Customers keep your business going. They’re the beating heart of your company and, ultimately, determine how successful you are. That’s why you’re in a constant battle to find and gain as many new customers as is conceivable. The simple theory is this: the more customers you have flocking to your business, the more money you’ll make.
While somewhat true, customer loyalty is arguably the bigger concern. You should aim to retain as many customers as possible for as long as you can. A loyal customer base means you have plenty of people to rely on spending money regularly. We’ll explain how to improve customer loyalty in this guide – but before that, let’s see the benefits of retaining your old customers.
Benefits of Customer Loyalty
What do we mean by “customer loyalty”? It’s a term used to describe customers who stick around and make repeat purchases from your business. They keep coming back because they trust your company and have always had a great experience.
Why is customer loyalty so pivotal for startups and businesses of all sizes? Because it yields some exceptional benefits:
Increase Revenue – Having a loyal collection of customers means you’re always generating sales. They keep coming back for more, so the revenue keeps ticking over and helps to boost your profit margins.
Less Pressure On Gaining New Customers – You should always look to bring in new customers, but a loyal customer base reduces the pressure on this activity. You might not gain a single customer in a month, yet it doesn’t matter because your existing customers are spending so much money.
Loyal Customers Help Promote Your Business – There’s even less pressure on investing in new custom acquisitions because your loyal customers help to promote your business/services. They do this either directly or indirectly. Direct promotion comes from them specifically mentioning your business to friends or coworkers. Indirect promotion comes when they leave reviews to help build your trust rating with other consumers.
More Protection During Downturns – Loyal customers will stick with you during economic downturns or hardships. They already trust your business, so it’s not risky for them to spend money on your products/services during a recession. By contrast, it’s far harder to attract new customers during periods like this, so your loyal customers offer a nice layer of protection.
Higher Upselling Potential – The idea of “upselling” means you encourage people to buy more than they initially intended from your business. E.g. they want to buy a new sweatshirt, but you also tempt them with a matching scarf. Loyal customers are far more likely to increase their orders and be tempted by upselling mechanisms because they trust you!
How to Improve Customer Loyalty
Long story short: customer loyalty is exceptionally good for any business. Too many startups get bogged down in the endless cycle of generating new customers. This isn’t how you stay afloat or grow!
You need loyal customers to see all the benefits listed above – and here are the best strategies to improve customer loyalty and win over your target market:
Implement a Loyalty Program
Creating a loyalty program will undoubtedly encourage people to return to your business. There are two staggering statistics from a Statista report that encapsulate the power of loyalty schemes:
80% of consumers are more likely to do business with brands that have loyalty programs
80% of consumers purchase more frequently when there’s a loyalty program
These programs and schemes give customers reasons to stick around. Programs vary from brand to brand, but most revolve around the concept of rewarding customers for every purchase. The classic example is a points system:
Each dollar spent on your business equates to a loyalty point
Loyalty points are collected and can be turned back into money
Customers use their loyalty points for discounts
It’s one of the simplest ideas to implement – and systems like Wix or Shopify let you set these programs up on your website. Make your scheme worthwhile, or people won’t bother joining it. A good idea is to publish a “welcome offer” that rewards customers with bonus points when joining the scheme. For instance, they sign up and get enough points for a $5 discount. Deals like this tempt more people in and generate more sign-ups – which translates to more loyal customers!
Give Back to Customers with Promo Products
Loyalty programs aren’t the only way to give back to customers. Thank your loyal customers with excellent promotional products as gifts with their purchases. Design t-shirts, bags, mugs, notebooks, power banks, hats and anything else you can think of.
Make the products useful – and visually appealing – so your customers actually appreciate them. Everyone loves a freebie, and giving your customers some free stuff helps them feel more connected to your brand. They see that you care about them, which encourages them to keep coming back for more. You could even turn this into a fun collectable game of sorts. Release products that match one another and complete a set. It encourages customers to return and make more purchases so they can get your free products and complete the collection. At the same time, your promo products are used by customers to advertise your business. It’s a win-win for everyone involved!
Maintain the Best Customer Service
There was a survey recently that found 89% of consumers are more likely to make another purchase after a positive customer experience. Furthermore, 68% of customers are willing to overpay for products/services if the brand offers good customer service. And lastly, 86% of customers change from first-time customers to long-term brand advocates when they experience positive customer service.
Those are some pretty impressive statistics that do an excellent job of demonstrating the importance of quality customer service. Customers won’t want to come back if their experience with you is terrible. They’ll rue the day they clicked on your website and made a purchase, deciding to find a different company in the future.
On the other hand, an excellent experience gives them the faith to return. With so many bad experiences out there, consumers love being able to trust a company. They’ll feel comfortable using your platform and talking to your team, which only helps fuel their desire to be loyal. Customer service connects people to your brand – and serves as a way to tempt more people to give you a go.
How do you deliver the best possible customer service? We could create an entire guide on this alone, but the number one tip is to be easy to contact. People hate it when a business is hard to get in touch with. Offer multiple communication channels to give each customer a choice in how they reach you. It allows them to pick their preferred method – be it email, telephone or live chat – so they feel comfortable during the communication process.
It should also be very obvious to note that you should provide good and timely solutions to any customer queries. Don’t leave people hanging, and take every question seriously. If someone complains, you can quickly turn around a bad situation with some prompt customer service.
Demonstrate your Core Values
Consumers are more likely to stick around if they connect with your brand on an emotional level. 29% of consumers state that a business’s values aligning with their own convinces them to shop with the company. The same survey also discovered that 55% of consumers form emotional connections with businesses in their local area.
Driving positive connections with your brand will help you gather a loyal bundle of customers. However, it’s not as simple as stating on your website that you support sustainable activities or want to fight for employment equality. You must demonstrate your values – actions speak louder than words, after all.
Similarly, base your values on what you and your target demographic are likely to believe in. These must be shared values that you genuinely believe in, or else they come across as disingenuous. Prove that you mean what you say by working with charities, setting up schemes to support causes, etc.
Think back to that other statistic about local businesses while you’re at it. Find ways to lean into this by promoting other local services and embedding yourself in the community. It’s a surefire way to generate loads of loyal customers in your location.
Photo by Brett Sayles
Don’t Sleep on Customer Loyalty
Let’s conclude this post by clearing up a few vital points. New customer acquisitions will always be important. You should never stop looking for new customers – but you should avoid stressing about it and pumping most of your money into this department.
Customer loyalty is a far better investment. It yields long-term growth and takes the pressure off new customer acquisition. Besides, increasing customer loyalty will normally help you gain more new customers anyway! On that note, be sure you’re exploring the four strategies detailed in this guide to see how you can improve customer retention and loyalty. It’s all about giving back to the customer and connecting with them as deeply as possible.
Customers keep your business going. They’re the beating heart of your company and, ultimately, determine how successful you are. That’s why you’re in a constant battle to find and gain as many new customers as is conceivable. The simple theory is this: the more customers you have flocking to your business, the more money you’ll make.
While somewhat true, customer loyalty is arguably the bigger concern. You should aim to retain as many customers as possible for as long as you can. A loyal customer base means you have plenty of people to rely on spending money regularly. We’ll explain how to improve customer loyalty in this guide – but before that, let’s see the benefits of retaining your old customers.
Benefits of Customer Loyalty
What do we mean by “customer loyalty”? It’s a term used to describe customers who stick around and make repeat purchases from your business. They keep coming back because they trust your company and have always had a great experience.
Why is customer loyalty so pivotal for startups and businesses of all sizes? Because it yields some exceptional benefits:
How to Improve Customer Loyalty
Long story short: customer loyalty is exceptionally good for any business. Too many startups get bogged down in the endless cycle of generating new customers. This isn’t how you stay afloat or grow!
You need loyal customers to see all the benefits listed above – and here are the best strategies to improve customer loyalty and win over your target market:
Implement a Loyalty Program
Creating a loyalty program will undoubtedly encourage people to return to your business. There are two staggering statistics from a Statista report that encapsulate the power of loyalty schemes:
These programs and schemes give customers reasons to stick around. Programs vary from brand to brand, but most revolve around the concept of rewarding customers for every purchase. The classic example is a points system:
It’s one of the simplest ideas to implement – and systems like Wix or Shopify let you set these programs up on your website. Make your scheme worthwhile, or people won’t bother joining it. A good idea is to publish a “welcome offer” that rewards customers with bonus points when joining the scheme. For instance, they sign up and get enough points for a $5 discount. Deals like this tempt more people in and generate more sign-ups – which translates to more loyal customers!
Give Back to Customers with Promo Products
Loyalty programs aren’t the only way to give back to customers. Thank your loyal customers with excellent promotional products as gifts with their purchases. Design t-shirts, bags, mugs, notebooks, power banks, hats and anything else you can think of.
Make the products useful – and visually appealing – so your customers actually appreciate them. Everyone loves a freebie, and giving your customers some free stuff helps them feel more connected to your brand. They see that you care about them, which encourages them to keep coming back for more. You could even turn this into a fun collectable game of sorts. Release products that match one another and complete a set. It encourages customers to return and make more purchases so they can get your free products and complete the collection. At the same time, your promo products are used by customers to advertise your business. It’s a win-win for everyone involved!
Maintain the Best Customer Service
There was a survey recently that found 89% of consumers are more likely to make another purchase after a positive customer experience. Furthermore, 68% of customers are willing to overpay for products/services if the brand offers good customer service. And lastly, 86% of customers change from first-time customers to long-term brand advocates when they experience positive customer service.
Those are some pretty impressive statistics that do an excellent job of demonstrating the importance of quality customer service. Customers won’t want to come back if their experience with you is terrible. They’ll rue the day they clicked on your website and made a purchase, deciding to find a different company in the future.
On the other hand, an excellent experience gives them the faith to return. With so many bad experiences out there, consumers love being able to trust a company. They’ll feel comfortable using your platform and talking to your team, which only helps fuel their desire to be loyal. Customer service connects people to your brand – and serves as a way to tempt more people to give you a go.
How do you deliver the best possible customer service? We could create an entire guide on this alone, but the number one tip is to be easy to contact. People hate it when a business is hard to get in touch with. Offer multiple communication channels to give each customer a choice in how they reach you. It allows them to pick their preferred method – be it email, telephone or live chat – so they feel comfortable during the communication process.
It should also be very obvious to note that you should provide good and timely solutions to any customer queries. Don’t leave people hanging, and take every question seriously. If someone complains, you can quickly turn around a bad situation with some prompt customer service.
Demonstrate your Core Values
Consumers are more likely to stick around if they connect with your brand on an emotional level. 29% of consumers state that a business’s values aligning with their own convinces them to shop with the company. The same survey also discovered that 55% of consumers form emotional connections with businesses in their local area.
Driving positive connections with your brand will help you gather a loyal bundle of customers. However, it’s not as simple as stating on your website that you support sustainable activities or want to fight for employment equality. You must demonstrate your values – actions speak louder than words, after all.
Similarly, base your values on what you and your target demographic are likely to believe in. These must be shared values that you genuinely believe in, or else they come across as disingenuous. Prove that you mean what you say by working with charities, setting up schemes to support causes, etc.
Think back to that other statistic about local businesses while you’re at it. Find ways to lean into this by promoting other local services and embedding yourself in the community. It’s a surefire way to generate loads of loyal customers in your location.
Don’t Sleep on Customer Loyalty
Let’s conclude this post by clearing up a few vital points. New customer acquisitions will always be important. You should never stop looking for new customers – but you should avoid stressing about it and pumping most of your money into this department.
Customer loyalty is a far better investment. It yields long-term growth and takes the pressure off new customer acquisition. Besides, increasing customer loyalty will normally help you gain more new customers anyway! On that note, be sure you’re exploring the four strategies detailed in this guide to see how you can improve customer retention and loyalty. It’s all about giving back to the customer and connecting with them as deeply as possible.
Share this:
Like this: