Valentine’s day is here, and above all, that means that it’s time to get creative and to show appreciation to those around us. We’re all very aware of how to do that on a personal level to win over a heart, but can a business leverage the same practices to engender customer loyalty? You bet it can! Survey after survey shows that positive experiences drive customer loyalty, so here are 5 tips to get you on your way and let your customers know that you care.
Create Amazing Customer Experiences
Nowadays “good” just isn’t good enough. Stories of exemplary customer experiences often spread across Twitter, Yelp, and other social and review sites, and serve as an enduring source of publicity and traffic. Stop short of delivering an incredible customer experience, however, and you might just find your otherwise amazing product and company invisible to the market.
While great customer experiences are critical to traffic acquisition, they may be even more important for winning over your engaged prospects. According to a recent study by McKinsey, buyers base as much as 70% of their purchasing decision on how they feel they’re being treated during the sales process. Sweeping customers off their feet with every interaction, then, is a recipe for success.
If creating great customer experiences sounds difficult and abstract, you’ll be happy to hear that it starts as easily as sending usefully-personalized communications during the lead nurturing process. A CRM and email marketing plan that captures and uses the right information can almost entirely automate this part of a relationship. Beyond personalization, predicting needs and making tasteful recommendations can quickly transform shoppers into buyers and put them on the path to a return visit.
Reward Loyal Customers
Loyalty-based customer rewards programs are a self-fulfilling prophesy. If you reward customers for their loyalty, then they will reward you with loyalty. While loyalty programs might seem more expensive and tedious than they are worth, you’ll be surprised to hear that of examined businesses businesses, those with loyalty programs are on average 88% more profitable than those without. To create an impactful and engaging loyalty program, use a combination of variable earnings, such as bonuses for shopping on specific days, and both standard and personalized rewards. Getting a little creative with your best customers will build a strong emotional connection between them and your brand.
Reduce Response Times
Twitter, Facebook and other social sites continue to see a growing share of the customer’s voice. This voice is captured in stories of interactions intended for the Twittersphere, in direct messages to you complaining about a past experience, and by the various other media in between. When customers reach out across social media, the rules of how to handle a response differ from what most businesses expect. According to research conducted by Lithium, 72% of customers expect a reply to a post in under an hour. Failure to satisfy this expectation can result in frustration. Exceeding expectations, however, can transform the public forum of social media into a powerful source of positive publicity and traffic.
Exceed Expectations
It’s no surprise that your closest friends are those that you know best. Developing close relationships with your customers similarly starts with getting to know them better. Observe how they interact with you and on social media, how they buy from you, and what elements of their interaction with you and others, they value. Use this to anticipate and satisfy future needs and expectations, bringing them closer to you.
Create Shareable Content
Your best customers are the driving force behind your revenue. Did you know that if you want to find more people like them, it’s easiest to do so directly through them? By understanding their needs and interests, and creating useful, socially shareable content that answers their most burning questions and delivers insights, you’re much more likely to reach their networks, through them. To that effect, newsletters on industry developments, coupons, white papers, and more can go a long way.
