It takes so much effort to gain a customer now with an ever-increasing competition base and more savvy customers. So, when you do finally manage to convince your customer to choose you – it is vitally important you do everything you can to get that customer to stick with you and come back next time they need your product or services.
Customer loyalty drives more revenue and reduces your costs. Loyal customers can be worth up to 10 times as much as their first purchase. So how can you drive customer loyalty and what steps can you take to improve your customer experience to keep your customers coming back for more?
1. Offer Quality
It may sound simple but if you offer the best solution then chances are customers will remain loyal to you. Whatever product or service you sell, ensure it is the best it can possibly be and ensure you are evolving with customers’ needs and expectations. Utilise customer feedback to look at the areas the customers are requesting innovation and let your customers know you are making these improvements. If customers see that you are valuing their needs they are more likely to stick around.
2. Personalize The Experience
We are all swamped with endless marketing messages so it can be difficult to get your message to cut through and land with your audience. Consumers prefer brands that utilise personal information to provide a more relevant experience so ensure your entire customer journey is offering this personalized service. The more you can segment and personalize your messages, the more the customer will respond and engage with you. If you explain why you want information, more often than not they will be happy to share it if they know it will lead to a better experience.
3. Be An Expert
Customers expectations continue to rise and they are looking to you for more than just a basic service. Don’t just sell them your product or service but help them understand it and maximise it. Any added benefits you can give them will only increase the chances of them returning to you. Whether it is your sales team or customer service, customers expect your staff to understand them or their business. The more you understand your customer the more you can deliver the perfect solution that matches their needs. You can’t expect every member of your team to be experts so try and focus on the key customer pain points and give your staff the answers they need to deliver value to the customer.
4. Look After Your Customers
Show your appreciation to your customers. Whether it be through unique promotions and discounts or just a simple message to let them know you value their business. Customers want to feel special and if you reward loyalty you will encourage loyalty. Simple small gestures can inspire an emotional connection between a customer and a company and those are the kinds of experiences that can get you a customer for life.
5. Listen To Your Customers
If you want to know how your customers really feel about you why not try asking them? Customer feedback can give you insight that can often be missed. Collecting metrics such as Net Promoter Score and Customer Satisfaction allows you to get a measure of the overall feeling of your customers but can also help pin point areas in your service that are causing issues so that you can correct these and improve the overall customer experience. If you listen to negative feedback and make positive improvements from it, you can reduce churn and improve loyalty.
There are always a number of factors that go into a customer’s purchase decision, including price and proximity, but there is no denying that customer experience is becoming an increasingly important aspect. Customers’ expectations will continue to rise and they demand a better, more personalized experience. The customers that can deliver that service will win their loyalty and the others will be left behind.
