During my 20+ years’ business career I’ve always been fascinated by how companies increase customer loyalty. Increasing customer loyalty is essential for any company, as loyal customers spend more and become the biggest advocate of the company,
With the launch and development of my own Business Coaching practice this has become even more of a passion as I see many business owners fail to put the right systems in place to increase customer loyalty of their best and most valuable customers.
In the last few months I’ve looked to a number of these examples to help me ensure my clients stay on and keep coming back.
I have been fortunate enough to work with a large global brewer on their brand marketing and trade marketing campaigns where increasing customer loyalty was a key focus.
I have seen first-hand their strategies to increase customer loyalty and build long-term relationships with both individual businesses and national partners. Their way of building relationships, trust, loyalty and providing ongoing value is a process that every small business owner should follow.
A strategic approach to increase customer loyalty
When I look at the way this global brewer built customer loyalty it was truly groundbreaking.
They often worked with them at an individual level providing tangible benefits to help the business grow. They also benefited from increased distribution, higher sales and ‘on the bar’ standout.
This relationship helped to facilitate great word of mouth and built ‘money can’t buy’ trust. The customer was also able to access exclusives and pre-launch offers as well as trial new beers before they hit the market.
That type of deep connection was exactly what I envisioned when I founded my coaching practice, Lucemi Consulting.
But, I wondered, how could I ensure that this type of structure was built in and that I could create customer loyalty and keep my clients coming back?
Building customer loyalty principles
Building on my knowledge, there are a number of strategies I believe are the cornerstones of creating a business that can build long-term client relationships.
This applies specifically to learning, development or change businesses but the principles can be used at some level in every business:
1. It’s about them, not you
If your product or service is designed exclusively with your customer in mind, not you then you are bound to have more success.
You want to be focused on creating great value for the people paying you money – so start everything with them in mind.
Ask yourself, what would be a really amazing experience for my customer? How can they see the value in working with me/buying from me and they understand the importance of coming back to me?
If they feel that and have that experience, there should be nothing stopping them from buying again.
Always ask yourself – Is this about them (my customer) or about me? If it is always about them and you create the right experience/service, you will build loyalty and a referral machine. This could be key to your success
2. Create a lasting impact
What you deliver for your customers/clients has to live on after you finish working with them.
It has to be such an experience that it has the ability to transform their lives when they leave a workshop/class/training room/online class etc
If you really understand your customers, who they are in their business and personal life, and your impact on them is meaningful then they will keep coming back.
3. Give your customers a reason to refer you
The results and experiences you create for your customers/clients is different based on the industry you’re in but the end result is the same. You want your best customers to refer others to you.
In my coaching business, some of the results my clients experience in their business and personal life far exceed what they thought was possible.
Through that change and through the results they create, people want to tell others. They want to share their experience of working with me. They hope that I can create similar results for them.
The thing is, people want to refer. They want to share their positive experiences.
These are the three simple strategies I’ve built a lot of my operations structure on and I hope at least one of these will prove beneficial to you.
About The Author
Mark Pettit helps successful entrepreneurs become more focused and productive so they can expand their freedom, multiply their productivity and hit their goals faster.
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