Is it easy to retain customers? Or is it easier to chase new customers? As an enterprise, what do you focus on? Do you spend money on advertising to increase customers, or do you focus on promoting and cross-selling to existing customers?
You may have adopted either of the above approaches, or a blend of both. But what makes customers come back to you: do they like your product/service or are they being forced to buy? Well, we looked into customer preferences and came up with 5 sure-shot ways to ensure customer loyalty.
-
Give away free stuff: Free content, offers, discounts, appreciation cards, and loyalty benefits are a customers birthright. Blogging, brochures/newsletters, and magazines (or e-zine) are great ways to connect with customers. Tell them about the company, its products, values, and the innovations you are working on. Real-life stories of how customers benefitted from your products and services are also ways to subtly advertise. Your content should say that you care.
-
Communicate, communicate, and communicate: Customers want honesty from businesses and companies should try to be upfront about their products. If your business messes up with a customer, or if the website is down, or you failed to deliver a product on time; own up to it. Apologize to your customers for inconveniences and make up to them. The result of being unresponsive customers will switch over to your competitor and never return.
-
Friend them on social media: Most people are on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and such social sites. They share experiences of various companies with their friends and families, various online groups, pages, and forums. So when they talk about you, respond in the appropriate manner. If it is a bad review, apologize and offer a discount for the next time, or a product replacement. If it is a good review, thank them for voicing it and reward them for it.
-
Listen to them always: Call centers are notorious for ignoring customers so ensure your agents to serve with a smile always. Train them to handle various kinds of customers so that they can tackle situations with a calm head. Avoid giving customers any cause for complaints. Incidentally, small companies are better listeners because at the growth stage they want to improve their products and services. Listening will also tell you how your company is perceived.
-
Appreciate loyal customers: Customers give you their hard-earned money, so the least you can do is appreciate them. If the company profits increase, inform them and give them gifts or tokens because they helped you grow. Gifts and tokens on special occasions like birthdays, anniversaries, marriage, or the birth of children will make them feel elated and they will tell their friends and families about it. The business stands to gain more customers, and that is spectacular any given day.
So, by being a friend who cares rather than just any business, you can gain loyalty from your customers, their families, and their friends. Enterprises should use a robust contact center solution to ensure smooth functioning of back-end processes and customer service operations. The marketing team should target existing customers and support them while providing invaluable service to all customers. When all the departments work harmoniously towards exceptional service, it will reflect in the sales and revenue figures. And that is definitely a great achievement!