Creating Customer Loyalty
Customer Loyalty is the key to small business growth and sustainability. Studies have shown that it costs 6 to 7 times more to gain a new customer than to keep an existing one coming back. The question small business owners face is how to create that loyalty with their customers. Is customer loyalty hinged upon customer service, price, or length of time a brand has been around (time in the market)?
I challenge you to think of the businesses and brands which have YOUR loyalty. Ask yourself, what makes you loyal? Make note of the things that are important to you. Here is a list of the things that I personally find important:
Customer Service
Follow up
Handling Complaints
Customer Service:
If you surveyed 100 businesses and asked them, “What makes you different from your competition?”, they would say something like, “Our customer service” or “We care about our customers”. If you have found yourself saying those words, I challenge you again to prove it. What do you provide your customers that PROVES you care and offer customer service beyond their expectations? Go ahead, make a list.
Follow Up:
One of the BEST ways to improve your product or service is to to get feedback from your customers. Follow up is an opportunity for you to improve and ensure that you really did exceed your customers expectations. Think about your current system. Do you follow up? Is this an area you could implement if you are not already doing so?
Handling Complaints:
Guess what. We are not perfect and neither are our employees. Things go wrong from time to time and can result in customer complaints. How do you handle customer complaints? Do you get defensive? Do you accept responsibility? Does your employees? Have you trained your employees on how you want them to handle customer complaints? This may be a good time to implement a system and culture so that customers are handled properly. Again, it’s a good idea to ask yourself how YOU would want to be treated.
Building customer loyalty is not rocket science. Treat your customers exactly the way you would want to be treated, have a system, and implement that system through the entire organization. What makes you loyal is likely transferable to your customer base.
Did you know that customers like to be rewarded for their loyalty as well? Implementing a customer loyalty program can dramatically improve your customer loyalty, bring more referrals to your business, and increase sales.
Want to know more about how to customer loyalty to your specific business? Contact me directly and I'll show you how.
