Customers are the backbone of all industries, and nurturing loyalty in them is the best way to ensure repeat business. With a little strategy, you can increase the likelihood that customers will come back time and time again. If you’re able to inspire loyalty, you’ll have a customer for life.
Did you know that 86% of loyal customers would recommend a company to friends and family? That’s free advertising. A firm recommendation from a friend or family member is worth its weight in gold.
If you’re looking to increase customer loyalty, we’ve got you covered! Read on to find out more.
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How to Increase Customer Loyalty
In this article, we’re going to go over six effective ways to increase customer loyalty. You’ll be glad to hear they don’t break the bank and are easily implemented. Some of the most effective don’t even cost a penny!
Ensuring your new customers are loyal will strengthen your business branding as a whole while simultaneously increasing profits and brand awareness. Harnessing the appreciation of a customer has far-reaching positive consequences and shouldn’t go overlooked.
If you don’t make the most of your customers, someone else will. Business is the most competitive sphere there is, and a cut-throat one at that. Here are six avenues to increasing and holding on to the loyalty of your customers.
1. Show Your Appreciation
We all like to feel appreciated. The best customers make many transactions every day and rarely ever feel as if their custom is appreciated. Usually, it’s a silent and monotonous affair to interact with a business lacking in humanity.
Don’t underestimate the power of a simple thank you. If your customer took the time out of their day to visit your business specifically, the least you can do is thank them.
A simple ‘thanks’ is often enough to paint their interaction as positive and prompt their repeat business. And best of all, it’s completely free!
2. Attentive and Courteous Employees
Train all your employees on the importance of giving customers their full attention during their interactions. It’s just as easy to leave customers with a negative impression as it is a good one. An employee who’s distracted or otherwise inattentive will leave a potential returning customer with a bad taste in their mouth.
Underline why being polite and attentive makes such a big difference. Reward employees who take the lesson to heart, and soon you’ll have a team who leaves customers feeling heard and understood.
3. Don’t Keep Customers Waiting
Time is the most valuable commodity we have. If a customer feels as if their time is being wasted, they’re not likely to return. If customers have to be left alone while services are performed or items are acquired, explain to them exactly what’s happening.
A customer who knows why they’re waiting, or understands the reason why things are taking longer than anticipated will have their mind put at ease. This will soothe any potential irritation of feeling abandoned or overlooked.
4. Reply Promptly
When customers reach out with questions over email or otherwise, responding promptly ensures they feel valued. It also helps to portray an efficient and well-run business. A lot of customers gauge the worth of a business directly by their measure of customer support.
A customer support service that replies promptly and politely in a timely fashion demonstrates the worth of the business as a whole. Any positive interaction, especially unexpected, all but assures a high degree of loyalty.
Put yourself in the customer’s shoes and you’ll find you have to agree! If you’re curious to learn more about some of the subtleties of customer retention along these lines, you might find Kobie Marketing consumer research of interest to further your understanding.
5. Quality Assurance
Make every effort to ensure your product or service is of the highest standard possible. The devil’s in the details, and you can bet the customer will notice every cut corner. A substandard product or service will not only ensure the customer never returns but neither will their friends and family.
Conversely, a product or service that has gone above and beyond expectations will speak volumes to the customer. When your concern for high quality and service is obvious, the customer will notice. Loyalty follows directly behind when the customer feels treated fairly and has received exactly what they were looking for.
6. Avoid Overselling
It might be tempting to try to sell your customers things they don’t want or need. Upselling is a valid strategy to make as much money as possible, but not at the expense of customer loyalty. A customer who feels manipulated won’t return and you can be sure they’ll speak badly of your business to anyone who’ll listen.
People don’t want to have to continuously refuse services or add-ons they didn’t request and will become irritated. Being forced to navigate through a slew of additional options or tacked-on fees will have a marked negative effect.
Be direct, offer only what is asked for or necessary and your customer will appreciate you for it. Only offer more if it’s clear the customer is receptive and it’s obvious it could be of great help. In this case, loyalty will be strengthened instead of eroded.
The Customer Is Always Right
When it comes to the most foundational business strategy, you can’t go wrong with treating loyal customers as if they’re always right. A customer who feels well taken care of will always return in favor of venturing into the unknown. This is how you retain their business in favor of them trying your competitors instead.
In the end, there’s no replacing professional and courteous service. Treat your customers as you’d like to be treated, and you’ll increase customer loyalty automatically!
If you enjoyed this article, check out the rest of the blog! There’s a lot more where this came from.
