Customer Loyalty

Customer retention remains at the forefront of how to succeed in business.

This guest article from Barbara Wold contains some great information on this important topic!

Customer Loyalty

Trust + Loyalty are the key ways to brand your business right through a recession.

Having a solid brand strategy at the foundation of your business will help you succeed through lean times. That’s because, at the end of the day, there are really only FOUR fundamental ways to grow your business:
• Get more customers
• Get your current customers to buy more
• Get current customers to buy more frequently and for a longer period of time through loyalty
• Get your current customers to buy different products and services from your business rather             than jumping over to a competitor. This is done through upselling and cross-selling

So, how do you do it? By building trust and loyalty.

TRUST
Corporate scandals, wildly inappropriate executive compensation, failing institutions, all are signs of eroding trust in the marketplace. But people want to trust the companies they patronize.

You can build trust by creating and offering something of genuine value. Be clear about what your product or service promises, and then, over-deliver on your promises. Another way to build trust is through testimonials of satisfied customers.

Build trust through all your marketing and communications. Don’t stretch the truth. This applies to sales presentations, press releases, advertising, business cards, social media and websites. When this trust is infused in all you do and say, you’ve got a brand worth patronizing.

“Trust is probably the most basic human value,” said Fred Rogers from the children’s show, Mister Rogers Neighborhood.

LOYALTY
Once your customers completely trust you, they’ll become loyal followers. Walmart is no slouch at building trust and loyalty themselves. Shoppers automatically assume their prices really ARE lower.

One way to build loyalty is to practice extreme customer service. While customer service is a core expectation for all businesses, you can differentiate your business by bending over backwards for your customers and prospects.

Remember that even small improvements in customer retention from trust and loyalty can increase the profits in your company.

Copyright 2012. Reprinted with permission from Barbara Wold’s Retail & Consumer Tips