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11 Smart Ways To Improve Customer Loyalty

Improve Customer Loyalty

What’s the smartest thing you’ve ever done to improve customer loyalty to your company/product?

 

1. Discussed Long-Term Strategy

“We decided we needed to make a bigger effort to discuss long-term strategy with our clients from the very beginning. They have more loyalty and trust with our company when we are open about the long-term plan and what our relationship will look like in three months, six months and a year.”

KELSEY MEYERInfluence & Co.

 

 

2. Hosted a Customer Retreat

“At Round Table Companies, we host a yearly author retreat for our clients. They pay to get to Chicago and for lodging, and we cover most everything else from Friday evening to Sunday evening. We spend the weekend working, learning and sharing where we all are. That provides an opportunity for our clients to connect with one another where RTC is the conduit. It has created incredible loyalty.”

COREY BLAKERound Table Companies

 

 

3. Responded to Customers

“When you’re creating a new product or service, you’re inevitably going to make mistakes. Being accessible and responsive (via email, phone or chat) is the key to keeping those early customers happy despite the bugs and issues they’ll face. And after you develop a relationship with them, customers are more likely to stick around.”

BHAVIN PARIKHMagoosh Inc

 

 

4. Used the Phone

“If a customer sends you an email (especially if he has an issue), one-up his salience of communication. A phone call can take just as long as writing an email and will let him know how much you value him. Sending an email is often like sending a letter in a bottle out to the ocean. Talking on the phone lets you know there’s a person on the other end and they care.”

ADAM STILLMANSparkReel

 

 

5. Surveyed Customer Experience

“The best way to create loyal customers is to help them become more successful. I’ve found that the easiest way to learn how to help customers is by asking them about their goals and obstacles. Only then are you able to create a product and educational resources that will help them become more successful.”

RUBEN GAMEZBidsketch

 

 

6. Rewarded Customers for Loyalty

“It’s important to always look for ways to generate new clients, but your regular customers are your bread and butter. Reward them with discounts and freebies to ensure their loyalty and ensure that they spread the word about your business”

ANDREW SCHRAGEMoney Crashers Personal Finance

 

 

7. Implemented a New Return Policy

“My business associates frequently seek my counsel on how to improve our customers’ loyalty to our company and products. The smartest thing I ever did was to implement a no-questions-asked returns policy free of restocking fees. Although there is some potential for abuse with people who buy items to use for a brief time, this policy makes customers much more confident in our goods.”

JAY WUA Forever Recovery

 

 

8. Wrote Thank-You Cards

“I write thank-you cards to my clients two or three times a year. I have more than 600 clients, so I break them out by tiers. Sometimes, it’s the small and meaningful gestures that are remembered.”

DARRAH BRUSTEINNetwork Under 40 / Finance Whiz Kids

 

 

 9. Valued a High Renewal Rate

“All products must have a sticky component to them. For my SaaS-based company, it is activation. In our case, it’s not just important for an agency to log in to our system. It is also important for it to transact in the system and make it the tool used first and last. That is the way to have a high renewal rate. People not enjoying your product will not renew and will not come back.”

ADAM DEGRAIDEAstonish

 

 

10. Featured Them in Advertisements

“Everyone wants to be famous. By highlighting customers through interviews, photos and videos, you’re creating content that they want to push out to their networks. We spotlighted some of our top advice-givers, allowing an opportunity for public recognition (while also indirectly motivating less active users). They not only felt a stronger bond with our brand, but they also became our evangelists.”

HEIDI ALLSTOP, Spill

 

 

11. Treated Them Like Friends

“We’ve removed all jargon from our communications. If we had a shop where people walked in, we’d talk to them like they were friends. Online businesses tend to be so formal that it can be off-putting. We use profile pictures for our customer service agents so people know whose smiling face they’re dealing with. Our goal is make our customers feel like they have personal connections with us.”

JIM BELOSIC, Pancakes Laboratories/ShortStack

 

 

Originally published by StartupCollective.

 

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