Identifying the most effective way to build customer loyalty is one of the most intricate tasks for a company. Brands focus their efforts on acquiring new customers, even though this may cost seven times as much effort. A customer who is already familiar with a brand is more likely to buy again if he or she is satisfied.
Therefore, it is important to implement strategies to improve customer loyalty and improve the purchasing process.
Customer retention vs. customer loyalty
Loyalty is one of the most important aspects of a business, there is no doubt about it. To this end, serious efforts are invested in designing attraction strategies (or Inbound Marketing), but unfortunately they are not always rewarded with new buyers.
Regardless of the environment in which you develop your activity (online or offline, or both) it is essential that you maintain a high level of satisfaction, so that your customers never want to leave your side.
The main difference between retention and loyalty is customer engagement. Nuances that “retain” customers are often superficial and less effective. You should not keep customers, they should be the ones who choose to stay. How do you do this? Make sure your products or services meet their needs: sooner or later, satisfied customers will buy from you again.
4 strategies to improve customer loyalty
Building loyalty with existing customers takes time, effort and resources. But when you do, you’ll have many more opportunities to gain your customer’s attention and, ultimately, get more sales. Here are 4 strategies to improve customer loyalty.
Get to know your customers
People like to be known and to be known. Therefore, customers will be more receptive to organizations that go the extra mile to empathize with them. We need to spend more time strengthening ties with customers to understand their concerns and needs to build a closer, more real relationship that benefits both parties.
Reward their loyalty
There is nothing that serves as a better loyalty weapon than listening to your own customers. A feedback system, such as a satisfaction survey or simply talking to them personally, will help you to know first-hand their opinion about the service you are providing them. This feedback can be the trigger to put into practice brilliant ideas for improvement and innovation that they are throwing at you. Listening has never done so much good.
Surprise them from the first moment
In fact, there are several reasons why these expectations, if met with satisfaction, are crucial to client retention.
– Getting the project to be delivered to the client weeks or even months in advance.
– Eliminating uncertainty. The client will know what to expect and when, which can give them the peace of mind needed to make them feel comfortable doing business with you.
– Having a clear vision from the start can help your company develop key performance indicators (or KPIs) around specific expectations, which will set you up for success.
Be friendly
Combining good service with gratifying gestures to your customers is always recommended. Give a gift or send an email to congratulate your customers on their birthday. People remember when something has surprised us and making that feeling last in time and in your target’s mind is something you can’t pay for with money.
Put these loyalty strategies into practice and start building customer loyalty. The more buyers trust, appreciate and love what you do, the more likely it is that your brand will stand out from the competition.