Customer Loyalty Will Likely Fall When You Do These 10 Things
Whether you sell t-shirts online, run a pastry shop, or a coffee shop, the old marketing adage holds true – it’s better to keep an existing customer than to find a new one. What’s more, it’s far easier to sell to a returning customer.
According to?marketing statistics , the probability of selling to an existing customer is between 60% and 70%, but selling to a new customer – only between 5% and 20%.
In this article, we’ll go through the basics of customer loyalty, look at why it’s important, and learn how to avoid common pitfalls that damage your reputation. This information will help you to build relationships and turn one-time buyers into loyal, repeat customers.
If you’d like to find out more, read on as we discuss why customer loyalty will likely fall when you neglect and fail to foster customer relationships.
Let’s get started.
What Is Customer Loyalty?
In business, loyalty means having customers that will repeatedly choose a specific brand or product due to positive experiences they’ve had in the past. Customer loyalty will likely fall when you forget that it’s an ongoing emotional relationship between the business and the customer, that requires constant care and nurture.
Loyal customers:
Just as with personal relationships, trust, openness, and mutual respect are equally important in business. The endeavor to build such relationships may seem like a daunting task, however, the challenge is worth taking on – it’s greatly rewarding, both emotionally and financially.
Why Is Customer Loyalty Important?
Customer loyalty plays an important role in fueling your success and driving your business forward. To better understand its critical importance, we should first look at the Pareto Principle.
This principle – often called the 80/20 Rule – states that for many outcomes, roughly 80% of output results from 20% of input. This basically means that?80% of a business’s revenue is generated by only 20% of customers.?To take advantage of this rule, you need to identify the characteristics of these customers and do everything you can to keep them engaged and happy.
As you can see, this is a very important rule, which, when applied properly, can help you grow your business with much less work.
Another cool thing about loyal customers is that by simply having an emotional relationship with them, they’ll recommend your business at a rate of?71%, rather than the average of 45% .?
Let’s not forget that the internet has dramatically changed the business landscape. The trust in companies has eroded –?65% do not trust advertisements . Today,?81% of customers ?trust recommendations from family and friends over those from companies.
And, once you get yourself a loyal customer base, you can seize the sale and use?up-selling and cross-selling ?to increase your profits even further. Both of these are classic and easily applicable sales techniques that persuade customers to spend more money than they originally intended.
How to Measure Customer Loyalty?
Although loyalty is an emotion and thus a little tricky to measure, there are certain metrics that you can use to gather data and turn it into actionable insights. Despite the fact that measuring customer loyalty might seem a bit difficult at first glance, it’s absolutely worth the effort in the long run. The easiest way to start is by analyzing your customer feedback, repeat sales, churn rate, etc.
A quintessential customer loyalty metric is the customer retention rate (CRR). It’s vital for your company’s short-term and long-term success because it shows what percentage of your customers stay with you over time.
To measure CRR, simply take?the number of customers you have at the start (S), at the end (E), and customers gained during the period you’re measuring (N).
Here’s an example of how it should look.
CRR = ((E-N)/S) x 100
Let’s say you have 200 customers at the start of a month. In that month, you lose 20 but gain 30 customers. So the number of customers at the end of the period is 210, but at the start – 200.
((210-30)/200) x 100 = 90% CRR
In general, you should strive for the highest possible retention rate. The rule of thumb, however, says that a rate above 85% is acceptable while retaining 90% and upward is an eCommerce dream.
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Customer Loyalty Will Likely Fall When You Do These Things
Now that we’ve understood the great importance of customer loyalty, let’s take a look at some of the most common pitfalls that entrepreneurs encounter while trying to build relationships with their customers.
Always remember to be kind, respectful, and genuinely helpful to your customers, especially those who have stayed with you for a long time. If you want to keep your customers happy, these are the things you should consider, because customer loyalty will likely fall when you do this.
1. You Offer Poor Customer Service
Good customer service goes a long way. If you are late with a delivery, your product somehow happens to be defective, or if you break your promise, make sure that the customer’s happiness is your top priority. According to a recent?Statista’s ?worldwide survey, 57% of respondents said that customer service is the most important factor in maintaining their loyalty.
Even though most businesses often don’t prioritize responses to customer reviews, it’s important that you do.?By learning?how to respond to negative reviews , you can gain an advantage over your competition.
Did you know that about?33% of?American customers ?say they’ll consider switching companies immediately following a single instance of poor service and that this percentage grows to 60% if a customer receives bad service two to three times?
If you want to improve the service you provide and gain customer trust and loyalty, always follow the so-called?7 C’s of customer service ?– concern, consistency, creativity, courtesy, composure, commitment, and competence. By following these principles and offering good customer service, you can easily convert your one-time customers into recurring customers.
2. You Don’t Reward Existing Customers
A thing that many merchants neglect is loyalty and rewards programs. How does your brand stand out? Do you offer rewards programs that others don’t? Did you know that people wouldn’t care if?74% of brands ?they use vanished? They’re simply not memorable, nor do they offer valuable rewards that people can’t get anywhere else.?
This, our dear merchant, is where you come in. Forget useless rewards. A good loyalty program builds an emotional connection by offering perks, benefits, and discounts. It rewards your most valuable customers, and it’s definitely worth the effort because?52.3% of loyal customers join rewards programs . However, if you fail to offer a useful loyalty program, your customer loyalty falls.
3. You Offer Low-Quality Product
A surefire way to destroy customer loyalty is by neglecting your product quality. It goes without saying that offering high-quality products is an absolute must if you want to acquire new customers, keep your loyal ones, and increase revenue.
Are you afraid that you’ll start losing money if you increase your product quality? Don’t, because quite the opposite is true. Once you have a loyal customer base,?39.4% of loyal customers are willing to spend more on a product ?despite having cheaper options elsewhere.
You should always meet your customers' expectations because they – as well as you – are very well aware of the old cliché – buy cheap, buy twice.
4. Bad Customer Experience
Today, outstanding customer experience is more important than ever. As eCommerce continues to grow, so does the competition. If you want to attract new customers and keep existing ones, the experience that you deliver needs to be top-notch.
Your brand values as well as the impression you give to your customers are as important as the products you offer. Did you know that only?40% of consumers ?would consider doing business with a company that offers a poor customer experience? If you want loyal customers, providing an excellent customer experience is a must.
According to?FinancesOnline , here are some of their expectations.
Furthermore, convenience still reigns supreme – it is prioritized by 67% of Baby Boomers, 76% of Gen Zers, and 45% of consumers. The convenience of purchase or use is a factor that makes them feel loyal to a brand.
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