Blog Jul. 10, 2018

How To Prevent Gamers from Quitting Through Customer Support

Most people have a game or two on their phone, but that does not make them a classified “Gamer”. In general, gamers are people who spend hours a day, with proper game setups, and knowledge of the gaming scene, competitive or not. As customers, gamers are known to be dedicated, great influencers, with a high value of loyalty. If you are in the gaming industry then these people are your ideal customers. And so, the question arises, how can you make sure that they will still be loyal customers, and continue playing your game after a month?

Some businesses today put a great deal of effort for finding new customers by spending a substantial amount on advertising and promotions. They see it as the fastest and the most effective way of growing their revenue. Perhaps they haven’t realized yet how supporting existing players could save costs and contribute to company sales.

Some gaming companies, despite having the means to release good games, is lacking in resources when it comes to player support. Without a proper player support channel, players may tend to seek help over peer-to-peer interfaces such as community forums. As we know, most community forums are only organized by fans and some of the information they have is limited to their personal experiences only. Letting your players find solutions by themselves might cause more confusion which could easily lead to more issues.

It’s important for players to get the help they need within reach so that they may continue to stay engaged.

Gaming experience is understood as a subjective bond between the player and the game or application. It goes beyond the usage and the performance of the application, concentrating on the individual result that the player gains from interacting with the application.

Providing customer support is one part of giving players a full gaming experience. It is true that the priority of gaming companies is to provide each of the players inside the game an exceptional gaming experience of as possible. Furthermore, if gaming companies provide its player’s a great customer experience both in-game and out; it will definitely make players much happier.

Establishing the good relationship between your game and your players through support could increase the customer retention rate of your company.

Customer Retention Rate (CRR) is a metric that indicates the percentage of customers the company has retained over a given period of time. It is the opposite view of churn rate, which reveals the rate of customers a company has lost over the particular period.

This metric may also expose your customer care efforts and whether it is reducing your revenue or strengthening your company.

These are the three information that you need in order to calculate CRR:

E – the number of customers you have at the end of a period.

N – the number of new customers during a given period.

S – the number of customers you had at the start of that period.

There are various formulas online that show how to calculate customer retention rate, but the most standard formula that has been used and easy to follow is the following:

Let’s say you released a game. On June 1st, you had 100,000 players, then by the end of the month which is June 30 you got 50,000 new players. However, 20,000 players quit before the end of the month. Therefore, at the end of the month, the game now has a total of 130,000 users playing the game. Here’s how to calculate it with the given formula:

This shows that your company has managed to retain 80% of your customers.

CRR indicates how loyal the customers are to the company and how excellent the customer service the company has to deliver to ensure an outstanding experience for the players.

By keeping the company on top of customer retention rate, it shows that the players are greatly appreciated and are being cared for. In fact, when a player feels valued, there will be a greater chance that they will support your game through in-game purchases. This will lead them to stay engaged in your game much longer.

Every game will always have new players, however, we should never forget about your existing players. It costs far more to gain a new player than to keep an existing one. Also, it is far easier to sell products and services to an existing player than to someone who is new.

Importance of retaining customer:

Loyalty – Loyal players tend to invest more time and money.

Affordable – Retaining existing players cost cheaper than trying to attract new ones.

Less cost of the marketing campaign – When your players love playing your game, they can be your greatest brand ambassadors. Players can help with your marketing campaign by becoming a social media influencer. A social media influencer has access to a large audience and can effectively persuade others due to their credibility in the industry.

Valuable feedback – When you have loyal players, it shows that they are pleased with your game. This can often lead in positive feedback or reviews. It can be done on social media or forums that could help boost your company’s reputation.

Increasing your revenue – Since your devoted player’s loyalty is your top priority, none to little convincing will be needed for them to support your game. Player spending will most likely happen.

Great conversion rate – When a player supports your game, they are not just spending their precious time and money into your game. They are also entering into a long-term commitment with your game. The longer they are committed, the greater the potential revenue will be.

Advocates – Whenever a player feels cared and appreciated, positive feedback will surely be endless and it will spread like wildfire.Your players will look for opportunities to share their story, with or without your permission. This word of mouth strategy can effectively attract new players to join your game.

How to improve customer retention?

Setting up customer expectations – Honesty is still the best policy. It would be best if you only guarantee the things that could be realistically accomplished. Promising unrealistic goals or results can lead to disappointment and your brand’s reputation will suffer for it.

Proactive customer service – This happens when the company reaches out to its users. It could also help resolve potential problems faster.

Be your own customer advisor – Being someone who the players could rely on can help build stronger relationships.

Going the extra mile can greatly impact customer satisfaction. Turning users into happy players will be your one-way ticket to customer success. Happy users make loyal players. Loyal players tend to share experiences with their friends and family, who may, in turn, becomes your future players.

The simplest way to grow and maintain your customer base is by keeping your players happy. This might take a lot of effort. However, this will also generate a rewarding outcome in return. The outcome will be remarkable, especially when partnered with a high-quality customer support.

When customers feel that they are being cared for via excellent customer service, they will conclude that every money spent on your game will all be worth it. This also builds trust between the company and the players. Because of this, your players will treat your game as a great investment.

Here in adish, we take pride in our work through our mission of bringing “delight in every connection.” As we work with 27% of the top 52 game publishers, we ensure every player’s expectation is always exceeded.

Showing empathy to your players will make them feel that they are highly valued. The quicker the player receives their needed support, the faster they could get back into the game.