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Taking Customer Loyalty Up a Notch: 5 Tips

Bylori

According to recent research, improving your customer loyalty by just 10 percent can bring you an 80 percent boost in profits. When you think about it, a 10-percent improvement isn’t that drastic. Just by making a few changes in the way you approach customer retention, you could see an improvement like that within the year.

  • Put someone in charge – “That which is measured improves,” states Pearson’s Law. If no one’s assigned to track customer loyalty, it won’t be measured and it probably won’t improve either. Choose one person to oversee your entire loyalty management program. Better yet, work with a dedicated service provider that has the systems in place to track and improve customer loyalty. A team of specialists can develop a customized retention program that keeps more customers with you and brings in new ones, too.
  • Be proactive about retention – Track signs of customer dissatisfaction to prevent attrition. Monitor indicators like the time it takes customers to return after each interaction with your company. Keep an eye on your Net Promoter Score to ensure your promoters outnumber your detractors.
  • Make giving feedback easy – Providing a variety of easy-to-use feedback channels lets your customers know you care about their opinions. No less important, it also provides you with valuable information you might not have received otherwise. Don’t just accept feedback though. Respond to it and act on it.
  • Do more than say thanks – A visitor who’s just signed up for something or made a purchase is in a receptive mood. Use your confirmation pages to take advantage of that. This could mean offering an up-sell or a free resource, suggesting next steps or requesting feedback.
  • Prioritize loyalty – Customer loyalty affects every department, so make sure everyone’s kept current on the issue. Including every department positions customer retention as a company-wide priority. It also allows you to gain insight from a variety of perspectives within your company.

Are you already using these tactics to boost your customer loyalty? If you’ve tasked someone with managing your customer retention program, do you feel they’re doing the job well?

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