4 Tactics to Garner Customer Loyalty

In customer service, a repeat customer is golden. That's because it takes less money and less energy to keep a repeat customer coming back than it does to attract a new one. Creating positive brand experiences is a critical component of any efforts aimed at client retention and shouldn't be left to luck. Try implementing the following strategies to increase brand loyalty among your customers.

Study Your Customer

Before you work on strategies to increase customer loyalty, you need to first fully understand who your customer is. The companies with the highest percentage of loyal customers have spared no expense on market research and competitive analysis. Surveys, focus groups, interviews and product testing are all effective market research techniques that provide valuable insight into the mind of your customer. Start here, and build up a library of knowledge on your target demographic.

Develop a Customer Loyalty Program

Businesses that maintain customer loyalty programs with nice incentives are likelier to keep their customers coming back for more. A loyalty program, in the form of a discount or special reward after so many visits or dollars spent. gives your customers a reason to keep shopping. In addition to rewarding them for shopping, it gives you insights into their habits and preferences, so it's a win-win for both parties.

Be Completely Transparent

Consumers today have a literal world of information at their fingertips, so they expect nothing but complete honesty and transparency from the companies they do business with. In 2016, Label Insight's Transparency ROI Study found that 94 percent of participants would be loyal to a brand that offered complete transparency. The more information you can provide your customers about your products, services, company history and operations, the easier it is to gain their trust and their eventual loyalty. Your commitment to transparency needs to be felt across all aspects of your business, including your customer service, communications, marketing and social media profiles.

Welcome Feedback

There is no more effective way to get real information from your customers than by asking them for it directly. Many modern consumers are already apt to share their experiences, both positive and negative, with review sites or social media followers, so why not get ahead of this phenomenon? Encourage your customers to provide feedback via email messages, survey cards or courtesy phone calls. This is especially effective in cases of negative customer service experiences; oftentimes, you may be able to reach the disappointed customer and offer a satisfactory resolution before he takes his grievances to the internet.

When you go above and beyond your customers' expectations, they'll want to return the favor and help your business succeed. By learning their wants and needs, developing a loyalty program, offering complete transparency and encouraging customer feedback, you show your customers that you care, and that you've taken the time to get to know them. If customers feel valued and listened to, they are likelier to come back again and again.

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