Whether you are a marketing manager in a multinational, a services manager in a national company or an entrepreneur running a small startup, customer loyalty is like gold dust…
New customers are not easy to acquire so it is imperative to retain existing customers and ensure they stay loyal to your brand. It is your existing customers who provide testimonials and referrals and what they say about you will make you or break you. But how do you encourage repeat business. Here are 3 keys to customer loyalty and retention.
Key #1 – Outstanding Customer Service
Reasonable customer service or good customer service doesn’t do it anymore. With fierce competition for business, only outstanding customer service can create the difference needed to satisfy customers. The cardinal rule to remember is: never allow your service to be anything less than outstanding.
Outstanding customer service does not come from “delighting” the customer with a smile or an unexpected benefit alone. It comes from a consistently high level of service across each interaction and across several touch points like phone calls, email, meetings, etc. Customers are not looking for gloss – they are looking for value.
Your customers also need to feel special when dealing with you and your organization. The “customer experience” is not a one-time event – it is the way your organization has been trained to treat its customers every time there is an interaction.
Key #2 – Customer Engagement
There is nothing more annoying to a customer than an organization that engages only when there is a sale to be made. Are you engaging with your customers on a regular basis? If you’re not actively engaging with your clients by way of regular newsletters, social media and regular personal interaction, you can be sure someone else is doing it at your expense.
Key #3 – Loyalty Program
Having a defined customer loyalty program in terms of discounts for frequent or volume purchases, flexible payment terms and special treatment is necessary to keep clients coming back. Emirates Airlines is a classic example of an airline that knows how to pamper frequent flyers with free tickets, discounted hotel rooms and flight upgrades to business and first class.
Providing incidental and unexpected perks is fine but having a well-defined and communicated loyalty program that understands what motivates and drives your clients to buy again from you is the determining factor in success.
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