The Modern Fickle Nature
Customer loyalty sure isn’t what it has been in days gone past. Poor service, unmanaged expectations, or sub-par products will see them switch to a competitor in a heartbeat – usually leaving you a damaging review in the process.
Customers have more options than ever before when it comes to choosing who to buy from. So, your focus should definitely be on strengthening their loyalty and ensuring repeat business.
Increase Customer Loyalty By…
Working hard to grow your customer base is great, but forgetting about your existing customers is a big mistake. Read more about the importance of repeat business in one of our recent blogs. A big part of repeat business is customer loyalty. Here are some ideas to increase value for your customers, and in turn, increase their loyalty to you.
Take Customer Feedback On Board
Always give your business the opportunity to improve. If one of your customers provides you with some great feedback on how to improve a product or service, then implement it. And make sure that you give that customer credit.
You can actively seek this advice by creating a poll or survey. Send it out to your client base, making sure that you leave plenty of room for them to add their own suggestions.
More importantly, listen to what your customers are saying. Make sure that your products and services really suit your target market. Make any improvements you need to ensure customer satisfaction.
Be There When Your Customers Need You
Make sure that you are contactable when your customers need to talk to you. Social media, live messaging, phone, email – it doesn’t matter which method you select. Just let them know that they can reach you in those places at a certain time. It doesn’t mean that you need to be available 24/7, and you can always call in some help to assist you with fielding questions and enquiries.
Upgrade Them
Instead of offering loyal customers a discount, give them a bonus. If you are a product based business, then throw a little something extra in their order. It doesn’t have to be a big ticket item, but something thoughtful, or complimentary to what they have already ordered is great.
If you are a service based business, then upgrade their service to the next level. Maybe an extra 30min one on one with you, a digital product, or a more in depth offering to what they have signed on for.
They will really feel the VIP treatment, and rave about how great your business is.
Make Your Service Like a Bonus Offering
Excellent customer service goes a long way to encouraging loyalty. Make your service so excellent that it seems like a bonus offering compared to what your competitors have on the table.
This service does not just mean your personal interaction with your customers (although that is a key component), but it also means great blog content, social media interaction and other fantastic resources.
Be The Answer
Make things more convenient for your customers, and solve their problems. We recently wrote a whole blog on the topic of being the solution to your customer’s problems, you can read it here. Make it a no-brainer for your customers to come back to you for convenience and value.
Provide Quality
Have the best product or service, and then keep making it better. If you offer the best, then your customers won’t want to go anywhere else. Think about it, there is no reason to return to a company if they are offering the same mass-produced items you can find anywhere. Make quality be your point of difference, and people will be beating your door down to buy from you again and again.
Customer loyalty definitely takes some hard work and nurturing. But in the long run, that hard work will pay off when you have a tribe of raving fans who return to your business at every opportunity that they get.