Creating a large pool of loyal customers is extremely
important to the sustainability of a business. Having loyal customers allows you to up-sell your products at a more successful rate. Great products and excellent customer service
are key to creating loyal customers. No
matter what industry you are in, issues always arise; it is how you deal with
these issues that can really make or break your relationship with your
customers. Customers want to find that
one brand they can really trust. Once
that trust is built, they’ll continue to come back for more! Check out these 5 tips on building customer
loyalty for your business:
Fine-tune Your Product:
This might seem obvious, however, it is extremely important to make sure you
work out every possible kink in your product or service.
Planning ahead for any possible issues that might arise is also
important. Customers want to know that they
can trust you to deliver on your promises. A positive
experience with your business will keep them coming back!
Speedy Response: As
we all know, nothing is perfect. Issues
come up whether we like it or not.
However, it is how we deal with these issues that really matters. When dealing with customers, listening to
their concerns is very important. Take the
time to make sure you really understand the issue of your customer; this even may
require restating the problem at hand multiple times to make sure everyone is
on the same page. Once you really
understand, deal with the issue in a timely fashion. Customers are impatient and do not enjoy
waiting. In addition, check social
media constantly! Customers are turning
to social media to complain about problems.
Follow up immediately with anyone complaining about your product via
social media. Reaching out in this
manner will also add a personal touch to the interaction, making the customer
feel special.
Interactive Touch Points:
From sales to training to implementation to providing customer service, there
are many different touch points with a
customer. Break down each point of
interaction and find ways to fine-tune them. Create a plan to make sure that each of these touch points are
strong and practically fool proof! This
will give the customer a sense of consistent service, which is extremely
important in terms of building trust. A
negative experience at one single touch point can ruin the overall experience
for the customer, regardless of how positive the experiences at other touch
points may have been.
Focus On the
Journey: Once you have worked on fine-tuning each point of
interaction, take a step back and look at the big picture. Focus on the overall journey of the customer
and see if there is anything that can be done to make the entire experience, as
a whole, better for the customer. This
may include adding or removing a step in the journey or even reorganizing
the flow of interactions. See what can
be done to make the entire experience great!
Feedback: The
most important step in keeping loyal customers is asking for feedback, both on
your product and in customer service.
This gives you the opportunity to see how things can be improved from an
outside perspective. When changes are
made based on feedback, customers feel as though they are being listened to and
have a say in what is going on. Even
being able to simply contribute feedback is a nice personal touch.
Now, take a step back and see how you can improve your
business process to increase customer loyalty!
