3 ways to inspire long-time customer loyalty

There are some businesses that have been staples in their community for several decades, and these are the ones that have mastered both agility and the ability to inspire long-time customer loyalty.

One such business belongs to Joh Bailey, whose Double Bay salon turned 30 recently.

In my podcast with him, Joh talked about how he’s kept a lot of his clients for the duration of his career, and that these clients now take their children and even their children’s children to his salons. It’s clear that Joh’s doing something very right to have such great customer loyalty!

Joh’s talk with me revealed some great tips for business owners, and the Brew team were inspired to write up a few more tips for business owners looking to increase their customer retention and loyalty.

Have a read of them below:

Personalisation

Joh always makes sure to prioritise his clients, saying, “My focus is on the client. The client, to me, is what’s driving this whole thing. I’m not so focused on anything else.”

People enjoy being remembered and treated like they’re the #1 priority – in any field or industry, treating customers like they’re the most important part of the transaction is key to securing their loyalty. Why would they go back to their old hair salon if they weren’t treated like they mattered?

Businesses can now personalise their interactions with customers across social and online through the use of apps like Facebook Messenger to make the interactions more personal, or use add-ons to your email program that will allow you to see more info about your client and their social profiles. This is a great opportunity to start a conversation at the right time.

Generosity

The old saying of “you’ve got to spend money to make money” rings true for almost any business. One third of customers said they wouldn’t be loyal to a brand without some sort of customer loyalty rewards program.

Creating small but powerful incentives to invite customers back is key to attracting and then delighting them. Check out this video by Gary Vaynerchuk with recommendations for restauranteurs on how to keep customers coming back.

Differentiating factor

No matter how many other businesses are operating in your industry, there needs to be a differentiating factor. On a street full of cafés, your café should still be different to the others. Be it your branding, your coffee, your atmosphere – there has to be something that says “This is me and I stand out from all the other cafés!”

Joh owns four hair salons across Sydney, and spoke about the differences between each location: “[The salons are] mainly driven by their position. Our city salon has a more corporate sort of vibe, the Double Bay one has a ‘ladies that lunch’ vibe… in Bondi, we’re in a very busy centre and the doors are big and we do walk-in clientele, which we don’t do in the other three.”

Try and make sure your business has a strong differentiating factor – this may reduce the amount of customers you attract as you become more niche, but the customers who will patronise your business are the ones who are guaranteed to enjoy your services the most.

—

Keen to know exactly how Joh Bailey has so many loyal customers and his business tips for salons? Listen to his podcast on The Brew here.

This article first appeared on my website.