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Customer Loyalty and Retention: 10 Key Tips

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Customer loyalty and retention are essential to the success of your company. Indeed, it is known that retaining your current customers costs you much less than acquiring new ones. In addition, having loyal customers allows you to generate positive word of mouth and face competition. This can only have a positive impact on your organization and your turnover.

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However, putting in place a customer loyalty strategy to improve your customer loyalty and retention can be a daunting challenge if you don’t know the issues involved. Prospecting and customer monitoring remain significant assets for your company!

What are the benefits of keeping track of your customers? What methods can you implement to optimize customer loyalty and retention?

To help you better understand the importance of customer follow-up, here are 10 tips to help improve customer loyalty and retention.

What is customer loyalty?

Customer loyalty is a term used to define the processes put in place to establish a lasting relationship of trust between the customer and the company. This approach leads to better customer satisfaction, which in turn results in an optimization of customer retention.

Customer loyalty and retention allow a company to perpetuate its annual revenues without having to acquire new customers to survive. A loyal customer will repeat their purchases with the same brand, as it will be an integral part of their consumption habits. However, to achieve this, you must know how to build a bond of trust throughout your customer relationship and ensure quality service to your consumers. A good follow-up of your customers, combined with an unforgettable customer experience, will allow you to better retain your customers.

In other words, customer loyalty translates into all the actions put in place to encourage your customers to return to your company. Better customer retention attests to the quality of your services: it can, in turn, give you a reputation that will attract new prospects within your company. That’s why it’s important to optimize customer loyalty and retention within your company!

Why is customer loyalty important?

The benefits of customer loyalty

Customer loyalty brings many benefits to businesses. According to Altfeld’s study, a company has a 70% chance of selling to an individual who is already a customer with you. However, according to the same source, a company is only 5% likely to make a sale to a new customer. This statistic proves that promoting customer loyalty and retention is much cheaper than acquiring new customers!

In addition, customer loyalty and retention also have a positive impact on your brand image. A loyal customer who has had an enjoyable experience with your business is likely to recommend your services to a loved one. This positive word of mouth improves your reputation, which in turn increases your customer acquisition rate.

The more you show your customers that their well-being is a priority for you, the more they will be committed to your business. Good client retention will make you a company known in your field of expertise and will facilitate the acquisition of new leads, in addition to generating greater annual income. That’s why it’s important to optimize your customer loyalty and retention!

Customer loyalty and retention: how to optimize them?

Building a lasting relationship with your customers is a priority mission for many companies. Your service offer exists mainly to meet the needs of your customers. That’s why you need to not only offer them an exceptional experience but also make them feel heard and cared for so they can return to your organization. However, following up on your customers while providing them with quality service can be challenging, especially for those less experienced in customer satisfaction.

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How can you show your clients that they are at the center of your priorities? What process should you put in place to optimize your customer loyalty? To help you, here are ten tips to help you improve your customer loyalty and retention strategies.

1. Show gratitude to your customers

thank you is more than a courtesy. It shows your customers that you know how important they are to your business. As a result, it is crucial to take the time to thank your customers for the trust they place in you so that they feel valued, listened to and appreciated.

A thank you has a positive impact on the emotional connection between the customer and the company. By taking the time to show your customers that you enjoy their visit, you build a relationship of trust with them. They will feel pampered and will be more likely to return to your company for future purchases.

To improve customer loyalty and retention, express your gratitude to your customers on a regular basis. Here are some examples:

  • Send signed thank you cards at special times;
  • Share exclusive promotions;
  • Offer gifts in connection with their last purchases;
  • Organize information sessions related to your products and services;
  • Take the time to express your gratitude face to face, or via a personalized email;
  • When one of your ambassadors is going through a particularly difficult time, offer them a free product or service, if possible.

2. Offer exclusive promotions

It is now common to see that some companies offer coupons in the context of online purchases or even in a physical store. In order to exploit this feature to its full potential, what better way to offer exclusive promotions to your ambassadors?

According to SmallBizzGenius’ analysis, 72% of customers favor companies that reward their ambassadors. In this sense, setting up a loyalty program is beneficial for your customers’ loyalty and retention.

Offer promotions to your regular customers to reward them for time spent with your business. For example, in a cafe, give your customers loyalty cards that will allow them to get a free drink after a few visits. Online, give your customers promotional discounts after a number of purchases or at important events, such as Black Friday or Valentine’s Day. This will encourage your customers to shop at your branches, as they will be able to use their discounts and promotions. In addition, it will have a positive impact on your customer relationship, as it will show your customers that you are grateful for their loyalty.

Keep these methods in mind when looking for ideas to improve customer loyalty and retention through a loyalty program!

3. Hear from them in a personalized way

Good customer loyalty and retention requires diligent management of your customer relationship over time. From the first contact with your company, your customer must feel listened to and valued. A customer will care about a brand if they feel they are being considered: what better way to do this than to give them a fully personalized experience?

Face-to-face, take the time to get to know your customers. Talk to them for a few minutes, then ask questions directly related to their day’s needs. This will allow you to better understand your customers’ expectations and thus improve their experience within your company.

Online, ask your customers about the satisfaction they feel at various stages of their purchase process using a chatbot. Once the purchase is complete, send them a customer satisfaction survey to ensure the quality of your processes.

After a purchase in a physical location or on the web, once the experience is complete, make sure to follow up with your customers in order to improve their loyalty! When sending emails or SMS, include the customer’s first and last name in your message. Add a subject line related to their last purchase to get their attention. Why not offer them promotions or products related to their latest acquisitions? This will show them that you are listening to their needs and taking the initiative to offer them relevant services that meet their expectations. For this purpose, the InputKit customer experience solution has cross-selling functionality. So you can automate the suggestion of complementary products after a satisfying customer experience. Interesting, isn’t it?

When optimizing customer loyalty and retention, remember that every human has different needs. That’s why it’s important to customize your approach and every interaction with your customers!

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4. Create a referral program

A referral program is a great strategy to develop your prospecting and customer monitoring. This allows you to earn regular income by taking advantage of your current ambassadors.

positive word of mouth from loyal customers will increase your number of leads in just a few clicks. In this regard, remind your ambassadors of the benefits of your program via email or newsletter. For example, for every referral who becomes a customer, your ambassadors will be able to benefit from a cash amount, a discount on your products, or even a personalized gift! This will encourage them to promote your services: they will be able to enjoy the rewards of their referring and you, a better customer acquisition based on a relationship of trust.

This strategy is a very interesting marketing tactic. Build your company’s reputation and then set up a referral program to acquire new leads. Send regular reminders to your loyal customers to encourage them to take advantage of the rewards associated with your program. This way, you can keep track of your current customer base and build loyalty while rewarding your ambassadors!

5. Ask for their opinion via customer satisfaction surveys with InputKit

To improve customer loyalty and retention, you need to make them feel heard by your company. In order to achieve this, what better way than to send customer satisfaction surveys?

customer experience evaluation and improvement solution like InputKit allows you to know your customers’ honest opinion of your company. Our fully automated and personalized surveys will be sent to your clients at the right time, one to two hours after a service is rendered. This will save you several hours of management time while getting relevant feedback on the quality of your customer experience. This valuable information will then allow you to adapt your service offer to the current needs of your customers.

By shaping your customer experience to the taste of your consumers, you show them that their opinion is considered. This is a great asset for your customers’ loyalty and retention: they will feel valued and will be much more likely to come back to your company!

Customer satisfaction question

 

6. Answer all your reviews online

Responding to customer reviews is a must for any company that has good customer relationship management. Indeed, a satisfied customer who shows their gratitude highlights the good service of your company: it is important to thank him for their encouraging comments. When a dissatisfied Internet user reports their dissatisfaction, it is also important to give them immediate support to rectify the situation.

By being present on online review platforms, you ensure your customer loyalty and retention through a marketing tactic. You promote a good brand image by showing through your online interactions that the well-being of your customers is at the center of your concerns. By reading and responding to your online reviews, you can correct some customer dissatisfactions and improve your customer experience with feedback. This will contribute to your customer loyalty and retention, as they will feel listened to and considered.

Not sure how to respond to customer reviews? To help you, here are some best practices to follow to ensure customer satisfaction with your virtual platforms.

Responding to positive reviews: best practices

  • Personalize your response with the customer’s name and the service provided to give a human touch to your message;
  • Warmly thank the customer for their feedback;
  • Highlight the positive points addressed in the customer’s message to draw the attention of users to the quality of your service;
  • Keep a calm and professional tone throughout your response;
  • Make sure the message is brief so as not to lose your client’s attention;
  • Offer to invite other satisfied customers to share their positive reviews online;
  • Encourage the satisfied customer to return to your company with upcoming promotions or special events.

Responding to negative reviews: best practices

  • Validate if the negative review is spam. If it is a real customer review, avoid deleting it;
  • Respond to the negative review in less than twenty-four hours;
  • Thank the customer for their time;
  • Apologize for the unpleasant experience they had with your company;
  • Use an empathic tone to validate their emotions;
  • Choose a point of contact, like a phone or email, to find out more about the source of their dissatisfaction without monopolizing the attention of Internet users;
  • Look for a relevant solution related to the customer’s problem;
  • If the user is satisfied with your support, invite them to change their negative opinion for a positive one. This will allow you to turn your detractor into a promoter, which proves the quality of your customer loyalty and retention.

How-InputKit-Can-Help-Manage-Reply-Google-Reviews

7. Be responsive to your customers

It’s a well-known fact that no one likes to wait for help with a customer experience. Moreover, HubSpot confirms that 93% of consumers will return to a brand that offers excellent customer service. This statistic confirms that waiting times for support have a direct impact on customer satisfaction.

How can you improve your support to optimize customer loyalty and retention? The solution is simple: having a responsive team in place!

Build a fully dedicated customer service team ready to respond across your various communication channels. Be active on social networks in order to quickly discern customer dissatisfactions and be ready to rectify the situation. Also, set up an internal chat to avoid some errors when transferring a client.

Online, take care to automate your processes using chatbots that will redirect users to a knowledgeable professional. On your CX platform, highlight your phone number with a call to action. This will definitely improve your customer loyalty and retention as they will feel they are a priority for you!

8. Keep a constant eye on customer satisfaction via a dashboard

Of course, customer loyalty is synonymous with customer satisfaction. However, to meet the expectations of your customers, it is imperative to offer them a high quality experience that will push them back to your business.

In order to tailor your customer experience to the current needs of your customers, you need to monitor your performance indicators diligently. This will allow you to get a better follow-up that, in turn, will increase your customer loyalty.

While there are many metrics, here are three relevant performance indicators to measure the quality of your customer experience:

  • The Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT): Results in a customer’s overall satisfaction with the services received.
  • The Customer Effort Score (CES): Translates into the effort made by the customer to access your products and services.
  • Net Promoter Score (NPS): Translates into the likelihood that a client will refer you to those around them.

To ensure your customers are tracked and retained, send regular customer satisfaction surveys. This strategy will allow you to assess your clients’ satisfaction through questions directly related to your metrics.

Take care to measure your customers’ satisfaction by regularly sending surveys. The metrics you will derive from your customers’ responses will allow you to correct some weaknesses in your customer experience while meeting your customers’ current expectations. This is a must-have for customer loyalty and retention!

9. Recognize important moments in the lives of your clients

As mentioned earlier, it is important to personalize the customer experience and your messages so that each of your consumers feels unique. In this sense, highlighting milestones in the lives of your customers can be a good way to personalize your contacts and show your customers that they are at the heart of your priorities.

For example, if you have a newsletter, be sure to send a personalized email during the holidays, Valentine’s Day, or even Halloween. If you know that a customer’s birthday or wedding is approaching, send your best wishes and if appropriate, offer services and products related to the next event. You can even celebrate a year with an ambassador by offering a special discount to mark the occasion!

Take care of your customers. Show them how important they are to you. This will greatly assist you in your customer loyalty and retention process.

10. Showcase your loyal customers on social media

 

Social media has become a great way to promote customer relationships and showcase the quality of your services. An active presence on your social networks can result in a better e-reputation, a better customer relationship, as well as optimized customer loyalty and retention.

To build customer loyalty through your social networks, what better way to promote your services by highlighting your achievements with your ambassadors? For example, if you are a beauty salon, ask your customers if you can share photos of your best achievements on your social media. This is a great way to attest to the quality of your services, but also to highlight some customers. As a result, your customers will feel more important, as they will play a direct role in your marketing and know that you are proud of the work you have done with them. However, before sharing content (photo, video) that promotes a customer, it is very important to obtain the person’s written consent, otherwise your loyalty goal could completely fail.

Keep in mind that to keep your customers’ loyalty and retention, they must first feel important to you. That’s why including it in your promotional communications can improve your customer retention as well as your online reputation!

Optimizing customer loyalty and retention can be a complex task for those who know less about the subject. However, by asking credible sources, it is possible to do so! Don’t forget the long-term benefits of retaining and retaining your customers!

To improve customer loyalty and retention, show your gratitude to your customers with personalized gifts and messages. Offer your ambassadors exclusive promotions as well as the opportunity to take advantage of a referral program. Don’t forget to send them messages to highlight important events, or even suggest that they be promoted on your social networks!

Take care to respond to customer reviews online, and send regular customer satisfaction surveys. The metrics collected during your surveys, combined with an active customer support, will certainly allow you to optimize the follow-up and loyalty of your customers.

Now that you know the issues of customer loyalty and retention, do you have a solution in place to improve your customer experience? If you need help, feel free to schedule a free demo of our solution with our team of customer experience experts!

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