Converting customers into brand loyalists is not an easy task. You will need a good and repeatable strategy for inspiring customers to buy from you continuously. And that’s where the customer loyalty program comes in.
Customer loyalty is very significant no matter the size of the business. Repeat customers spend more than new customers, and also it is more expensive trying to attract new customers compared to keeping the existing ones doing business with you.
If you are finding ways to win customers, improve customer loyalty, and build customer loyalty then you need to take a look at some examples of customer loyalty programs that can drive more sales and increase customer satisfaction.
Customers’ loyalty is simply the measurements of a customer’s enthusiasm to continue engaging in and purchasing your product or service. Customer loyalty is important and building customer loyalty can help you make up the majority of your consistent revenue. Building customer loyalty also helps in bringing new customers, happy customers will probably recommend your products to others.
What is a Customer Loyalty Program?
The customer loyalty program, also known as a reward program is a marketing tactic that rewards loyal customers that usually engage with a brand. It is a perfect strategy to increase customer satisfaction and improve customer loyalty.
Rewarding returning customers ensures an increase in customer loyalty and continuous growth for your business. The aim of an effective loyalty program is that the more loyal customers are, the more rewards they will receive.
How is Customer Loyalty Being Measure?
There are lots of ways you can measure your customer loyalty. It is quite not as easy as it seems, it doesn’t just depend on whether a customer stays or goes. To measure the loyalty of your customers you need to know the objective behind the repetitive purchases, how frequently and when customers stop purchasing, where they also make purchases from, and how satisfied they are with every single transaction.
Every business will have various metrics to answer the questions below, but below are few ways to measure customer loyalty.
Customer levels of satisfaction
There are five levels of measurement when it comes to customer satisfaction:
- Not satisfied: This simply means the customer needs were not met.
- Slightly satisfied: This simply implies that the customer’s needs were met but the majority were not.
- Satisfied: It means the customer got exactly what they wanted
- Very satisfied: Simply means the customer got what they expected coupled with some pleasant extra surprises.
- Extremely satisfied: This means all expectations were completely and totally exceeded for the customer.
You can determine your customer satisfaction levels from on-page star ratings, reviews, customer interviews, and surveys. Reviews are similar to ratings-based with some specified if the customer decides to describe their experience. Surveys enable you to ask specific questions from your customers and customer interviews allow for more comprehensive feedback on your products or services.
The manner and approach used in measuring customer satisfaction levels depend on the details of feedback you are looking for. A very simple approach is to send an email asking for a rating/review after a purchase. After that, you can follow up with a request for a more comprehensive interview if the feedback is very positive or very negative.
How to Win Customer Loyalty
Winning customer loyalty is beyond knowing the tools and metrics for analyzing customer loyalty, although that is the first step. Winning customer loyalty is simply knowing how to build customer loyalty, how to gain customer loyalty. Here are a few steps to get you started.
1. Improve your customer’s experience
A recent survey showed that more than 86% of customers were willing to come back and pay more for good customer service. Customers always remember when they are treated well, and they also remember when they are treated poorly. The way your customers are being treated determines the way they will describe their experiences with your business when telling a friend or family.
One of the best ways on how to win customers is to improve your customer experience, their recommendation brings new customers. It is necessary to please your customers, pay attention and also find out areas you can improve on for their experience.
2. Be Proactive
One of the surest ways to win customer loyalty is to be one step ahead of your customers. You can emulate the recent trends of commerce conversational of brands simplifying and enriching their customer’s experience proactively. You can also do some research and take up online classes to help build your branding skills.
A lot of businesses have chosen to implement customer engagement on social media channels for the convenience of their customers. For instance, making the payment process simpler, having a timetable to be available to communicate on all channels and lot’s more.
3. Discover the best communication channels
Communicating frequently with your customers keeps you fresh in their minds and also enables you to pass information. However, it is important to know the right communication platforms either online or offline, and methods for your customers.
Email communication is still in use and can be beneficial for certain customers and brands that have not well established a social media presence. It is also a marketing tool and is used to share exciting and new offers to customers.
Social media
Social media has overtaken all communication platforms. Customers can easily communicate with a brand through direct messages and can easily call them out with an @ mention. With the number of engagements, social media can also help prove that your business is a reliable business in the public’s eye.
Webchat
This is mainly for a business that has an online presence like a website. Webchat enables a business to program a chatbot feature that answers frequently asked questions and also directs customers. If someone is confused or looking for help on your site, they can easily start a conversation in the chat box.
Webchat makes it easy for customer service, it also saves time. They don’t have to answer the common questions, it provides them more time to focus more on comprehensive questions for customers.
Phone Calls
There are lots of platforms available for chatting, however, it is necessary not to forget the power of a good phone call. Automated phone systems may help save money, well-trained customer service representatives build loyalty. Phone calls enable customer reps to connect deeply with their customers and this improves customer loyalty.
It is advisable to do what works for you, your customer’s ability to communicate easily with you will help keep their trust and loyalty.
4. Get feedback from customer
Getting feedback from customers is one of the essential factors in winning customer loyalty. Keeping track of your rating, sending out surveys, asking questions, will provide you with as much feedback as you can get to improve your customer loyalty.
Reviews online and comments on social media channels or forums are good places to respond to positive and negative feedback. This will enable you to engage with practically all your customers. Always strive to do better and learn from your mistakes, take real criticism seriously so that you can serve your customers better.
5. Start a reward program
The reward program is definitely one of the best and essential customer loyalty programs. One of the best ways to reward customer loyalty or increase customer satisfaction is to give additional benefits to your reliable customers. This extra bonus can vary based on what works best for you and your business. Examples of common rewards are:
Point Program
Point program is the most popular reward program because it is simple. A point is earned whenever a customer makes a purchase with your business. This will bring more purchases and improve customer loyalty. The accumulated point can be transferred to a reward or some sort of special offering or discount.
Spend Program
This program is based on the amount of money a customer spends on every single transaction with you. The higher the spending, the more rewards they accumulate. The spend program increases customer loyalty thereby reducing the churn rate.
6. Offer Discounts
Business owners can get loyal customers by providing customers with discounts on products they purchase regularly. You can choose a particular set of people to offer discounts, be it college students, senior citizens, or veterans.
Offering discounts is a good way to acknowledge and retain a significant part of your customer base. Discount also enables people to buy from you during specific slow times. For instance, a spa that offers a 7% discount to couples for a couples massage on a Thursday night. This will help build more loyal customers and also attract lots of new customers as well.
Conclusion
Offering customer loyalty programs is a perfect way to obtain more loyal customers and keep your brand at the very top. It is very necessary that you find a perfect strategy that will make your customers feel that they are important to you. Focus on creating a proactive strategy to enable customers to know how much you care about them.
Building customer loyalty is more like building relationships. For instance, every relationship takes time and effort to build trust and so does customer loyalty. You can’t buy trust and loyalty, they have to be earned. To increase customer satisfaction and improve customer loyalty, you have to look at your customer’s experience and do everything possible to make them happy. A happy customer is a loyal customer.