It doesn’t matter the size of the business or the industry — yours could be a fast food company belonging to the Fortune 500 or just a small business offering web design services — you all have one thing in common: the need for brand awareness.
Through brand awareness, there is a higher chance that you will get customers who will keep on being loyal to your product.
A good example is Apple. You know that every time Apple launches a new product, it will receive a good number of pre-orders. In 2014, for example, iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus received over 4 million pre-orders within 24 hours.
In short, customer loyalty is very important for any business. Loyal customers are likely to spend over 67% more than new ones. Convincing new customers could also be 10 times more expensive than retaining the existing clients in terms of advertisement cost.
It is important, therefore, for a business to find effective ways of retaining existing customers. That is, find a workable strategy that will make your customers stay loyal to your brand.
Here are a few strategies that you should consider.
1. Set up an effective communication channel
Communication is an integral tool when it comes to building brand awareness and retaining your loyal customers.
By communicating frequently with your clients, there is a high chance of passing important information to them within a short period of time.
Here are some of the ways you can do that:
- Set up a database of all potential customers
- Update their contact information regularly, especially their email addresses or telephone numbers
- Send friendly reminders in the form of monthly newsletters
- Create social media accounts, update it frequently, and engage your followers.
Through these simple steps, your business will be fresh in the minds of your existing and potential clients.
2. Provide extra perks for most loyal customers
You should give extra perks to your most loyal customers. This is an effective and cheap way of rewarding customer loyalty.
As a matter of fact, it is our nature as human beings to expect something extra apart from what we deserve. This can be in the form of:
- Ability to skip the line
- Immediate seating
- Special meetings
- Discount codes
These — as well as others you can think of — will make customers feel as if they are actually part of your company. In fact, this will encourage them to stick around.
3. Provide better customer care services than competitors
Your clients can easily end their relationship with your businesses simply because they were unhappy with your customer service. They will easily remember when and who treated them badly.
Remember, without these customers, your business won’t exist. It is important, then, to consider customers as your employer. Thus, you must give them your best and you should strive to solve their problems.
Let them be contented that they got the best service from your company. It is a surefire way of getting customers to stay loyal to your brand.
How do you know that customers are contented with the services you offer?
You should encourage them to leave feedback or reviews about your brand or company. Through this, you can easily tell what works and what doesn’t.
Remember, customers like to be treated well at all times. Strive to give them a reason to be loyal to your brand and they will.
4. Don’t depend too much on technology
Technology has greatly improved how we interact in the business world. We now have the use of social media, IVR technology, text messages, and emails, among others. At times, customers can get frustrated in an endless loop of automated prompts.
Of course, investing in these technologies will save you on operational costs. However, you need to consider there are times when they need to reach a real human being.
Interacting with real human beings will make it easy to build loyalty. So, as you integrate all these in your business, consider insider incorporating a highly skilled customer service where customers can interact with someone.
5. Offer a head start
Introducing a new product and building a brand can be a difficult task, especially if you don’t offer a head start.
You need to give customers a head start on the program.
You can, for example, offer some samples for free. This is likely to make customers stick around and remain loyal to your brand.
In short, getting customers to stay loyal to your brand can be difficult if you don’t have a good strategy.
With these five tips, no matter what kind of business you run, whether you have a fast food chain or an online shop offering web design services, you will have a good chance of getting customers to stay loyal to your brand.
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Originally published at www.bookmark.com on August 16, 2016.
