, and selling across different regions and countries because it monitors everything relevant.   The worry about fines, legal challenges, and reputational damage due to non-compliance becomes a thing of the past.   You get the competitive advantage Automation brings your customers their subscription boxes on time. And it gives your business a leg up over your competitors who still do things manually.   It’s All About Growth  When you get the tools you need for delivery schedule management (and box subscription management in general) you give your business so much potential.   Don’t put your business at risk by doing it manually. Be compliant. Recognize your revenue. Give your customers transparency. Streamline your operations.    And reignite each customer’s love for your products every time that package arrives on their doorstep filled with what they want and on time. Give them the YES! Factor.  Curious about how this could work for you? Book a free Discovery Call with our team today.

How can retailers convert subscription customers into powerful brand advocates? Is it realistic and affordable?  The good news is that there are multiple things a business can do that don’t involve hiring expensive influencers and massive ad campaigns. This article outlines what brand ambassadors are, why a brand must deliver what customers want, and the best strategies to create brand ambassadors who will get attention and boost the brand’s competitive edge.   In this article: What Are Brand Ambassadors? What Customers Want Why It’s Hard for Retailers to Give Customers What They Want The Impacts of Not Delivering Subscription Customers What They Want  How Your Subscriptions Can Create Brand Ambassadors How to Make it All Possible, Faster and Easier Is there anything that feels better than someone talking about how great you are?   We all love brand ambassadors, whether they’re speaking for us personally, or for our work and business. Because people tend to pay attention when someone takes the time to vouch for us on our behalf.   Brand ambassadors can do amazing work for a business. But on the surface, having brand ambassadors feels like an expensive undertaking. As a retailer who offers subscriptions, you might think that brand ambassadors might mean retaining expensive influencers. and launching massive ad campaigns.   But it doesn’t have to be like that at all.   In fact, chances are you already have an untapped resource that can give you the ambassadors you need. You just have to create the circumstances that bring them to the forefront.   In this article, we’ll talk about what brand ambassadors are, what customers want out of your business and why that relates to advocacy, and the strategies and tools needed to convert customers to brand ambassadors.   You can reap the rewards of word of mouth. Ready?  What Are Brand Ambassadors?  Brand ambassadors are game-changers.   They’re one step beyond loyal customers. They love your brand so much that they take the time and effort to promote your products, services, and brand to anyone who will listen.   It could be in-person recommendations, testimonials on their social media, or chats on message boards and review sites. It all counts.   They’re the ultimate organic growth drivers because people trust recommendations from people they know. We’ll get into how powerful it is later on.   The great thing about retail subscriptions is that there’s so much more potential for brand ambassadors because you’ve got more contact with your customers over a long time.  It’s a deeper, richer relationship.  What Customers Want    Knowing what customers want is key to turning them into ambassadors for your brand. You can’t satisfy them if you don’t know what they’re missing or what they’re looking for.   Here’s what customers want:   To feel valued and important: Retailers are customers too. You know how it feels to give money to a company that doesn’t care about you. They’re only around for your money. It’s annoying and doesn’t encourage you to stay. On the other hand, you know how good it feels when a company cares about you and what you think.   Choice and flexibility: It’s frustrating to feel fenced in, without options. Customers like to feel a bit of control over the terms of their subscriptions. They appreciate it when you are flexible enough to allow them to make changes when necessary.  Personalization: It’s something they expect, not just hope for. The best subscription experiences include offerings, pricing, add-ons, etc. that are uniquely personalized. Even little things like using their name in messaging make all the difference.   Rewards for loyalty: Customers love bonuses for their loyalty. Everything from early access to products and services, exclusive discounts and offers, and content they’ll love will make them feel valued and appreciated.  A seamless experience: Customers need things to be as easy and pain-free as possible. This includes everything from signing up, any onboarding, terms, on-time delivery, correct invoicing, ease of payment, and listening to feedback.  Customers need a consistent, positive experience. If they don’t get it, they’ll go somewhere else.   Which begs the question, why don’t all retailers offer this? What’s stopping them?  Why It’s Hard for Retailers to Give Customers What They Want   Just because a retailer knows that customers have expectations doesn’t mean it’s easy to meet them.   There are barriers that can make it challenging.   One of the most common ones is the lack of time and resources. Most retailers’ operations are stretched to the limit - particularly during this time of high competition and economic instability.   Finding the time and resources necessary to make consistent and personalized customer experiences can feel as realistic as climbing Everest. You’ll need clear communication between teams. The knowledge of which offerings and products each of your customers needs. The ability to always provide the right invoices without delay. And the ability to stay in touch with your customers 24-7.   Another challenge is not understanding or knowing what customers want. Any retailer that’s been caught in a stockout or overstock knows guessing needs won’t work. And without reliable data and insights, mistakes can be costly and send customers to your competition. But the one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work either because then you’re stuck with a generic offering that doesn’t please anyone.   Some retailers may be saddled with outdated tech. Obsolete, siloed, and analog systems can create bottlenecks in any point of the subscription lifecycle. No customization. Falling out of compliance. The wrong subscription details. Delays and mistakes. Missed sales opportunities. None of these things make it pleasurable for the customer or the retailer, but they happen every single day.   And lastly, retailers might not have the logistics to offer loyalty bonuses, exclusive offers, or rewards. It takes a lot of organization and time to know what works and what gets each customer excited.  What impacts do these problems cause for retailers?  The Impacts of Not Delivering Subscription Customers What They Want  Every retailer knows there are consequences to ignoring customer wants:   Churn: Unhappy customers leave. One in three consumers (32%) say just one bad experience can make them walk away from a brand they love.  High customer acquisition costs and low customer lifetime value: These metrics are key to retail success. You have to spend more to replace the customers you lose, and you lose out entirely on the long-term investments that customers will make in your brand.   Weak competitiveness: Customers have options. And they can find what they need on their devices with one Google search. Losing customers to competitors damages your brand, revenue, and market positioning.   It’s hard to stop the problems once they go too far. But turning things around with customers can mean turning things around for the business.   What does that involve?  How Your Subscriptions Can Create Brand Ambassadors     It all comes down to making the most of those long-term subscriptions to build trust and an emotional connection to the brand.   Here are the strategies that will convert your customers to the brand ambassadors you need, without bringing in costly brand consultants, marketing experts, or social media influencers.    1. Treat every single interaction with customers as a chance to reinforce your brand’s reliability and inherent awesomeness. This includes: marketing messages  Emails  deliveries    billing statements and invoices  Your website and social media  customer service chats  any feedback you encourage.   2. Use personalized experiences to differentiate your brand. You’ve got the data, so use it! Crunch the numbers, segment your existing and ideal customers, throw in their buying behavior and individual circumstances, and meet them where they are. As time goes on and you collect more data, adjust.  And if you allow them to customize their subscriptions too, you’ll make the experience better.  3. Make the delivery and unboxing process special and memorable. On-time deliveries that feature interesting unboxing experiences, or personalized notes can encourage customers to share on social media. And then the main way to convert your happy customers to brand ambassadors?  4. Incentivize feedback and ambassadorship. There are so many options. How about: Creating a private community with special benefits for your top subscribers?  Competitions for customer content on social media?   Giving special ambassador status to true fans, complete with exclusive experiences?  Awarding with redeemable points, and extra personalized support?  Special status/incentives with other businesses that you work in partnership with?  Providing access to new products and launches?  No matter what options you go for, there’s one foundation that is ALWAYS essential to the creation of a brand ambassador. A happy retail subscription customer.   You might suddenly balk at the idea of brand ambassadors because it sounds like so much work. How on earth can you get it all done?   How to Make it All Possible, Faster and Easier     Automation will give you exactly what you need to get it all done for you.   The right software solution will deliver a personalized, consistent, exceptional customer experience. Here’s how:   It harvests and analyzes your customer data to segment and create personalized offerings, pricing, and communication that speaks to the wants and needs of each customer.  It smashes the silos between your teams that have historically caused invoice delays, contract term mistakes, missed sales opportunities, employee turnover from frustration, and crisis mode dealing with angry customers.   It takes care of your billing, invoicing, payment collection, and reconciliation (while ensuring compliance).   It identifies sales opportunities and feeds them to your sales team and customers at the optimal time.   It enables customer self-service portals for customers who want to manage their subscriptions.   It creates the framework for unique loyalty schemes including personalized data, purchase tracking, calculating usage and rewards, and automatic benefits and discounts.   It relieves your operations and teams of all the time that’s wasted with manual financial, sales, and marketing tasks so that they’re free to focus on high-value work. That’s less cost for you.   Each customer gets that level of service and that experience that excites them and doesn’t frustrate them. Their needs and wants are met. They feel valued and special because they are valued and special.   And you’ll finally have those resources to show them, beyond all doubt.   And the best bit? Your business can scale as much as you want with no additional anything needed.   Curious to see how much things can change for you? Book a free Discovery Call with our team today.

Can subscription retail SMBs strike the right balance between personalization and privacy? Personalization is essential to subscription customer CX and results in more loyalty, higher sales and reduced churn. But problems like data breaches and falling short of regulations like GDPR and CCPA are costly. This article talks through both sides and reveals what SMBs must do to get the best of both worlds.  In this article: What is Personalization? What is Privacy? Can Retail Subscription SMBs Give Privacy and Personalization?  Get It All With One Solution Conclusion A subscription retail SMB needs to grab every opportunity to stand out and differentiate itself.    One of the options that some SMBs choose is giving a personalized experience to their potential and existing customer base. Personalization can be used in anything from marketing to offerings to terms and payment methods.   Though it’s great for the customer, there is a downside. It brings privacy concerns. And subscription retail SMBs must understand the privacy challenge to figure out how to strike a balance.   Without it, they stand to lose both financially and legally.   This article will explore all the issues around the personalization vs. privacy debate, and how it impacts SMBs. It will also give insights on how subscription retail SMBs can enjoy the benefits of both.  What is Personalization?  Personalization is the process of harvesting and analyzing information from customer data to create experiences that are tailored to each individual customer.   It involves data points including:  Website/platform usage: What type of devices they used which features are most appealing, how they navigate the site, what repels them, etc.   Demographics: Age, income, gender, culture, geographical location, family info, etc.  Behavioral data: Purchase patterns, browsing history, what they engage with and what they avoid, preferred subscriptions and terms, etc.   Time data: Seasonal info, active times of day, preferred days of the week, etc.   Psychographic data: Customer interests, lifestyle preferences, and even emotional triggers.  Platforms then take the information, analyze it, and create a unique experience for each customer.   We’ve all experienced this process as customers.   Received an email from a business that has your name on it?  Get products tailored to your likes on a website?  Ever abandon a shopping cart, then get a message that gives you a discount for all the items in the cart?   Get an offer to re-buy something you’ve bought in the past?  See products that you did some research on earlier in the week?  That’s all personalization. And customers want and love it.  81% of customers prefer companies that offer a personalized experience.  -Forbes Customers are far more likely to engage with brands that give them the personalized touch that’s unique to them. This gives subscription retail SMBs a huge opportunity to build that long-term relationship that they need for success.   When personalization is used in the right way, it brings some incredible benefits to subscription retailers:  Better Customer Lifetime Value: Running a subscription model demands long-term customer relationships. Retention is absolutely essential because it’s easier to sell to existing customers. They also spend more money.  Better sales: Because the offerings, pricing and terms are personalized to what each customer wants and doesn’t want, the sales cycle is shorter. And as a retailer gets to know subscribers more, add-ons and cross-selling are more successful because they align with each customer’s preferences at the optimum time. So you’ll eliminate your lost sales opportunities.   Better customer CX and loyalty: It’s not just about the CLV. It’s about what comes with a meaningful customer experience. Tailored loyalty and bonus programs further reward the customer and build the emotional bond with your brand. And happy customers become brand ambassadors. They tell other people through comments, message boards, content, and word-of-mouth in person too.   Differentiation: Retail is so competitive; any advantage helps. When subscription retail SMBs show that they understand their audience’s needs every step of the way, they immediately set themselves apart from retailers that refuse to offer personalization.   Less churn: When customers are engaged and get value from their subscriptions, they’ll stick around. Churn is extremely high in retail. Customers bounce all the time, for the smallest reasons, so it’s important to cut any reasons for them to leave.   And that’s not all personalization does. Personalization brings benefits to customers too:   It saves time and effort: Customers who sign up for personalized subscriptions see the terms and products that are relevant to them. They don’t have to spend time searching for the best prices or something more appealing elsewhere. They’ve already got it right in front of them, when they need it, for the price they’re willing to pay.   Better engagement: When customers feel more attached to a brand, they’ll engage more. They’ll offer feedback. They’ll make suggestions. They’ll seek your brand out more often. They’re invested in your future because you make their present so much more pleasant.   Feeling valued: Customers are bombarded with a million adverts and messages a day. Most of them are generic, and tossed out to the world hoping something will stick. That’s not how customers want to be treated. They want to be valued, not used. Businesses have jumped on the data-driven personalization bandwagon because it makes good sense.   But there’s a downside. Some businesses do questionable or unethical things with their customer data, like selling it on to other companies that have less respect for the data. Or hackers break into systems and cause dangerous data leaks.    And this creates serious privacy issues.  What is Privacy?  Privacy is not the use of customer data, but the protection of it.   Privacy involves businesses not only taking steps to protect data but being completely transparent about how they collect and use the data.   They also give customers the option of controlling whether their data is collected, and what can and cannot be done with it.   Over 120 countries around the world have regulations that deal with customer data. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) laws in Europe and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) in the U.S. are just two examples of strict rules that govern how personal data must be handled.   When those rules are broken, there are steep penalties and potential lawsuits. And customers can completely lose trust in a brand overnight. So it’s a serious issue, even for the smallest subscription retail SMB.   Let’s look at some of the specifics of ignoring privacy practices and regulations:   Legal compliance: Data protection laws aren’t flexible or open to interpretation. They’re strict and if you fall out of compliance, it can cripple you financially. For example, if you breach GDPR rules in Europe, you’re liable for up to €20 million or 4% of your annual global turnover—whichever is higher.    Vulnerability to data breaches and mass lawsuits: New reports on cyberattacks are a daily occurrence, even for big corporations. And SMBs that don’t prioritize their security are at clear risk of being targeted. The cost of a breach (both in fines and customer lawsuits) can be in the millions.   Trust erosion and churn: As soon as current or potential customers catch wind that your brand is not to be trusted with their data, they’ll leave for your competition. Why would they stay? Customers are risk averse just like businesses are.   Reputation: As an SMB, your reputation is everything. But customers spread the word about bad brands they don’t like. And legal problems always end up public, which your competitors can latch onto and exploit. On top of that, your reputation as investible might be damaged for good too.  Understanding why they want privacy guarded simply reframes everything into what you can gain, and another level that you can give them that some of your competitors aren’t.   Customers expect to be able to control their data.   To have the ability to opt-out of cookies and data collection.   To veto what it’s used for.   To say no to marketing from your business or others.   To be able to rescind access to data after permission has already been previously given.  They don’t want the anxiety, financial loss, and legal exposure that a hack and breach brings either. Customers look for trustworthiness and transparency. They want to be told the truth about how their data is used.   But here’s the twist. Knowing what both personalization and privacy are, as well as all the issues that surround them, leaves the subscription retail SMB in a precarious position.   Where to go from here, armed with this privacy vs. personalization conuundrum?  Can Retail Subscription SMBs Give Privacy and Personalization?  Is the privacy vs. personalized issue a zero-sum game? Is it all or nothing for SMBs?  The answer is a resounding no! Subscription retailers and their customers can enjoy both. It’s just about finding the right balance.   Given that we work with subscription retailers, we understand what’s needed to get the most from data, but to protect businesses and their customers from those very real data privacy challenges.  First, it helps to be transparent with your customers from the beginning. Be clear about what data you’re using and how you’re using it. This includes more questionable practices like selling data to third parties.   There is no obligation for you to collect every single piece of data that’s out there. You can be selective too. Which data gives you and your customer the most value? What is the smallest amount of data you need to extract the most value necessary to effectively personalize?  Secure the data with encryption techniques. They will be built into better software and platforms. Keep a running order of the steps you’ve taken to guard data privacy and protection too.   Give your customers control over their data too. Let them manage their data preferences. The most common way of doing this is through pop-ups, dedicated data pages where customers can customize their choices, and tick boxes that must be completed to ensure customers read what’s involved.  And always create a clear and effortless process that allows your customers to change their minds about data access and use.  Get It All With One Solution   If you want to get the best of both worlds without costing you more of your time and resources, you need a good subscription management solution that takes care of this for you.   Here’s what you get with the right solution:   It collects the right data while installing strict privacy protection. For example, your solution can gather demographic and financial information to segment customers and create individual offerings without using the most sensitive information. This gives you the personalization you’re after without violating privacy.  Automatic compliance with something as important as data safety and privacy can feel like a dream. But it’s a reality! There are built-in compliance tools that take into account relevant data laws. The process works automatically. Nothing slips into the cracks.   Because the best subscription management platforms provide dashboards and self-service portals, you can make all data information readily available whenever your customer wants to access it.   You can even show how it’s being used and how it feeds into their personalization process. Free-flowing, reliable information builds trust.   Your customers will be happier. Not only are they privy to clear, accurate information about their data, but they know what it’s for. They’re more secure and not worrying about the security of their data either. Plus they’re getting the personalized experience!   That’s better satisfaction, higher incidence of loyalty, better brand reputation, and higher customer lifetime value.   And – bonus – the right solution also brings you end-to-end subscription management to save you time and resources, while boosting your revenue while you scale.  Conclusion  Privacy and personalization shouldn’t be an either/or.   They are both absolutely essential. And they’re both absolutely accessible. You just need the right solution.   If you’re curious about how easily you can get the benefits of both, why not book a free Discovery Call with our team today.

The wrong decisions can be disastrous. That’s why subscription retail SMBs feel so much pressure to impactful decisions. The problem is that guesswork and gut feeling aren’t enough of a foundation for consistent decision-making. This article explores the decision-making process, pitfalls, impacts and how proactive decision-making thanks to AI-driven solutions can both avoid mistakes and drive growth and sustainability. In this article: Good Decisions: What’s the Big Deal?  Bad Decisions: Where Do They Come From?  Where Bad Decisions Hit the Hardest The Impact of Bad Decisions on Subscription Retail SMBs The Secret to Good Decisions Is In Plain Sight   AI-Driven Insights: How They Give You Everything You Need  It’s So Easy Even the smallest of retail subscription SMBs requires daily decisions.   Whether it’s deciding on a product, or what kind of social media campaign would work best, or pricing models, all your decisions as an SMB have an impact on the business, and your profits.   There’s not a huge margin for error. But the problem is that many SMBs rely on inconsistent and unreliable methods to make their choices. And that can have serious ramifications.    This article will talk about dangerous decision-making methods, and what happens when people get it wrong. Then it provides one solution that can take care of everything and give you the firm foundation you need to make the best decisions possible.  Good Decisions: What’s the Big Deal?  It’s hard to build a great business without great choices.   The stakes can be very high- especially for subscription retail SMBs that don’t have a lot of wiggle room. Why? Because you need your customer relationships to be long-term versus one-off. But your choices could impact anything in the end-to-end subscription process including:   how to acquire customers   which offerings and pricing models   how to personalize the experience  which method to invoice   what kind of payment options   how   which KPIs to monitor   when to act on problems   Let’s look at a decision about product offerings as an example. Make your offering broad, and you might attract more customers. But that makes logistics challenging. It puts more pressure on inventory management. And you might choose the wrong products.   Customers who don’t like this new direction might leave. You could be stuck with tons of stock. And then you might panic (rightfully so, no one wants overstock!) and send out emergency buy-this-now marketing messages that haven’t been entirely thought through.   In other words, bad decision-making brings huge challenges.   Bad Decisions: Where Do They Come From?   Nobody sets out to make the wrong choice. That’s why it’s important to have what you need to make the right one.   But the resources and time of subscription retail SMBs are already stretched to the limit. How can you make sound decisions consistently?    Let’s look at where bad decisions generally come from:  Gut instinct: There are some brilliant business leaders who talk about creating a long-term career thanks to gut instinct. But they are the exception, not the rule. Feelings change fast. They’re based on fear, or impulse, or information that is flat-out wrong. This system isn’t reliable or scalable.   Guessing: Without any relevant knowledge or intel, SMBs might be forced to guess which way to go. For example, they might guess how many units of a product will be needed for an upcoming holiday season. But they don’t really know what their segments want, what their competitors are doing, or whether current economic conditions will allow people to spend money on these products.   Copycatting: There’s nothing wrong with checking out what the competition’s doing to adjust to it. But just because something works for them, doesn’t mean it will for you. Each business has unique circumstances and challenges. On top of that, what a business is currently doing is the result of past decisions. You’re copying history in an industry where everything changes within minutes.   We’re not saying that these methods never work.  But they’re not consistently good. Or sustainable.   If your SMB is already operating with paper-thin margins, even one bad decision can take your business down.  Where Bad Decisions Hit the Hardest   The ripples of the wrong choices tend to flow the most into these areas:  Customer acquisition and retention: If you don’t really know who your ideal and your current customers are, it will be hard to keep them. And you need them to stick around because you offer subscriptions.  Offering: Your offering shapes your brand and your business. You need to know what customers want, when they want it. And you need to know what they definitely do not want.   Prices: Subscription pricing models can be complex. But it’s essential to strike the perfect balance between affordability and profitability. Mistakes make customers run or cost you your bottom line.   Marketing: Many SMBs don’t really know what will work over the long term. They spend a lot of time and money experimenting, hoping something will stick.   Inventory management: It’s easy to make mistakes in inventory management because it is often the most difficult thing in retail to get right. There are punishments on both sides of the spectrum; overstocking and stock-outs. A nightmare either way.    Whichever part of the business is impacted, it causes trouble.  The Impact of Bad Decisions on Subscription Retail SMBs We work with a lot of subscription retailers. Generally, they come to us already stuck in a cycle of damage control and recovery.   Here’s what they experience the most on a business level:   Churn: When customers face a poor offering and pricing, bad communication, delays in deliveries, and late and incorrect invoices, they leave. Churn forces you to double-down on acquisition and retention costs. You may have to offer steep discounts to either woo customers back or tempt new customers to try your brand.  Operational inefficiency: Manually processing invoices, or using siloed retail software, or not offering a wide variety of payments forces your team to have to work longer and more stressful hours. Your operations can get to a breaking point where they’re riddled with so many delays and mistakes, there’s no coming back without a huge investment that you might not have.  Revenue loss: Losing money is serious for an SMB. Whether you’re overspending on customers, or you have revenue loss or leakage in your operations, you might trigger a debt cycle, or a stream of panic-led decisions that make things worse. And that’s not all. Poor choices personally impact you and your people too:    Stress and burnout: It’s exhausting to constantly put out fires. The more prolonged the stress, the more likely you and your employees will suffer from burnout. That’s bad for their mental health and your bottom line. Self-doubt: No matter how brilliant you are at subscription retail, and no matter how much you care, a series of bad decisions can erode your confidence. Next thing you know, you’re hesitant to make any more decisions.  Turnover: It’s really expensive to replace employees after they quit.   None of these are ideal. Which begs the question, can this be turned around? If so, what’s the key to good decision-making?  The Secret to Good Decisions Is In Plain Sight    As a retail subscription SMB, you can get out of the cycle for good. And the solution’s closer than you think.    It’s in your data.   Most subscription retail SMBs collect lots of data that is woefully underused.   Your sales data will tell you what works when. Which marketing compliments your offerings. How things like seasonability and trends impact you. Why customers say no, and what makes them say yes.    Your customer data will show you who your current (and ideal) customers are. It will reveal all kinds of information from demographics to customer behavior, buying patterns, preferences, and circumstances. That’s the foundation of personalized experiences.   Subscription data reveals lots of information. KPIs will show you how performance levels, and churn and ROI rates. They show what types of subscriptions and pricing models work best too.    Sounds amazing, right? All that is needed is the right tool to consolidate and make the most of the data you have.   But you don’t have to go to those expensive analytics platforms, or consultants. All you need is one solution.   AI-Driven Insights: How They Give You Everything You Need   AI-powered automation turns things around fast. In fact, it can be a game-changer.   It pulls together all the data into numbers and insights that give you a clear idea of what’s going on in your business at any given time. And this works throughout the entire end-to-end retail subscription management process.   Here are just some of the ways data works for you:   Predictions: It looks at historical data, subscriber behavior, trends, and seasonal changes to predict future demand with a lot more accuracy. That cuts back on expensive overstock and stockout crises.   Customer personalization: AI segments your customer base according to demographics so that you understand the kinds of people who are your target customers. It then uses data on behavior, preferences, and purchasing patterns to create a wholly personalized experience for each customer.    Excellent pricing and boosted sales: AI makes the best recommendations for the optimum pricing at any given time. It also crunches the data to give your sales team the add-on, cross-selling and upgrading opportunities that save your sales team untold hours. And it speeds up the sales cycle and even offers self-serve portals for customers that want to manage their own subscriptions.   Inventory management and fulfilment: When you have real-time visibility into your inventory, you stay both proactive and agile. Human error and guesswork are gone for good. You’ll have a better hold on your stock, cutting way back on the recurrence of stockouts or overstocking.  Reporting: Because AI-data crunching brings you real-time financial data and insights, you can make the best decisions where and when they are needed. In an industry like retail where everything changes so fast, this is a huge advantage.   With AI-driven analysis, your retail subscription SMB can finally move away from guesswork and to confidence.   You can be proactive instead of reactive. Confident instead of nervous. On firm ground instead of unstable.   And it scales.   It’s relief from the pressure.   It’s So Easy     People who run SMBs shouldn’t have to struggle through decision-making. The last thing you need is the nightmare that guesswork brings to you, your team, and your bottom line.  These days turning your data into powerful tools that back good choices is a necessity.  Curious to see how fast you can turn things around? Book a free Discovery Call with our team today.

Scaling can be a trojan horse for SMBs with subscriptions or memberships: it looks appealing on the outside, but soon brings serious problems. SMBs often lack the infrastructure, time, and resources they need to keep up with any expansion in the base. This article talks through the most common scalability challenges and the best practices that help overcome them. It finishes with a solution that uses automation to make scalability not only possible, but efficient.  In this article: Scalability for SMBs Scaling SMBs: What Are the Challenges? Scalability Best Practices How One Solution Will Do It For You Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central + Bluefort Are Here to Help The Final Hurdle: Money The problem of scaling is the greatest irony of SMBs.   In every scenario, growth should be good. In fact, it should be crucial.  But for many SMBs, growth puts them in an awkward position because it stretches their resources and infrastructure even more.   Growth might even backfire on an SMB.    All the challenges that come with scaling might feel impossible, but they aren’t insurmountable. Though there are constraints to scaling, there are also best practices that can help.   There is also one solution that can take care of everything for your business.   Scalability for SMBs  There’s not much point in having an SMB that doesn’t grow. Scalability is critical for sustainability.   But if you want to scale your business successfully, you need to be able to expand your operations enough to accommodate it, but not too much to sacrifice how your business performs.  But expanding operations can require more people, more hours, more effort.   What complicates things further is that many SMBs who are desperate to be able to scale assume that they’re priced out of solutions that will enable them to grow. Or that making the change is so expensive that their financial situation will be worse.   So what are the logistical problems that hold SMBs back?   Scaling SMBs: What Are the Challenges?  We work with SMBs, and we’ve heard the struggles.   Here are the ones we see most often:  1. Not enough people: Chances are you and your team or teams are already stretched as it is. They might be tasked with different types of jobs, spinning a lot of plates, and at risk of burnout as it is.  The idea of doing more, longer hours, more tasks to get right simply might not be tenable. 2. Not enough money: You know how tight money can get- especially with how unstable economies have been over the last few years. When your budget is already stretched to the limit, it might feel impossible to stretch it even further for more staff, newer tech, more supplies, or a bigger operations setup.  If this is your situation, you’re forced with a choice. Do you discourage scaling so that you can keep up, which risks alienating potential customers for good? Or do you accept operating while overstretched, which risks alienating your workers and current customers?  3. Not enough infrastructure and tech: There are so many ways that infrastructure can be inadequate for your needs. Maybe you’re operating on a manual or otherwise outdated system, which leaves you experiencing  delays, revenue leakage, and churn. You could also be suffering with other infrastructure problems, like suppliers. You might be treading water with unreliable suppliers, but you can’t sort it out because you aren’t able to invest in more reliable suppliers.  Whatever the problems with infrastructure and tech, the idea of more customers feels like that could push your business over the brink. 4. Not enough operational efficiency: This is a constant problem for SMBs. Most suffer from the curse of manual processes, and processes and workflows that are disconnected, and quite frankly, liabilities.  But without the resources, what are they supposed to do?   What should SMBs that want to scale and help secure the future of the business do to make growth doable?  Scalability Best Practices   Knowing the challenges of growth, what can be done to turn things around?  Here of some of the best practices SMBs can adopt to put their business on the path:   Strategic planning: You can’t scale without a solid plan. The plan needs to include your targets for growth and how you plan to get there, the obstacles you may face, how to overcome them, and contingency plans for emergencies and unexpected events.  Use social media: Social media platforms can give an SMB a real advantage, if they’re used correctly. They do take some time to get the hang of, and time will need to be invested in the creation of content with the right messaging that will engage and grow the customer base. A social media planner like Hootsuite or SocialPilot will help take some of the pressure off and keep things organized.   Partnerships: We know the power of partnerships. SMBs shouldn’t have to go it alone. There are natural partnerships and collaborations that businesses can make to grow into new markets and bases. It’s just about getting creative. For example, a gourmet popcorn SMB could partner with a drinks company or a celeb gossip website because they go naturally.   Optimizing operations: Scalability will demand the most efficient operations possible. Processes and workflows should be cleared of bottlenecks, resources and time waste. Inefficiency will only increase with scaling.  Personalized marketing: Marketing campaigns that bring in growth must be impactful and target the audiences the SMB wants as customers. That means using data to get a clear understanding of existing and potential customers so that marketing, messaging, and offerings can be segmented and personalized. This is what drives engagement and conversions.   Easy accounting: No matter what the size of your SMB, accounting is a massive consumer of your time and resources. But it doesn’t have to be. Automated financial management can take care of everything for you, including invoicing, billing, payment collection, reconciliation, and reports. That avoids expensive mistakes, and lack of compliance.   Some of these best practices might be appealing to you, but the idea of purchasing different solutions to scale might feel like the last thing you want to do.   How are you supposed to find the time to put these best practices into the action that will finally help you scale?  How One Solution Will Do It For You   Many SMBs who try to scale buy one solution after the next, in a piecemeal way, which actually burdens them even more.   However, there’s a simple solution to this problem. And that solution is a unified software platform that automates everything for you.   Cloud computing, automation, and a good ERP will make everything more efficient, and it frees up your time so that you can focus on the strategy and partnerships that will push your growth even more.   Automation can do so much for your SMB.   First off, it streamlines your operations by taking care of most of the manual, repetitive tasks that rob so much of your time. Everything from invoicing, billing, and recognized revenue to sales opportunities, to financial record-keeping, and compliance will be taken care of.   That cuts back on time consumption, errors, and expensive problems that are created when you fall out of compliance. On top of that, there aren’t any silos- information flows in real time between your financial, sales and customer service teams. That’s less revenue leakage, invoice and contract term mistakes, and fines.   And because the right platform will recognize revenue for you, you’ll also get numbers that you can rely on at all times. And the system will create financial reports for you.   Just imagine how much time and pain you’ll be spared with these actions.   But there’s more.   Automation creates the circumstances needed to give your customers an excellent personalized experience. The platform consolidates your customer information, and automation crunches untapped customer data, and segments your customers (as well as creating a singular personalized experience for each customer).   Automation can track customer behavior, needs, and preferences so that you offer tailored packages and products that will appeal to them. It also allows you to create personalized communication and equips you with the information you need for targeted marketing.   Given that strategy is so important for scaling, you’ll be able to utilize data-driven insights for the best decision-making. You get analysis and valuable insights to inform your choices in the short and long-term based on real-time trends.   Everything from pricing to developing new products and offerings will have hard data to back them up. The guesswork is eliminated.   Automation makes all these processes inherently scalable. There is no additional burden because no matter how much you grow, the right solution grows with you.   Your processes will handle the increased demand, with no proportional drain on your resources. Growth is no longer a logistical concern.   But there’s a challenge - with so many software options available, how can your SMB choose the platform that’s right for your situation and needs?  Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central + Bluefort Are Here to Help  Business Central is the perfect ERP system for SMBs. It's flexible and it grows with you.   And Bluefort are the recurring revenue experts. We can implement Business Central for you with all the customization you need to get the most out of it.   We're here to help you:   free your time and resources   cut costs and churn  build your customer base   bring in more revenue   expand your business  make your life a lot easier.   No doubt this all sounds amazing. Who doesn’t want more time and growth, unrestricted by infrastructure? You might be thinking, “Where do I sign up?”  But like many SMBs, you might be worried about cost.  When your money is currently stretched to the limit, it’s important to see the value of something first, so that you can confidently invest in it.   The Final Hurdle - Money   A cloud-based ERP and accounting system gives so much value that your SMB cannot afford to function without it.   Here’s how:   1. Cost/resource savings over time in these areas:   IT and maintenance of outdated legacy systems    Automation of routine tasks   Elimination of mistakes and delays in the invoicing, billing, and payment collection process   Integration of systems so there’s nothing lost or opportunities missed   No guesswork in customer interaction, product development, etc.   Complete revenue recognition, so you get no leakage    2. No big up-front cost: Most SMBs believe that they must fork out tens or hundreds of thousands in an upfront investment. But that’s not how this combination works. It’s on a subscription, so you spread the payments over time. 3. Finding and giving new value you don’t currently have: The metrics from your data will identify opportunities for growth that you wouldn’t currently have access to.   You can feel confident that your business will remain secure and compliant.   You’ll get better collaboration between your teams because they all have the information and the time that they need.  4. The competitive advantage: You will automatically have a one-up on your competitors who do not have an integrated ERP with subscription management and recognized revenue. It’s that simple. You’ll be more efficient, and you’ll know how to capture their customers with the customer data insights at your fingertips. When an SMB makes that investment of the first months’ subscription payment, they get to enjoy benefits immediately.   Because the chances are, it’s the inefficient processes that have stretched your budget in the first place. So, getting rid of inefficiency will free up your time and resources.   And all of this is just a few clicks away. Conclusion   It’s clear that if an SMB wants to be successful, it needs to scale.  But it also needs to the circumstances that help build that growth, because growth comes with serious challenges. Challenges like limited money, very little spare time, legacy technology, and resource limitations.   These challenges must be overcome, or an SMB will be at a distinct disadvantage that will hinder long-term growth.   The good news is that when an SMB actions best practices that enable scaling, they can turn things around. Those best practices do require some time and resources, unless the SMB gets a solution that automates nearly all the processes for them.   Scalable solutions like Business Central + Bluefort help SMBs overcome scaling problems because it is a platform that’s integrated and grows with the business.   The platform’s ability to support process efficiency, better customer experience, streamlined accounting and revenue recognition clear the decks so that SMBs can focus on the high-value strategic work that can make growth explosive.   But without any of the baggage that growth brings the unprepared.   And that’s value that no one can put a price on.   If you are ready to take your business to the next level and enjoy scaling, let Microsft Dynamics 365 Business Central + Bluefort help you. Book a free Discovery Call with our team today.

If you're an SMB with a tight budget and stretched resources, you probably struggle to thrive and grow. This article talks through the most common challenges and impacts faced by subscription and membership-based SMBs. It also shows how the right platform can cut operational costs, improve customer experience, boost incoming revenue and growth, and provide reliable financial management.   In this article: The Challenges That SMBs Like Yours Face   How Automation Brings SMBs Major Gains  The Problem of Money  What Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and Bluefort Does For You   If you run a small or medium-sized business (SMB) with very limited resources and budget, you probably feel like you’ve got both arms tied behind your back.   It can be difficult to take action, improve customer relationships, or strengthen finances because any time or resources spent in one area drains another.   Constantly stretching your money as much as possible can be completely exhausting.   The good news is that you can get more out of what you have, even with just one thing: a little automation.    Curious to see how it works?  The Challenges that SMBs Like Yours Face   A tight budget controls everything.   That means you are stuck making tough choices and cutbacks. You may have to delay important things.   It’s pressure that’s demoralizing and keeps you in a state of frustration. You and your teams work hard, juggle roles and jobs, but no matter how hard you all try, things skip through the cracks.    Here are some of the areas where SMBs feel it the most:   1. Resource allocation - Resources involve trade-off. For example, should you invest in marketing or sales to drive growth, or update the technology you desperately need? Or should you bring in stellar talent to get the job done? It’s all decisions about what can temporarily suffer for the sake of something else.  2. Staff morale - Consistently overworked employees battle low morale and burnout. They’re stuck with tasks that are outside of their talent and expertise. And they’re far more likely to quit. Ánd employee turnover is disruptive and expensive for an SMB.   3. Inefficiency in your operations - Limited resources create operational problems. Everything from data entry, sales strategy, invoicing, reconciliation, and compliance are slowed down and prone to mistakes. That boosts costs and leaves you vulnerable to upsetting customers.   4. Limited tech - Outdated tech creates more problems than it solves. You might have a Frankenstein situation with multiple solutions and none of the information flowing between them. That puts you at a huge disadvantage to any competitor that has their tech solution specifically geared toward driving efficiency and keeping an eye on rivals like you.   5. Struggling customer service - Good relationships with customers is so important because each customer counts. But it’s hard to keep up with all queries, returns, and problems in a timely way. That’s a recipe for churn, which robs you of revenue in the short and long-term.   This cycle can be hard to escape.   But if you’re stuck, how can you get your way out of these challenges, let alone accomplish things that will build and strengthen your SMB?   How Automation Brings Your SMB Major Gains    The more your resources are stretched, the bigger the transformation that automation can bring.   It’s a game-changer. Automation uses cutting-edge technology to do three things:   perform time-wasting repetitive tasks  streamline and integrate multiple processes  boost efficiency and cut costs   For SMBs, the right choice of automation provider can make the difference between treading water and winning gold in the 400m individual competition at the Olympics.   Let’s look specifically at how that works for an SMB:  It streamlines the boring, time-stealing administrative tasks  No one likes doing admin. Data entry, scheduling, tracking and processing usage, invoicing, and emailing take the joy of your day.   They also stop you from doing what makes most of your talent and passion.   But automation takes care of these things for you. Let’s look at invoicing. Automation takes the contract terms, monitors for any changes and usage, creates reminders for your customers, correctly calculates the invoices on time, sends them, and collects the payments for you.    How much time would that save you? And how much of a cash flow situation would that improve?  And that’s just one function.  A better CRM  You know how important customer relationships are to your SMB. And that requires consistent management.  Your SMB might struggle to keep track of all interactions with every customer. Things might fall between the cracks. When a customer feels neglected or ignored, when you reach out with sales tactics, it turns them off.   A good CRM:  manages sales pipelines   creates personalized experiences and offerings  keeps track of communication with customers  constantly pivots to continue a good business-customer relationship.   Without automation, that’s a big ask.   But with automation, you’ll know that nothing’s forgotten. It even spots customers at risk of leaving and creates tailored suggestions for offers and interactions to keep them on-side.  The personalized experience   Customers love and expect personalization. It can be hard for SMBs to even think about personalization because of the resources needed.   But with automation, it’s done for you. It will cater to their individual and collective needs and preferences.   Personalization includes:   customized content and marketing   tailored products and offerings  pricing based on patterns and needs  getting feedback  recommendations  loyalty programs  It also manages emails and lead generation using segmentation filters (that can be as niche as you want) that consider patterns, needs, and demographic information.  And it’s so effective. When SMBs offer a personalized experience, they boost customer satisfaction and loyalty, improve retention rates, and increase their overall Customer Lifetime Value (CLV).   Why? Because most of their competitors can’t bring the same experience to the table. Brings sales opportunities  SMBs with stretched budgets and resources need as many sales opportunities as possible. They simply cannot afford to miss anything.   But keeping track of all your customers, what products they use, what they need, what they don’t want can be a formidable task for whoever handles sales in your business.   Which means that sales opportunities will be missed.   Maybe not all, but some. And that is costly.   Automation is built to combine customer data and CRM to spot sales opportunities, and this goes beyond personalized marketing.   The system will take contract terms, customer usage, competitor offerings, and customer behavior and engagement, to spot what types of products and offering combination would better suit each customer’s situation.   So if the solution noticed the customer wasn’t using a particular product, or there’s a new product that would better meet their needs, the system will create a special offering, and channel it to the customer at the best time.   All sorted out for you.   It’s a proactive approach that not only revs up your sales, but makes customers happier, because who doesn’t love something created just for you?  Better financial management  It’s challenging for an SMB to keep up with the financial side.   With subscriptions, manual invoicing alone takes up a huge chunk of an accountant’s time. And they’re also expected to:  chase sales and customer service for contract terms and usage   create and send invoices  change any incorrect invoices   collect and chase payments  reconcile back to the ledger  recognize revenue  create reports for strategic decision-making   predict cash flow trends   assure financial compliance   prepare for audits   pay inbound invoices   All this accurately and on time.   And take reliable numbers to stakeholder meetings. That’s a lot for a small team with no tools.   But automation can take care of all these tasks and ensures it’s all on time and error-free. And on top of that, you’ve got numbers you can take to the bank. And your business will stay compliant, so those vulnerabilities to fees, fines, and lawsuits are no more.  Automation can completely change how your SMB operates and bring you all these benefits.   But we know you’ve still got one big concern about it.   The Problem of Money   It’s likely that you love the idea of automation, but you’re worried about the cost. After all, your budgets and resources are already stretched.   And making the leap is a lot easier than you think when you consider ROI.   Here’s what you get in both the short and long-term (insert links to relevant articles on the site):   Lower costs - Automation reduces the need for additional staffing related to the automated processes (even if you scale). It minimizes payroll and sales expenses. It spots cost-saving opportunities thanks to data analysis.  Efficiency gains - everything runs more smoothly, and all repetitive tasks are taken care of.   An end to revenue leakage - because invoicing is correct and timely, you’ll never suffer from the revenue leakage caused by forgotten invoices and under-invoicing.   Better sales - opportunities are spotted and created, so your inbound revenue is higher   Higher customer satisfaction and retention - personalization and data insight give your customers the experience they want and stick around for. You won’t have to rely on high-cost acquisition because your churn will be lowered.   Saving money and boosting inbound revenue in both the short and long-term is an irresistible prospect.   If you can see the value, which solution should you choose?  What Dynamics 365 Business Central + Bluefort Automation Does for You   Business Central is the perfect ERP system that automates so much for SMBs. It's also flexible and it grows with you.   Bluefort are experts in automated recurring revenue. We can implement Business Central for you with all the customization you need to get the most out of everything the platform automates.    We're here to help you:   free your time and resources   cut costs and churn  build your customer base   bring in more revenue   expand your business  make your life a lot easier.  D365 Business Central and Bluefort are a comprehensive solution that delivers the best that automation has to give to your SMB.  By implementing these powerful tools, your SMB can not only reduce churn but also foster long-term customer loyalty and growth.  Conclusion   The constant pressure of running an SMB with stretched budget is stressful. There are so many challenges you must solve, without the resources that you need to do so.   But it doesn’t have to be like this.   You can get so much out of automation. Like enhanced efficiency, cut costs and churn, higher customer satisfaction, optimized processes, and better productivity.   You’ll get a sense of predictability and stability, and the time you need to focus on the future.   If you’re ready to take the next step and find out how Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central + Bluefort can change your SMB for the better, book a discovery call today! 

Customer churn is dangerous problem, particularly for SMBs with memberships or subscriptions. It can cause substantial financial loss and damage that an SMB could struggle to recover from. This article covers what churn is, what causes it, and how it impacts a business. It then gives seven strategies SMBs can action to cut churn. It also shows a step SMBs can take to have these strategies performed for them.   In this article: What is customer churn?  Causes for churn specifically for SMBs  Dangers of churn for SMBs  7 strategies for tackling churn   How Dynamics 365 Business Central and Bluefort can help For a subscription-offering small or medium-sized business (SMB), every customer counts.   That’s why every time you lose one, it feels like a big deal. And when you lose a few? You can go into damage control mode.   It’s no wonder; churn can cost you both money and growth.   Customer churn is something that an SMB will always have to worry about, unless they have the right strategies and tools to tackle it and turn things around.   This article will talk through what churn is, the causes, the impacts and strategies you can use to negotiate churn once and for all.   Let’s dive into the details.  What is Customer Churn?  Churn is a measurement of the loss of customers over a certain amount of time, usually annually or quarterly.   Here’s how it’s calculated: Choose a time period to evaluate and find the original and end number of customers over that time. Then use this formula:   Number of Lost Customers / Total Customers at the Start of Time Period) × 100 = Churn Rate   An SMB needs to keep an eye on the rate, because churn is like a leak in a boat. First it can feel like a little dribble. But eventually there's a tipping point and it's too late to stop.   The first step to tackling churn is understanding what it is. And the second step? Knowing what causes churn.   Causes of Churn Specifically for SMBs  Why do customers leave SMBs?  We work with SMBs of all kinds. 9 times out of 10, churn isn't technically their fault. They just lack the resources to avoid these problems.    Here are the most common causes from the circumstances we hear:   They don’t see the value: You know the value of your products and business because you’ve worked so hard to build it. But that value isn't obvious to customers. They act only if they know they’re getting value for money.   They’re not engaged with you: When customers don’t talk to you (through social media or staying in touch with questions or feedback), chances are they don't feel attached to your brand.   They notice your competitors: SMBs often don’t have the resources to study competitors or fight them off. But better-equipped competitors can swoop in and poach customers with temporary offers and discounts, or better service.   Mistakes and bad customer service: When an SMB’s resources are stretched, mistakes happen in things like invoicing or contract terms. Customer service might be stretched, or not available 24-7.    Their reality doesn’t meet the expectation: We can fully intend to fulfil promises when we make them. But circumstances change. And then you’re stuck, unable to fulfil, which breaks trust. According to YouGov, 31% of consumers have switched brands because a company was lying about product performance   The good news is that all of these problems can be tackled and solved. But before that, it’s important to look at the impacts of churn. If these causes of customer churn aren’t tackled, what are the problems your SMB is vulnerable to?  Dangers of Churn for SMBs  Churn can damage your SMB’s health and sustainability.   Churn makes your customer acquisition cost go through the roof because you miss out on the benefit of repeat purchases. This forces you to acquire new customers, which costs five times as much as retaining a customer you already have.   This demands you beef up your already limited marketing budget, which means less budget for another part of the business, like product development, training, infrastructure, or employee quality.   And there’s no guarantee it’s going to work either.   Churn wears away your long-term inbound revenue streams. You need a predictable income; it’s absolutely key to your financial stability.   But when a customer leaves, you lose the Customer Lifetime Value too. That’s the amount you would get from them over a long period of time.   That lost revenue will force you into hyper-work mode, struggling to catch-up and find that inbound revenue money somewhere. You may struggle to be able to focus on anything else.   In fact, it can impact your overall operational efficiency because marketing, sales, and customer service now must scramble and figure out what to do, then spend extra time doing it. That’s less time and focus on building a strong customer experience and long-term relationships with them.   It can also siphon off mental and emotional energy, so you haven’t got the ability to problem-solve and make decisions. SMB workers are particularly susceptible to burnout so it’s important to be careful about anything that can cause it.    You’ll also be vulnerable to reputational damage. When customers leave a business, they have a tendency to tell friends and family, and write online reviews.    Without a good reputation, you’ll get stuck in a loop where you can’t attract the new customers you need to help improve your reputation.    Any of these impacts can have a big effect on the stability of your SMB. And if you’re suffering from multiple impacts, you probably already feel unstable.   What can you do to put your SMB back on the path to stability and cut down customer churn for good?  7 Strategies for Tackling Churn  As an SMB, you need to be able to take action to solve a problem fast.   Here are the 7 most important strategies you can use to improve your customer churn rate:  1. Don’t ignore your data. Use it. Customer data sits there in your system waiting to be used. It can provide invaluable insights into customer behavior, buying patterns, segments, and engagement levels.   And specifically, it helps predict churn by spotting at-risk customers (and larger patterns) so that you can proactively take care of issues before customers go.    2. Make it personal: Customers both value and expect a personalized experience. They will give loyalty to a brand that makes them feel valued and understood. Using that data, you can create entirely unique in everything from communication, offerings, pricing, customer service, loyalty programs and everything in between.   3. Roll out the red carpet: Customers should feel beyond valued and appreciated. Invest in your customer service rep (or team). Give them the training and resources they need to make sure that every customer problem is either anticipated or sorted out right away.   And tap into the value of customers’ feedback - that information is gold because they’re telling you what they want. It also reinforces brand positivity.   4. Mean what you say: Sometimes black swans happen. Unexpected events can stretch your SMB’s resources, push back deadlines, etc. That can’t be helped. But when it comes to regular communication about your products and services, mean what you say.   Don’t overpromise on product offering, launch dates, performance, or whatever else. It instantly destroys trust and once they leave it can be hard to get them back.   When you treat trust as something that’s non-negotiable, it will never backfire on you. So when things go wrong, communicate with your customers and offer solutions. Don’t wait till they contact you wondering what’s happening.   5. Reward loyalty: We live in a world where we don’t see a lot of loyalty. And when we do, there isn’t a lot of reward for it. So be different from most SMBs. Reward your loyal customers with specialized discounts, exclusive offers and products, and early access to your new offerings.   The more special and appreciated you make your customers feel, the more likely they are to stay. Why would they go anywhere else?  6. Stay flexible with subscriptions: Subscriptions are a great way to build long-term relationships with your customers (link) because you stay in constant communication with them. They’re regularly exposed to the value of your products and brand.   When you do offer subscriptions, give control to the customers who want it. Flexible subscriptions allow them to change or pause when they need it so that  they won’t have to cancel outright. It’s an extra that helps avoid churn.   7. Keep an eye on your competition: It can be hard to cut down on churn if you don’t know what your industry landscape is like. What are your competitors doing? What advantages do they have over you? What are weaknesses? And how are you different to them.   Competitors can be ruthless. They’ll comb through your social media and the comments people leave on it. They’ll study your reviews. They look at message boards to find what people are saying about you. Then they scoop down and poach those customers with what they’re looking for. Can you do the same back?  After looking at this list, you might be thinking, “My resources are already stretched to the limit. How on earth am I supposed to add all these to the pile of work we already have?”  And you wouldn’t be wrong. It is a lot of work. Unless you have a tool that can do everything for you.   How Dynamics 365 Business Central and Bluefort Can Help  Imagine a little fairy who can swoop down, wave their wand, and take away the work for you and your team.   Sounds impossible. But that’s what the right cutting-edge solution will do.   Business Central is the perfect ERP system for SMBs. It's flexible and it grows with you.   And Bluefort are the recurring revenue experts. We can implement Business Central for you with all the customization you need to get the most out of it.   Here's what the combination brings:   Better analytics: Reliable, in-depth analytics to pinpoint customers who are at-risk of leaving your business. Then it creates tailored suggestions for offers and interactions to keep them on-side.  Complete revenue recognition: No matter what the terms, how often customers change their contracts, or how fast you're scaling.   Personalization: Customers are analyzed and segmented giving an experience that's as personalized as possible. Each customer gets the pricing models, offerings, and communications that they want, when they want it.    Feedback and loyalty: Feedback collection avoids nasty surprises. You won’t have to wonder what they want or what they’re thinking. And you can give them the bonus of loyalty programs specifically created for them and their needs. That puts you in a proactive instead of reactive position.  Customer service that stands out: The tools will integrate the personalized customer experience with what your customer service teams need to ensure that any problems that arise can be dealt with fast.  Flexible subscriptions and memberships: Easy subscription management, giving customers the flexibility they need to stay with your business.  Accurate, timely, and optimized processes and operations: Silos between sales, finance, and customer service silos are gone. So are the delays and mistakes they cause. In their place you have streamlined and automated information flow and operations- from contract terms, to invoicing, payments, reconciliation, reporting, and compliance.   You'll finally have the time to focus on creating more amazing products, building relationships, and creating collaborations.   It’s not often that something that is complex, like customer churn, can be made simple with one decision.   But with the right tools, you can end up working less and in a much better position with your customers.   And it can get better as you scale too.   Conclusion  Cutting customer churn is about more than just hanging on to your customers.   It’s about building the types of relationships with your base that last the test of time by consistently demonstrating the value of your products and your brand.   That comes down to seeing what causes the churn in your SMB, and getting down to those strategies before too much damage is done.   You can have growth. You can enjoy excellent relationships with your customers.   You just need the right tools. And the D365 Business Central and Bluefort combination equips you with the way to cut churn and thrive against your competitors.   Curious to learn more? Ready to tackle churn head-on? Request a Discovery Call with our team today!