There is no doubt that it costs more to create a new customer than it does to keep an existing one. That doesn’t mean, however, that you don’t always want to be cultivating new customers. The challenge there, however, is to turn new customers into repeat customers. The good news is, some of the ways in which you retain your current customer or consumer base are also useful for turning new customers into repeat customers. Here are 3 simple ways to keep your customers coming back consistently.
Offer a Great Product or Service
It really doesn’t matter how many new customers you get to come in the door if you offer a subpar product or service. In fact, many of your current customers might not be customers because you offer the best product or service, but rather that you are the most convenient or economical. That means as soon as someone comes along that can offer them something fractionally better, they are gone. If you want to build customer loyalty that can even withstand some competition, make sure your product or service is worth being loyal to.
Personalize Your Service
In the 1980s, the theme song from the popular TV show Cheers talked about a place “where everybody knows your name, and they’re always glad you came.” While you may not be able to greet every customer by name, it’s not a bad goal to have. In an age of automation, however, it is easier than ever to customize your service and make it personal. With automation, you can send e-mails with the person’s first name in the salutation, sending a physical card on their birthday and even send reminders when they are low on products or you haven’t seen them in a while.
Invest in a Good Customer Loyalty Program
There is no doubt that customer loyalty programs can be effective, but that doesn’t mean that all customer loyalty programs are effective. For instance, programs that offer rewards that little to no value to the customer are not going to actually encourage loyalty. Loyalty programs that are tied into an app, for instance, that actually makes it easier to purchase or order will generally have a high success rate. While you can certainly design and run your own loyalty program, there are a growing number of companies that can actually design an effective loyalty program for you.
Loyal customers can be worth their weight in gold. Not only can loyal customers keep your business afloat, but they can also build your business by recommending it to others. When you truly develop good customer loyalty, you can even protect your business from would-be competitors.