Did you know that one of the biggest contributors to SaaS companies’ revenue comes from existing customers? This means cultivating customer loyalty is just as important as attracting new customers. Having the right tools to improve customer retention is vital for your company’s longevity and growth.

Don’t sleep on this vital factor for business growth. Here are 11 of the best customer retention software to try for 2024!

Overview of customer retention management software in 2024

• Customer retention software refers to tools, platforms, or services that foster customer loyalty, retain customers, and keep existing customers satisfied.
• The best customer retention tools share these features: survey collection, customer support, marketing automation, data tracking, and data reporting.

With such features in mind, here is a list of recommended tools for customer retention management that you can consider:

• Userpilot is a digital adoption platform with marketing automation features that help reduce churn. See our pricing or get a free Userpilot demo!
• Whatfix is a product analytics platform that specializes in increasing user productivity (Price available upon request)
• UserGuiding is a user onboarding software highlighting customer conversion and customer retention. (Price starts at $89/month, billed annually)
• Optimove is a multi-channel marketing platform that champions customer retention through customer-led marketing. (Price available upon request)
• Zendesk is an impressive customer retention management software well-known for its customer service and support solutions. (Price starts at $55/month per agent, billed annually)
• Help Scout is a customer experience support platform with built-in customer retention software tools to manage new and repeat customers. (Price starts at $20/month, billed annually)
• Zoho Desk is a customer service and support platform under Zoho offering simple customer retention software solutions for your unique business needs. (Price starts at $14/month, billed annually)
• Keap is a customer relationship management (CRM) platform designed for small to mid-sized SaaS companies. (Price starts at $159/month, billed annually)
• Freshworks is a customer service and CRM software strengthened by generative AI. (Price starts at $15/month per user, billed annually)
• HubSpot is a customer platform with a collection of customer management tools, including powerful customer retention software capabilities, within a single hub. (Price starts at $1600/month, billed annually)
• Salesforce is one of the world’s leading platforms for CRM concerns, known for its strong AI integration. (Price starts at $25/month per user, billed annually)

What is customer retention software?

Customer retention software refers to tools, platforms, or services that assist in building customer loyalty programs and keeping existing customers satisfied.

These tools measure data, interpret customer behavior, and offer actionable insights to manage customer issues and increase customer retention.

Must have features of customer retention tools

Most customer retention software highlights different features to help them stand out from the competition. When looking for the right retention software for your business, look out for these must-have features:

• Survey collection. The know-how to improve customer satisfaction begins with the functionality to receive feedback through web forms and surveys. Getting actual first-person data gives businesses insight to enhance customer experience and provide support wherever needed.
• Customer support. Customer retention software should at least provide in-app communication or built-in chatbots, or offer a resource center to mitigate customer concerns.
• Marketing automation. Automation cuts out repetitive actions and drives teams toward efficiency. Having marketing automation capabilities allows teams to scale their operations effortlessly, implement ideas quickly, and prioritize customer retention efforts.
• Data tracking. Customer retention begins with understanding their behavior. The best customer retention tools let you track customer behavior, offering insights into potential next steps that lead to repeat purchases, customer loyalty, and overall customer retention.
• Reporting. Customer retention software should be able to parse data into reports that make sense and provide a clear path to take when seeking to improve customer retention rate.

Best customer retention management software for marketing automation

If your priority is making your sales process more efficient — such as upselling to current customers or creating customer loyalty programs — then having customer retention tools that specialize in marketing automation is the best way forward. Here are our picks for the best management software for marketing automation!

Userpilot

Userpilot is a digital adoption platform (DAP) with robust marketing automation features that help reduce churn and improve customer retention.

Main features

• UI patterns templates. Userpilot offers a set of UI patterns you can make use of to grab the attention of your customers. Take advantage of Userpilot’s behavioral automation capabilities and set up flows that lead customers to products relevant to them.

• Advanced customer segmentation. Userpilot’s segmentation feature allows you to divide customers into groups that share common traits — like repeat purchases, locations, or business size — and market to each group with personalized marketing campaigns that will drive the most engagement.

• Event tracking. This feature takes user event data and analyzes customer behavior to grasp what they value on your platform. Userpilot takes this data and lets you create different reports — like funnels or cohort analysis — to give you insight into how to drive customer retention.

• Surveys and survey analytics. Userpilot also lets you create surveys and process the results into an easily readable report. Gain direct insight into the factors that drive customer satisfaction and lean into it. Know how many customers are happy and address their concerns to improve customer retention.

Pricing

Userpilot’s transparent pricing ranges from $249/month on the entry-level end to an Enterprise tier for larger companies.

Furthermore, Userpilot’s entry-level plan includes access to all UI patterns and should include everything that most mid-market SaaS businesses need to get started.

Userpilot has three paid plans to choose from:

• Starter: The entry-level Starter plan starts at $249/month and includes features like segmentation, product analytics, reporting, user engagement, NPS feedback, and customization.
• Growth: The Growth plan starts at $749/month and includes features like resource centers, advanced event-based triggers, unlimited feature tagging, AI-powered content localization, EU hosting options, and a dedicated customer success manager.
• Enterprise: The Enterprise plan uses custom pricing and includes all the features from Starter + Growth plus custom roles/permissions, access to premium integrations, priority support, custom contract, SLA, SAML SSO, activity logs, security audit, and compliance (SOC 2/GDPR).

Whatfix

Whatfix is a product analytics and digital adoption platform that specializes in increasing user productivity through effective automation tools.

Main features

Here’s a brief overview of Whatfix’s marketing automation features:

• Flow automation. With Whatfix Flows, you can streamline the customer journey by automating the most trivial tasks and optimizing flows. This helps encourage customers to give more time to browse through your catalog, potentially making another purchase.
• Content automation. Whatfix makes updating content quick and stress-free through its content automation functionality. Whatfix also comes with content generation capabilities that create numerous content in various formats that aid in fostering customer engagement.
• User onboarding. With its segmentation tool, Whatfix allows you to identify different groups engaging with your product and create customized onboarding experiences tailored specifically for each group.
• Customer retention metrics. Whatfix’s analytics tool provides a glimpse into the aspects that keep bringing your customers back, allowing you to streamline customer journeys, potentially win back lost users, and ultimately minimize customer churn.

Pricing

Whatfix operates a quote-based model for pricing their services, composed of a flat fee plus user license fees depending on the product and plan you’re purchasing. You may also request a free trial for their services.

UserGuiding

UserGuiding is a user onboarding software that places customer conversion and customer retention as its highest priorities.

Main features

Here’s a brief overview of UserGuiding’s marketing automation features:

• Personalized messaging. UserGuiding’s in-product messaging software maximizes your marketing efforts by creating personalized customer journeys for different segments within your user base.
• Interactive content embedding. This retention tool from UserGuiding allows you to offer courses, provide educational videos, and promote informative content, optimizing the space for meaningful engagement.
• Pop-up announcements. The in-product messaging software within UserGuiding also lets you easily create relevant pop-up announcements to send to all your users with just a few short clicks.

Pricing

UserGuiding offers three paid plans (starting at Basic’s $89/month up to Corporate’s $689+/month) billed annually, and a 14-day free trial for their first two paid tiers. You can also book a demo for their highest-tiered subscription plan.

Optimove

Optimove is a multi-channel marketing platform that champions customer retention through customer-led marketing.

Main features

Here’s a brief overview of Optimove’s marketing automation features:

• Real-time customer data analysis. Optimove has a real-time customer data platform (CDP) that collects, analyses, and presents data to offer assistance in improving customer relationships. It is also presented in an easy-to-read customer view to help non-technical users process the information.
• Customer-led marketing. Optimove’s unique feature, what they call “decisioning,” provides flexibility for your brand by crafting customer-led, self-optimized customer journeys.
• Multi-channel automation. This feature ensures that your marketing campaigns will run at the times that you specify across all of your platforms.
• AI-assisted decision making. Optimove utilizes machine learning for its customer-led marketing solutions, called OptiGenie. This generative AI helps retain customers by taking advantage of different channels — from marketing insights to personalized messages —to optimize the customer journey.

Pricing

Optimove pricing is available upon request, calculated based on the number of monthly active users (MAUs) operating in your platform. Other add-ons are also quote-based, depending on the volume of your activity.

Best retention software for customer support

Improving your customer retention rate begins with addressing common customer concerns. If your business needs assistance in managing tickets regarding customer feedback and providing customer care for your audience, here are our picks for the best retention tools for offering customer support!

Zendesk

Zendesk is an impressive customer retention management software well-known for its customer service and support solutions.

Main features

Here’s a brief overview of Zendesk’s customer support capabilities:

• AI and automated messaging. Zendesk offers an AI-driven automated messaging system for every user’s specific need. Ensure customer satisfaction through their robust AI that uses personalized messages to converse with users.
• Workforce management. Manage all of your staff — including customer support — to be present during peak times and resting during off-hours with Tymeshift integration on Zendesk.
• Data protection. Keep customer data highly protected and data privacy highly respected with Zendesk’s advanced data privacy features. Retain customers or convert new ones by earning their trust through advanced data encryption, masking, and redaction from third parties.

Pricing

Zendesk offers three paid plans (starting at Suite Team’s $55/month per agent up to Suite Professional’s $115/month per agent) billed annually and a quote for its highest tier (Suite Enterprise). They also offer a 30-day free trial for its first three tiers.

Help Scout

Help Scout is a customer experience support platform with built-in customer retention software tools to manage new and loyal customers.

Main features

Here’s a brief overview of Help Scout’s customer support capabilities:

• AI assistance for your customer service team. Help Scout lets you harness the power of machine learning to supplement the work done by your customer service teams. Manage customer feedback and improve customer retention with AI assistance for quicker responses — no technical know-how required.
• Vast customer data platform. Help Scout’s customer management software makes customer care effortless with its vast array of customer data compiled into a single platform for quick and easy access. Address the needs of your loyal customers by pulling data from over 50+ integrations.
• Workflow automation. Put order into the myriad of messages with workflows that tag, organize, and prioritize actions. With Help Scout’s workflow automation, assign staff to respond to actions automatically and quickly respond to customer feedback.

Pricing

Help Scout offers three paid plans (starting at Standard’s $20/month up to Enterprise’s $65/month) billed annually, and a 15-day free trial for its first two tiers.

Zoho Desk

Zoho Desk is a customer service and support platform under Zoho offering simple customer retention software solutions for your unique business needs.

Main features

Here’s a brief overview of Zoho Desk’s customer support capabilities:

• Multi-department ticket management software. Zoho Desk’s ticket management software is unique in offering multi-department functionality. They guarantee customer satisfaction by allowing separate departments to specialize in addressing specific needs.
• Live chat. Communicate with customers effortlessly through Zoho Desk’s live chat feature. Allow your customers to chat from anywhere on your platform with embedded chatting.
• In-app surveys. Get customer feedback right away with embeddable web forms found in Zoho Desk. Automate your reply or convert their concerns to tickets that your customer support team can readily engage.

Pricing

Zoho Desk offers three paid plans (starting at Standard’s $14/month up to Enterprise’s $40/month) billed annually, as well as a free lite version, and a 30-day free trial for all three tiers.

Best retention software for customer relationship management

Customer retention involves nurturing customer relationships even from the very beginning. Keeping them engaged within your circle of influence will go a long way in securing your longevity and long-term growth. For retention tools that provide excellent customer relationship management, here are our top picks for you!

Keap

Keap is a customer relationship management (CRM) platform designed with small to mid-sized SaaS companies in mind.

Main features

Here’s a brief overview of Keap’s CRM features:

• Excellent client management software. Keap’s CRM is tailored for small teams and businesses. Their client management software automatically collects and processes new leads, allowing teams to reach out to these customers quickly.
• Sales automation. Their sales automation tool automates flows and processes, allowing businesses to reduce time on repetitive tasks and focus on important ones. This optimized process efficiently converts new customers as well as effectively engages current customers.
• Personalized follow-up. Keap lets you tag customer data and organize them into certain cohorts. You can then craft personalized messages to follow up leads and send relevant content to their specific cohorts.

Pricing

Keap offers three paid plans (starting at Pro’s $159/month up to Max’s $279/month), and a 14-day free trial for the first two payment tiers. Keep in mind that the pricing above does not include a one-time fee for their required onboarding services.

Freshworks

Freshworks is a customer service and CRM software strengthened by generative AI to meet customer needs.

Main features

Here’s a brief overview of Freshworks’ CRM features:

• AI-driven insights. Freshworks makes use of AI for its data analysis and sales automation. Optimize your sales process by prioritizing leads that are likely to convert. Create personal messages that lead to a satisfying customer experience.
• No-code chatbots. The no-code chatbot builder helps even non-technical staff to improve customer retention. Create chatbots to engage customers when you’re not there to handle the workload. Find all your messages in a single accessible inbox — even across platforms.
• Intelligent automation. Their automation features allow you to offer quick and highly personalized customer experiences. Improve customer retention by automating workflows for common concerns, and addressing those concerns swiftly and decisively.

Pricing

Freshworks offers three paid plans (starting at Growth’s $15/month per user up to Enterprise’s $69/month per user) billed annually, as well as a free plan for up to three users, and a 14-day free trial.

HubSpot

HubSpot is a customer platform with a collection of customer management tools, including powerful customer retention software capabilities, within a single hub.

Main features

Here’s a brief overview of HubSpot’s CRM features:

• Real-time sales process analysis. HubSpot gives access to real-time information on your sales cycle within a highly intuitive visual dashboard. Retrieve data from one million contacts, accessible anytime. Monitor staff performance and tag opportunities for growth.
• Email builder. Effortlessly create emails with HubSpot’s email template builder. Choose from pre-made templates and share the best-performing email templates across your whole team. HubSpot also offers an AI email writer to create emails for you.
• Live chat. Hubspot’s customer retention software comes with live chat that makes connecting with existing customers seamless. Automate answers to common questions, quickly assign tickets to the right department, and provide real-time support to drive customer retention.

Pricing

HubSpot offers two paid plans (Professional’s $1,600/month and Enterprise’s $5,000/month) for their CRM suite, billed annually. HubSpot also offers their CRM tools got free, as well as a general starter plan for $18/month billed annually.

Salesforce

Salesforce is one of the world’s leading platforms for CRM concerns, known for its robust AI capabilities.

Main features

Here’s a brief overview of Salesforce’s CRM features:

• Data insights and analysis. Mulesoft, an integration platform, is fully integrated within Salesforce’s CRM software, called Customer 360. This allows you to make data-driven decisions about customer retention. Gather data and make informed decisions on the best actions for retaining customers.
• Predictive modeling. Salesforce also fully integrates Tableau, a business prediction platform, within Customer 360. This feature uses the data gathered from new and repeat customers, predicts trends, and builds a customer retention strategy around maximizing those trends.
• AI-assisted automation. Salesforce’s in-house artificial intelligence uses the gathered data and, with workflow integration from Slack, automates most of the repetitive tasks. This allows you to give excellent service to your existing customers by focusing on what can’t be automated.

Pricing

Salesforce offers four paid plans (starting at Essential’s $25/month per user up to Unlimited’s $355/month per user) billed annually. They also offer a 30-day free trial.

Conclusion

As you can see, customer retention management is vital to the growth and longevity of any budding startup. Over time, with the right retention software to improve customer retention, you turn repeat customers into your most loyal customers and guarantee your profits for the long term.

If you’re ready to drive up your customer retention in 2024, then sign up for a free Userpilot demo today!