How to retain and retain your customers? Strategies to retain customers
Do you want to know how to retain and retain your customers? In this case, with good observation, initiative, excellent products or services, and a lot of empathy, it is possible to attract the target audience.
Therefore, some measures or strategies must be applied to attract and retain customers, and we can do this by thinking like them and knowing what they really need.
We will analyze various actions or strategies to retain customers that we can carry out in our business if we want to offer a good service, retain our customers for longer and improve the level of satisfaction towards our brand.
In addition, it must be borne in mind that there are several types of loyalty that can be based on rewards, customer interest or brand loyalty.
But, there is no doubt that the application of different techniques or loyalty strategies will help us build stronger relationships with our public, which is the most important thing to guarantee the success of the business.
Next, we will highlight some of the most effective customer loyalty strategies to improve sales in your business.
Customer Service
One of the factors that any consumer values most is undoubtedly the personalized attention provided by vendors and customer service.
It is essential to know how to listen to the voice of the client, give adequate solutions and answers to the requests of our clients, being very polite with them at all times. It is very important that our customer service further improves the experience of those who require this service.
Additionally, when offering and informing them of all the products or services we offer, we must do so in a very detailed and non-intrusive manner. This will guarantee the best shopping experience for the customer, who will feel comfortable, that we are not trying to sell them anything they do not need and will want to come back to our business.
On the other hand, human attention is usually preferred by users, since machines do not normally generate the sensation of proximity that interaction with another person offers. And it is that the client needs to feel that, on the other side, there is someone who cares about his needs and is available to help him.
We are all customers of someone and this strategy to build customer loyalty is one of the great forgotten in many companies. Perhaps due to lack of knowledge, demotivation of your employees, lack of desire or interest, etc., but it can make your customers run away to your competition and never see them again.
In this case, all these interactions are an opportunity to attract and retain customers, therefore it is essential to listen carefully and maintain fluid and spontaneous communication, without issuing the common mechanical and impersonal responses that a robot would have.
Nor should we ignore the importance of the after-sales service, since the customer’s experience does not end with the purchase, but we must quickly solve any incident that may arise later.
Mobile apps
What are mobile apps?
If you wonder what mobile apps are, we can tell you that they are programs designed to be executed on mobile phones, tablets and other devices.
These mobile applications allow the user to carry out various things on their device: social, educational or professional activities, access to services and many other things.
And, if we focus on business, mobile applications are ideal as customer loyalty and communication programs; that is why they are so useful today.
Today, the Internet and Smartphones are within the reach of any user, so apps are excellent loyalty strategies.
The use of mobile applications is one of the strategies that offers the best results in terms of the relationship with users and this will undoubtedly increase business sales.
A multi-channel platform that can be consulted on any computer or mobile device, is an essential tool to build loyalty.
Reward the best customers
Why not use this strategy to retain customers? Reward good customers. As we have already indicated, our relationship with customers should not end once the purchase is made. The ability to maintain that relationship over time is as important as attracting new customers.
Therefore, rewarding loyalty and the volume of purchases is a good strategy to maintain the level of consumer satisfaction and their commitment to our company.
These types of additional services should not involve a great economic effort for the business, but they are very important for users.
In this case, it is about developing a customer loyalty program, which is nothing more than rewarding their loyalty with a reward system for frequent purchases, discounts according to the economic amount invested or a points program, for example.
Consumers value this type of measure positively and recognize that it influences the volume of spending and the frequency with which they buy a certain brand.
In this sense, the most useful thing is to have your own mobile app, such as mobile applications for restaurants, where we can promote these point programs, rewards or personalized offers for each user.
Self appraisal
More than a strategy to retain customers, it is a recommendation about ourselves and our business. Sometimes it is necessary to pause, reflect, admit our mistakes, look for strengths and maximize our competitive advantages.
For this reason, it is important to periodically carry out a self-assessment of our performance and the impact of certain actions, to find out what works best and identify what is failing or does not offer the expected results.
For that, with the same mobile applications or computer programs, we can monitor sales metrics, cost analysis, performance measurement and evaluate our investment capacity.
For that, with the same mobile applications or computer programs, we can monitor sales metrics, cost analysis, performance measurement and evaluate our investment capacity.
With all this information and data collected, it will be easier to develop an action plan to improve those aspects that are failing or to implement new customer loyalty strategies.
Get to know customers better
Likewise, we recommend that you define your Buyer Persona in order to have, in writing, a profile of your ideal client.
It is key to treat each customer individually or personally, in order to offer them a more satisfactory shopping experience.
To do this, you have to take time to get to know them better: to know what they want when they come into contact with our company, what products or services they really need and how we can make them feel better once the transaction is finished.
Subsequently, all the information collected will be very useful to make recommendations, personalized offers and other issues that may be of interest to you.
Loyalty clients in Social Networks
In an increasingly digital society, creating a profile on one or more social networks is a very effective customer loyalty and acquisition strategy.
The strategy to retain customers in social networks will allow us to interact with them and receive their opinions. In addition, it is an ideal way to spread our brand among people, so we can make use of users to launch advertising campaigns, offers or catalogs of our products and/or services.
Likewise, it is highly recommended, in the case of social networks, to have an adequate content strategy defined and to encourage social proof or interaction of those who are already customers to generate testimonials that help new customers decide to buy our products or services.
Take customer complaints and suggestions into account
Negative customer reviews are generally the most helpful for any business to grow.
For this reason, it is important to take into account all the opinions that our clients send us, including the negative ones, as they will allow us to avoid the same mistakes over and over again in the future.
It is preferable to directly receive a complaint or negative review to help us solve a problem, rather than get a bad reputation without even knowing why.
For this reason, we must encourage this feedback and ask customers for their opinions and suggestions, because that shows that we care and want to satisfy their needs.
In the face of a negative review from a user (in person, by phone or through the website or mobile app), the first thing you should do is thank them for their opinion, apologize if necessary, and act as quickly as possible to try to solve their problem. .
As they say “the client is always right”, for this reason it is preferable to give in sometimes, since all efforts must be directed at not losing any client and avoiding negative publicity from someone who is dissatisfied, since this will cause much greater damage. on our reputation.
Convey confidence to our clients
Trust and commitment are two concepts that are linked. Therefore, if we manage to earn the trust of our customers, they will be more satisfied with our company and are more likely to become repeat customers.
Therefore, we must be very honest and fulfill what we promise. In addition, you have to show good intentions at all times and seek mutual benefit without taking advantage of buyers. Define the values of your company.
Exceed customer expectations
A satisfied customer is good news and if we also exceed the expectations they expected of us, they are much more likely to come back and also recommend us to other people.
For this reason, getting our customers to do more than just buy a product is critical to improving our customer experience. Let’s put ourselves in the shoes of our clients and treat them as we would like to be treated.
Create a brand with identity
Another of the objectives of a business is to try to make customers identify us easily and that the message transmitted is consistent with our organization and with the values that we want to reflect.
Having a consistent, stable brand and offering something that differentiates us from the competition is a point in favor of attracting potential customers and earning their trust by creating stable and lasting relationships. In this way, our brand becomes a partner for our customers.
Inbound Marketing
Instead of traditional marketing actions, where the brand offers the products or services directly to the recipient, “Inbound Marketing” is based on the idea of getting customers to come to the business, to later establish a better bond with them.
It consists of a customer acquisition system based on capturing leads, using valuable content and tools that exponentially improve the user or customer experience.
Internal Marketing
When talking about internal marketing, we refer to that relationship between the company and its employees. In other words, achieving employee satisfaction, self-realization, and motivation will make them do their job better, treat customers better, become more involved in the business, and perform much better.
Our employees are our best customers. They are the ones who can best talk about our company and who can recommend our products and services. Likewise, they are the ones who will make the experience of our clients unforgettable.
In conclusion, these customer loyalty strategies help to keep the customer present in all the decisions we make, meet their needs and accompany them, not only during the shopping experience, but also after it, in addition to rewarding them for their loyalty.
Therefore, we must not forget that the loyalty of our clients is the result of a set of actions, which must be applied in the best way to obtain the desired success.