Businesses spend a lot of time and money acquiring each customer. While acquisition is undoubtedly important, it costs up to seven times more to gain a new customer than to keep a current one!

To retain customers in today’s hyper-competitive, digitally-focused business environment that moves at speed, you’ll need preparation and effort – plus a few tricks and tools up your sleeve. And if you need any further convincing “Just a 5% increase in customer retention can boost profits by as much as 125%!”

If you’re looking to better retain your customers (and this should always be a goal) — begin with these five powerful concepts, listed hereafter. Understanding and applying them will mean greater returns and equally lower costs for your company, no matter your industry.