Are you taking specific, consistent actions on a regular basis to demonstrate your loyalty to existing customers so they remain loyal to you?
Customers are the lifeblood of your business and without them, you have no business.
Contents:
Attract New Customers and Clients
As an entrepreneur or small business owner, you know that it’s important to attract new customers and clients. Customers leave for various reasons, and for the continued success of your business, it’s important to replace them.
One challenge is that in an effort to attract new customers and clients many businesses spend large chunks of their marketing budget on premium gifts and special offers, yet ignore loyal clients and customers.
Remember, Loyalty Begets Loyalty!
As a customer, one of the things I find most discouraging is when I see great offers and savings being promoted but when I call to find out how I can take advantage of those offers, I’m told, “No, this is not for you. This is for new customers.” What if the business had an alternate offer where the next statement would be, “However, we appreciate your business and loyalty. You can receive ….”? Imagine how that would make me feel acknowledged and appreciated!
Brian Woolf, the author of Customer Specific Marketing-The New Power in Retailing and a loyalty marketing expert, noted in his research that only 1% of new customers become the best customers of a business.
This would suggest that loyalty to current customers would be the place to start. After all, the best customers of a business are the ones who have experienced the product or service and can speak firsthand about the quality and benefits they have enjoyed.
Social Proof
In today’s social world, recommendations from existing customers – social proof – is proving to be even more effective in attracting others to a business than advertising from the company.
What are some ways you can display loyalty to current customers so that there is greater customer retention?
- Make your current customers or clients feel appreciated. You can do this in simple ways like sending them a postcard in the mail thanking them for their business.
- Holding Customer Appreciation Days
- Sending or giving them an unexpected discount, gift, or incentive.
These are just three of the many ways that you can make their customers feel special and appreciated.
Joseph Jaffe, in the book Flip the Funnel: How to Use Existing Customers to Gain New Ones stated that,
If we’re able to elevate retention (customer service, dialogue, and customer outreach… ) to the point at which it becomes a strategic imperative at the expense of the traditional acquisition efforts from an optimization and budget allocation standpoint… then maybe, just maybe, we’ll be able to do business for the better.
Customer Retention
Loyalty encourages loyalty and smart businesses take the lead in showing loyalty to their current customers, which results in greater customer loyalty.
What Do You Do to Encourage Customer Loyalty and Retention?
As a small business owner, solo-professional, or entrepreneur you recognize that your customers and clients have a large number of options of where and with whom to do business. What do you currently do to encourage customer loyalty and retention? Do your customers and clients know that you appreciate them?
If you’d like to review your existing client retention strategies, I invite you to message me at Yvonne @ YvonneAJones.com with “Client Retention” in the subject line so we can schedule a Complimentary Client Retention Review. You may also claim your copy of “Relationship Marketing: Key to Small Business Success” to discover 5 Ways to Leverage Customer Relationships to Grow Your Business Quickly.
