During the recession, look to drive growth in customer retention • TechCrunch

The global economy teeters on the brink of recession, prompting many firms to freeze investments or drastically cut costs. Refinancing can be an effective hedge against inflation and delaying sales, but how can founders proactively drive growth in a recession?

Over the past few decades, many technology companies have been able to weather economic downturns and even thrive by shifting assets and focusing efforts on creating customer value and increasing retention. New business is critical to growth, but there are no guarantees that a first-time customer will become a lifetime customer. In times of economic uncertainty, companies cannot rely solely on new customers, and perhaps never.

A more reliable growth strategy is to manage existing customers and expand the products and services they use over time. Profitable and mature companies with a large and active customer base are better equipped to withstand a downturn, especially if more than 75% of their revenue comes from existing customers.

Here are a few ways a business can shift focus to a growth-retention strategy that delivers on customer experience.

Mediate first-party information

Customer data is the first element, and businesses have the right to access critical information about the products their customers already use, their lines of business, where they are, relevant spokespeople and decision makers, and more. Unlike third-party consumer information, which can be misappropriated or misrepresented, first-party information is exchanged in good faith.

In other words, first-party impressions assume a positive, positive relationship between a business and its customers, and customers think their information will be used to support any future interactions and guidance from their supplier. If a company knows all the products and vendors its customers use, it can position itself in a number of ways to save its customers money and bring more value to the table.

The challenge is that customer records rarely include this kind of information. Depending on the size of the organization, first-party data may be stored in various departments and systems, including marketing, customer support, sales, and support.