Customer loyalty is crucial for building a successful business that’s in it for the long haul. Businesses that can withstand the many highs and lows that inevitably come do so because they have a loyal customer base committed to them. How loyal your customers are can make or break your business.
Additionally, how loyal your customers also help your brand evolve and develop better marketing strategies while maintaining sales and business. However, building a loyal customer base isn’t just about engaging with them on social media or offering the occasional discount; it's more than that.
Building Customer Loyalty
There are 3 crucial ways you can help foster customer loyalty. While these might not be unique, they are powerful.
Know Your Customer
You’ve probably heard the old proverb, ‘knowledge is power’. In business, the more knowledge and information you have about your customers, the more power you wield in reaching them and turning them into loyal fans. When you know your customer inside and out, you can:
Customize all of your marketing strategies to pull them into your brand’s circle of influence.
Offer them discounts on their favorite products.
Serve them ads related to their likes and known shopping behavior.
Consistently and repeatedly provide products or services they both want and need.
Think about it. For customers to become loyal to a particular brand, it’s usually because the brand has proven itself to be reliable and loyal to its customers’ needs and wants. It’s sales 101––they don’t care about you until they know you care about them. You demonstrate how much you care by showing you’ve taken the time to understand them and develop products and services tailored to meet them where they are.
Be Transparent and Honest and Own Up to Mistakes
In an age of deception and lies from media and leaders and big corporations, it’s refreshing to do business with a brand that’s honest and transparent and isn’t afraid to admit when they’ve made a mistake. No business gets it right 100 percent of the time. Businesses are run by fallible humans and everyone has their baggage.
However, brands that are open and honest about how they operate; strive to put their customers first; admit when they’ve made a mistake and apologize for it; offer remedies and solutions to make wrong situations right; make kindness and good customer service their biggest rule will make a big impact on their audience.
Place a High Value on Feedback
Asking for and actually listening to the feedback from your audience allows brands an opportunity to improve and become better at meeting their customer’s needs and expectations. By asking your current loyal customers for feedback on products or services, they can help you understand where your business might be failing and where it is excelling. It has the added benefit of communicating to your customer that their feedback is valuable to your brand and therefore they are valuable––especially if your brand actually incorporates that feedback into your business model.
However, asking for feedback isn’t just limited to your customers, you should also place a high value on feedback from your team. After all, they are in the trenches working with you to build your brand and business and you hired them because you trust their expertise.
They can offer valuable insights into how your brand operates and where improvements could be made that clients and customers would not have the ability to offer. By taking some of their feedback under consideration, you can continue to improve the way you do business. Great brands are always growing and improving, and as a result, build a strong and loyal customer base.
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