5 Ways To Increase Customer Loyalty
Customer retention is a company’s ability to keep its paying customers over time, this is achieved by creating a relationship between the brand and its customers.
New brands mostly focus on customer acquisition (new customers), which makes sense, since they are yet to have an existing customer base to build on. However, once a brand starts growing, it will quickly need to start focusing on customer retention, as well as acquisition, in order to maximize its revenue and keep afloat.
Make Outstanding Customer Experience A Priority
Providing your customers with exceptional service shouldn’t ever be an afterthought. To the contrary, according to the book “Leading on the Edge of Chaos” by Gartner Group, making a commitment to customer experience can result in up to a 25% higher customer retention rate and revenue than focusing on just sales and marketing.
Be Proactive
Solving an issue for your customer is ok, but it would be better to completely avoid this issue in the first place, wouldn’t it?
A customer encountering the same issue on his second purchase in your store would likely feel frustrated, and might even abandon his purchase. So recurring problems are not only wasteful of your support rep’s time, but also hurtful for your customer retention efforts.
Be proactive and solve issues you find before the next customer experiences them. But we have to acknowledge that no business will ever be complaint free, so it’s important to note that 95% of complaining customers are likely to purchase with you again if the problem is solved in their favor. Ask for feedback. There are many inexpensive ways to receive instant feedback, like social media.
Provide Valuable Content
Providing customers with content that answers their questions and solves their problems will keep them coming back to your business. You want customers to think of you as a valuable and trusted resource they can go to when they need information. How can you establish this relationship? You can do this through blogging or nurture this relationship through social media. It’s important that you find the right marketing channel to reach your audience. The key is to create, curate, and share content that is helpful and interesting to your customers.
Customer Loyalty Program Discounts & Rewards
Establishing a customer loyalty program by running discounts and promotions through social media and website makes things interesting for your customers. Customers love to know that you care about them, and rewarding them with a discount for their loyalty is something they will greatly appreciate. You can run these promotions easily through your website, your Facebook page, or even through an Instagram giveaway.
Humanize Your Brand
People who feel loyal to a certain company usually do so because they feel a personal connection. Regardless of the size of your organisation, you should be striving to demonstrate to your customers that there are real people behind your brand. Show your personality through email, social media, and personal interactions with customers.
