4 Ways To Keep Your Customers Loyal

The world of business is changing on a daily business and there always seems to be something new on the horizon to steal your customers’ attention away from what you’re doing. Since it’s far easier and less expensive to keep hold of the customers you already have rather than searching for new ones (although this is also important in order for the company to grow), if you want to run a successful business you will need to make sure you can keep your current customers loyal. Here are some ways to do it.

Reward Your Customers
If you can think of a way to reward the customers who are buying from you and say thank you for helping you to boost your business, you should do it. This might take the form of personal discounts or loyalty cards, for example. You might want to open the store late (if you have a physical store) for cardholder only events where customers can buy discounted items or receive bespoke advice for free. Offering these kinds of incentives is something that your competitors may not do and this will make you stand out in a potentially crowded marketplace.

Communication
Having good communication between you and your customers is always going to make them more loyal to you. That means answering emails promptly and always picking up the phone or returning messages if you were unable to answer at the time.

As well as this, it’s important that you are always clear when you give instructions or take orders. If there is anything you are unsure of, make sure you gain clarification before you start work on it, or you might be setting yourself up to lose time and money, and make your customer unhappy.

Communication also includes possibly sending out newsletters via email. These newsletters can keep your current customers completely up to date with what is going on in your business and even offer them vouchers and discount codes to ensure they buy from you.

Security
Something that is becoming more and more important is the security of your customers’ information. You need to be able to prove to them that you are doing everything you can to keep their information away from the wrong people, and to show that your business is secure both on and offline. Storing information in a cloud-based system is a good way to do this, however, you need to know how to avoid the corruption or leaking of sensitive data. Any data breach can leave a company open to lawsuits and also a poor and damaging reputation.

Say Sorry
We all make mistakes from time to time, but in business that can mean losing a loyal customer. Be prepared to say that you’re sorry if you do make a mistake and always offer to make it up to the customer by offering them something such as a discount or free shipping. Some companies have a ‘goof kit’ that they send out when they make a mistake full of free gifts, flowers, and vouchers. This way, although you have made a mistake, your customers are more likely to forgive you.