A Beginners Guide to Fostering Customer Loyalty

Having a global fan base of loyal customers is a goal of every company.  Companies such as Apple and Coca-Cola are often cited as role models for their ability to establish an impressive following.  These companies have spent decades and learned many lessons the hard way about cultivating this kind of customer loyalty.  Today we’re discussing the building blocks of customer loyalty, and how you can use them to create a following of your own.

Establish Consistency

Customers are loyal to companies for a simple reason, they like the goods or services they provide.  The shopping experience is about being satisfied with your purchases, not plunking down hard earned cash and hoping the product is acceptable.

Once you’ve refined your product or service, be cautious about tweaking it.  Your customers may not be willing to give it a shot even if you believe you’ve made changes for the better.  The New Coke disaster is a lesson in what happens when you choose to be inconsistent.

Create Value

Every business has competition lurking in the shadows waiting to offer a special deal to your customers.  Don’t let your customers be swayed by someone else’s savings, make sure they’re taken care of by your brand.  This doesn’t mean lowering your prices, but instead using your imagination to create value for your customers.

For example, create a website that demonstrates how your customers can get the most value out of their purchase.  Then, take feedback to heart to ensure that your product is the best it can be.  These ideas may seem simple, but they are usually more than the competition is offering.

Build a Relationship

Some companies have decided to sacrifice long term relationships for short term cash.  It’s a prevailing strategy in today’s economic times; the thinking being that every problem can be solved by the customer purchasing more solutions.  While companies that employ these types of strategies are seeing a cash windfall, they are sacrificing long term customer loyalty.  Their customers will flock to the next new company that has a marginally better product.  Ensure that your employees know that creating a relationship and offering assistance is their main goal, not hard selling.  An honest and trusted relationship will ensure future sales through customer loyalty.

Creating a loyal customer base is no easy undertaking, but starting with these pivotal building blocks will ensure that your customers begin seeing that you’re in business for them, not just yourself.  Take a look at our customer service infographic if you’re ready to dig deeper.  Then, ask your customers what is important to them by deploying a customer survey.  The recommend approach is to deploy a customer satisfaction survey to determine your baseline scores, and then resurvey periodically to gauge the effectiveness of your improvement initiatives. Contact us today to begin building your loyal customer base and future business successes.