Building customer loyalty

Everyone knows the importance of customer service. A good customer base is the key to success, especially for companies that rely on the quality of their products or services to retain and grow their customer base. You can find countless resources about the importance of big concepts such as transparency, communication and incentives, but many times it takes just a few small actions on a company’s behalf to make a customer go from a need-based customer (one who goes to the store with a particular type of item, rather than a particular brand) to a loyal customer, (one who seeks out your brand above all others).

Live chat
Most successful online retailers and service providers today offer twenty-four hour live chat for customers. This can be the difference between losing a sale and gaining a brand new customer. Considering that many who shop online do so for the convenience factor, it is important that the experience on the website maintain ease of use at all times. If a problem does arise, or the customer is unsure of something, having an instant contact person available that can quickly and simply provide the customer with necessary information will preserve a feeling of convenience with your site.

Incentives
Incentives are great for not only bringing in new customers, but also retaining current ones. If a company offers an incentive to increase their customer base, it is likely that many potential users will take advantage of the incentive, but they may not use the product or service again if there is no incentive to continue. Product quality and price are the biggest incentives for consumers, but customer loyalty programs, for example, are the perfect way for consumers to associate more value than just the product or service with your company. The customer loyalty program must also have substance to it. Companies like Sephora are great examples of customer loyalty program that provides a value to the consumer. With each purchase, members are rewarded points, which can be used towards redeeming a product that is featured at their store or online. Many times, however, companies establish point-based customer loyalty programs that don’t provide an obvious benefit to their customers and therefore do not provide an extra incentive for customers.

Special attention
Treat your customers like a good friend and expect that they will provide you with the same kind of loyalty. Discounts for birthdays are a good way to personalize their experience. Another way could be to send out personalized mailings for holidays or big events in your company. This can be done easily and inexpensively through services such as online printing for companies in the UK, which allow you to customize your template and print mass orders. Another good way to do a little something special for customers for online companies would be to add a little gift with their purchase. Similar to the loyalty program, the small gift should be something valuable to the consumer, for example a free sample of a new product you are offering.

Indirect associations
Indirect associations deal with the potential connection a customer may feel to another company or organization that your company makes connections with. For example, if own an organic grocery market, customers will probably feel proud to shop there if you make a special agreement with a local farmer to sell their products at your market. One of the benefits of organic products is that the consumer has more knowledge of how their food was grown. Customers at an organic food market are probably more interested in knowing how their food was grown than those that shop at a conventional market and therefore they may also be interested in similar concepts like supporting local farmers. When you know the typical preferences of your market, try to find connections to organizations that represent qualities of your customer’s preferences.