Customer loyalty is all about attracting the right customer, getting them to buy, buy often, buy in higher quantities and bring you even more customers. A customer for life is someone who will always buy from you whenever possible, and will tell their friends about your business.
In short, you build customer loyalty by treating people how they want to be treated. Does your marketing plan include strategies and tactic for customer loyalty and customer retention?
If not, then here are few ways and tips of which you can induce more customer loyalties.
Treat Customers well
It may seem obvious, but by far the most effective way to make customers loyal is to treat them well. Provide a good product or service at a reasonable cost, provide friendly customer service at all times, and deal with complaints as quickly and effectively as possible. Be honest, and give the customer reason to trust you. Loyalty rarely exists without trust.
Use complaints to build business
When customers are not happy with your business they usually won’t complain to you, instead they will probably complain to just about everyone else they know, and take their business to your competition next time. That is why an increasing number of businesses are making follow-up calls or mailing satisfaction questionnaires after their sales are made.
Offer rewards
Offer good value wherever possible, if customers believe they are getting a good deal they will be much more likely to buy from you again. Some businesses try to charge extortionate prices to customers, this brings extra money at the time; but in the long run, customers will have no loyalty to them, and eventually they will have no customers at all.
Understand what customers actually are paying for
We like to believe customers are buying their expertise. Yet most businesses cannot evaluate your expertise and/or they simply assume you are an expert by virtue of your brand credentials. What customers can assess is whether they experience positive outcomes; if the relationship they have with you is meaningful, if they feel valued, and if they receive a high level of service. If you’re selling a service, you’re selling a relationship.
Build your Brand
We’re not talking about your logo, marketing “look,” or tagline, although you should have those tools in your marketing kit. Branding that builds genuine customer loyalty goes beyond what the eye can see. It’s branding at the emotional, sensory, and gut-feeling level.
Your brand is what your business is known for, how you engage with customers, and what people can depend on you to consistently deliver. It’s a compilation of your most-important strengths.
What should a customer who is referring someone to your business say about you? “They go out of their way to find resources and solutions for me.” “The staff is warm and caring; you can feel it the minute you walk through the door.”
Identify your brand, and leverage it to see customer loyalty and referrals increase. Don’t be shy about showcasing your uniqueness and strengths.
Make it easy
Best buy offers trade-in value to the customers for their used electronics, games and cellular phones to help customers acquire the next generation product.
A customer success team
Assign one executive on your team to be responsible for customer success. This person’s function should be to help customers realize the value they subscribe for. The success manager will also guide every new customer through a series of training steps.
After the initial 90-days on boarding period, the success manager will monitor for any signs of customer unhappiness to determine if a customer needs more attention. The entire customer team should also be responsible for renewals and expansion sales.
Word of mouth is not good enough
Being good isn’t good enough to get customers talking about you. Outstanding is the new good. Polls repeatedly show the quality of customer service is on the decline across industries. When you consistently exceed expectations, customers become raving fans. These are the customers who refer their friends, relatives, neighbors and co-workers.
The customers experience is entirely about engaging your customers in a way that provides a unique experience, warrants a return visit and terminates in positive customer recommendation to others.
