They say that successful relationships are the result of continuous effort – and a solid, mutually beneficial relationship is always worth the work.
This Valentine’s Day, I wanted to share my top 5 tips for making your customers fall in love with your brand, over and over and over again.
- Listen to Their Needs. Every brand focuses on new client acquisition (or, as I like to call it, the courtship phase). But too many companies fail to invest as meaningfully in client retention (you know: the marriage). But do I really need to remind anyone of what happens when you ignore the people most important to you? Neglecting your customers’ needs is just another way of saying, “you’re not that special.” And once they get the message, they’ll move on.
- Keep Things Fresh and Interesting. Your competitors – both the established brands you understand and the disruptors who will break into the scene – will always carry a certain appeal because they’ll offer something new and different. Maybe it’s a new product feature. Maybe it’s a whole new way of doing things. Or – more likely – it’s something you haven’t even imagined yet. To keep your customers happy with you, you can’t rest on yesterday’s product innovations.
- Always Make Them Feel Special. How do your customers feel about you? You need to know because those feelings play a huge role in their future buying decisions. And in today’s online, instant gratification world, customer loyalty isn’t a static thing. It’s recalibrated with every single contact. Whether your customer is making a purchase, asking a question, lodging a complaint, or trying to make a change, they’re paying careful attention to how they feel treated by you. Long hold times, confusing or unsatisfying answers, and lackluster follow through can cause long lasting damage. For most brands, customer experience, satisfaction, and loyalty are not driven by price point or packaging. They’re the product the accumulation of every little interaction as reflected in your responsiveness, your tone, and the quality of your follow through.
- Always Say Thank You. Not just talking about those two words. I’m talking about showing your gratitude. For some brands, this appreciation gets conveyed through solid marketing and top shelf customer service training. For other brands, it includes actual customer appreciation and rewards strategies. I’m a big believer in rewards programs – but to make them work, be sure you train your inbound customer care team to support it with enthusiasm and a solid understanding of how the program works.
- Commit to Growing Together. The surest path to growing your sales numbers is to keep growing each customer relationship. Gather and truly use data to understand who’s buying what and what they’re likely buying elsewhere. One of the greatest sources of that critical intelligence: your customers! Ask them. Use email or online surveys. Script your call center to start the conversation and capture the responses. Then act on what you know.
At Skybridge Americas, we show every customer the love and respect they deserve. If you’d like to know more about how we can make your customers fall more in love with you, please reach out. We would love to talk!
-Bobby Matthews
Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing
Skybridge Americas
bmatthews@skybridgeamericas.com
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