What you’ll read: Like any good BFF, companies should give customers the following: loyalty, empathy, and boundaries
It’s a rare business that doesn’t want repeat customers. Fostering loyalty is top of mind for most marketers, and there’s no shortage of advice on how to do it. Traditional advice tends toward loyalty programs, incentives, and other such tools. And it’s traditional because it works; those methods are excellent for sustaining a relationship with customers. They do overlook one very important thing about the people you’re trying to win over, however.
Think about your best friend, the one who wouldn’t just help you move, they’d help you move a body. The loyalty you have for each other was built over time, as you both exhibited the qualities that signaled you deserved that kind of fidelity. A business will probably never let a customer sleep on the couch until they get back on their feet, but nonetheless can display the qualities that form the foundation of loyalty.
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When you think about customer loyalty, consider the following:
1. Loyal friends are honest with each other
This one is so obvious you perhaps forgot how intrinsic it was to building a strong relationship with your customers. Treat them honestly, fairly, and consistently. If you’ve always offered free returns but now can’t for some reason, for example, be open with your customers about it. The extra fee may be a deal-breaker for some folks, but the ones who stick around will appreciate your forthrightness and feel better about spending their money with a business that values honesty.
2. Loyal friends are there for you
A loyal friend isn’t one who only rings you up when you’re on top of the world, they’re also there for you when the universe is kicking you around. We’re not suggesting that you should devote yourself to every customer forever — you are still running a business, after all — but don’t overlook the history of your relationship with them. Don’t ignore them when they’re not handing you money; their patronage is important to you, whether it happened yesterday or is going to happen tomorrow. Your customers want to believe you value them, not just their bank account, so make sure they feel that way. Send them an email for their birthday, or to share a good dad joke.
3. Loyal friends have boundaries
True friends maintain boundaries to leave room for self-care and personal responsibility. Being there for your friend means that sometimes you should leave them the heck alone. Aggressive marketing techniques might produce results in the short term, but run the risk of alienating customers who perceive them as a boundary-crossing intrusion. Customers owe your business the same respect; if they expect you to change everything to suit their needs, they’re not loyal.
It may seem a little silly to talk so much about best friends because these are, after all, people giving you money in exchange for goods or services. You’re not pals, you’re business partners, and the “business” half of that is what’s most important to you. Don’t focus so much on that half that you ignore the “partner” piece of the equation. Customer loyalty is never one-sided, but if you give your customers the attention and respect they deserve, you’ll stay friends to the end.