If you are an apple user of phones, iPads and computers and are very happy with the items and brand then you will most likely consider buying them again. If you have had a good experience with that brand or service beforehand then you are more likely to go back to it when you need to. If you find Samsung easy to use, their products are long lasting and you have had good experience with their customer service line then when you need a new product or want some updated products whether for home or the office then you will head directly to Samsung to get the replacement. This is simply because you are loyal to the brand and this isn’t uncommon. These are both examples of customer loyalty.

What exactly is customer loyalty?

Customer loyalty is when they choose a particular product or brands and use them over all the rest even if they are priced a little higher than the competition. When you have a loyal customer, they won’t be easily swayed by availability or by price. Customers will be happy to pay more and get the same product or service that they know and love.

You gain customer loyalty from one company be consistently meeting and going over the customers’ expectations. If they trust a company, they will purchase from them again in the future and even persuade their friends and family to do so as well. It may be something as simple as going to the same business that has designed your previous custom designed basketball uniforms and all other basketball apparel for domestic competitions of basketball. This is a prime example of customer loyalty.

The importance of customer loyalty

Loyalty within a business is important for every part of your business. Customers that are not happy will certainly not buy from you again. Without loyal staff and customers your business will simply not survive and struggle to meet your manufacturing and sales goals.

New customers will cost more to obtain, and they don’t spend as much money first up as your returning customers will. You need to have customers coming back which is critical for successful and that is why things like short term profit grabs just don’t work.

You need to make sure you are rewarding your customers and their loyalty. If you are doing constant work for them, say you work in the manufacturing and wire work industry, you will need to make sure you deliver the finest work to them. Make it know that the standards of your wire furniture and other items will not waiver and this consistency is something your customers can expect.

Stronger customer loyalty will enhance your company to grow

It may be obvious that loyal returning customers that are spending money are good for your business but there are other benefits also. Think of your business like a leaky bucket. Your customers are coming in and filing the bucket up and then you have a full bucket of not only customers but also profits to.

Now think about a bucket with a hole in it. Your customers that were filling it up are now leaking out slowly. When you start losing customers it is called a churn. There is no easy way to start filling up that bucket fast as you are still losing customers. Now you can patch the hole up and improve the retention but that simply means that you still need to be keeping customers inside the bucket.

What benefits are to be gained via business loyalty?

Repeat business

Customer acquisition and retention

Minimise service cost

Reduce marketing costs

Forecast accuracy

Improve your brand image

Stand tall among the competitors

Good quality and honest feedback

Heard the expression the first impression is the last impression?

This is certainly true when you are talking about business. When you end up selling something to a customer for the first time you need to ensure everything is in order like a proper greeting, product demo and ensuring they have no questions or concerns about the product before buying. This builds trust and confidence between the staff and the customer. Once the trust and confidence grows more the business will come flowing in.

Ensure you stay connected with your customers by their preferred method and time of communication. If none has been supplied and you call check what time you are calling and avoid times like lunch time and late at night out of respect. Let the customers know there are new products or services on offer but don’t push just remind them you are still around. ensure your customer services is spot on as 67% of customers refused to buy products from a certain shop if they experienced bad customer feedback.

Bring in a loyalty program

It is a good idea to bring in a loyalty program which means each time a customer buys a product from you they are reward with loyalty points. These can be accumulated over time and redeemed for a free product or service overtime. This gives the customers some motivation to spend more in the store.