The undeniable fact is that no business can survive without customers. But do you know how businesses can easily increase customer loyalty?
Can your business succeed without people patronizing it? But how do you make customers love your brand and generate more revenue? This is why a customer has to come first if you want your business to succeed.
In today’s competitive market, every business owner is concerned about brand loyalty and customer retention. However, the fact is that there is more to customer loyalty than just offering great products or services.
Obviously, it’s impossible for a business to generate revenue without people patronizing it. But it’s not just about having customers, it is also about retaining customers, and this is where customer loyalty counts.
This is why customer loyalty has become a valuable commodity and an integral part of the modern business that simply can’t be ignored. So, what can you do to turn first-time customers into loyal customers?
How to increase customer loyalty
Customer loyalty is what leads to brand advocates on many occasions. The fact is that it’s much easier for a loyal customer to become a brand advocate, which could lead to many more customers and sales.
So how can a business increase customer loyalty and gain indispensable brand advocate?
Below are 3 fundamental concepts about customer loyalty you need to understand in order to make sure you are building on a solid foundation:
#1]. Satisfy customers via product quality
First of all, you have to get your customer definition right in order to understand your customer’s expectations and be prepared to evolve your product.
This is why quality comes first when it comes to retaining customers, it’s not just something you can substitute!
Remember that satisfaction is the difference between your customer expectations and your service delivery. If people are satisfied with your services, you will become their favourite.
Quality products or services and customers satisfaction work together. This is basic business 101, but often it is ignored. Customer satisfaction can only be achieved if the products or services you rendered are quality and meet customer expectations.
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People try all sorts of loyalty and sales gimmicks, yet ignore the fundamental business concept that business needs to be a balanced transaction: someone pays for something and expects a fair trade in return.
Expectations of product quality come from many sources including, previous quality levels set by your organization, value propositions set in the competitive landscape, and impressions in the media.
#2]. Build loyalty by exceeding expectations
In today’s world of internet shopping and e-commerce, it is much easier for customers to quickly switch to your competitors, especially, if you failed to meet and exceed their expectations.
This is why one of the best and easiest ways to build customer loyalty is by exceeding customer expectations. Then you can use that solid foundation to build opportunities for repeat business.
This is why it’s important to devise means through which you can build brand loyalty and exceed customer expectations for repeat business.
Unlike a generation ago when customer loyalty was a different ball game, customers expect more than just offering great products or services to earn their loyalty today. Remember, your competitors are only a mouse click away
If you are dead serious about exceeding expectations, you must be acutely responsive to customer questions, comments, and complaints. Often, these are your MOST loyal customers. If you resolve a complaint quickly, you can actually GROW loyalty.
#3]. Engage customers via dialogue
How often do you engage your customers? Engagement strengthens your business’s relationship with your customer by providing an open channel for communication and feedback. It’s a pity that some businesses still don’t know how to carry their customers along in this day of social media.
SEE ALSO: 5 Smart Ways To Improve Customer Loyalty + Increase Sales
The fact is that engaged customers would be more than satisfied and more than loyal. Loyal customers will go out of their way to show their association with your business. This is especially good for word-of-mouth marketing.
Engaged customers will also support you during both good and bad times because they believe what you have to offer is superior to others. Engagement is what makes your customer beyond passive loyalty to become an active participant and promoter of your product.
SEE ALSO: How Better Customer Interactions Can Improve Business Sales + Revenues
Engaged customers will want to give you more feedback – and you should be ready to handle it! All this translates into a more engaged customer who will spend more money with you over time.
Tips on how to engage your customers
So how do you become a company that actively engages its customers? Follow these simple rules:
- Listen to customer feedback from comment cards, letters, phone calls, and surveys
- Respond quickly and personally to concerns of high interest to your customers –by responding quickly, you can actually increase loyalty
- Organise unstructured feedback for tracking and trending over time
- Trust your customers to tell you what the problem is
- Use statistical techniques to discover which action items will have the most impact on your business outcomes