Benjamin Bressington asked:


The success of any business is directly affected by the loyalty of its customers. If you run a business, you must make it one of your primary goals to build a relationship with your customers. Creating customer loyalty takes time and effort, but it’s essential to the long-term success of your business and it doesn’t require a substantial budget.

Keep in touch with your customers

Stay in the forefront of your customers’ minds by keeping in touch with them on a regular basis. For example, you might want to create a customer newsletter that you send to customers every month that provides them with information they can use. Or, you might want to send coupons for discounts on your products or services on a regular basis. Staying in front of your customers is a key to creating loyal customers.

In addition to keeping in touch via snail mail, take advantage of email marketing. You might want to send an e-newsletter to your customers every week, informing them of your latest products and services, the latest news, and offering them coupons or other specials for being a loyal customer.

Offer customer loyalty rewards

Offer your loyal customers rewards for doing business with you. For example, many grocery stores offer a customer loyalty card that provides customers, who have a card, with discounts on products. The cashier swipes the customer loyalty card each time a customer checks out and the amount saved by using the card is tallied. Oftentimes, cardholders will receive extra discounts around the holidays as a reward for shopping at the particular grocery store and using their card.

Consider how customer loyalty rewards could play a role in your business, and implement such a program to help build customer loyalty.

Provide superior customer service

A common complaint among many customers today is a lack of good customer service. While customer service may be a downfall for many businesses, make it an advantage with yours by providing superior customer service. When your customers contact you, respond promptly and with a willingness to help. When your customers have a problem, do your best to solve that problem so that they are happy with the end results.

Highlight your USP

You must find a way to highlight your USP, Unique Selling Proposition, when you are marketing. For example, if your product or service comes with an ironclad money-back guarantee, mention that in your marketing materials, on customer invoices and receipts, and when talking with customers.

Listen to your customers’ feedback

Ask for your customers’ feedback then listen to what they actually have to say. If a customer informs you of a problem, do your best to solve that problem. You can create loyal customers by showing that you care about what they have to say.

Remember, happy customers become loyal customers, and loyal customers will refer others to your business, so it’s essential that you genuinely care about your customers and listen to what they have to say.

Pj Germain asked:


Becoming and staying customer-intimate requires more than building client knowledge and having expertise in re-engineering our customers business processes. We must offer more than just service. We need to maintain a broad product line that can be configured to the specific needs of a customer. It is important to know that an average product tailored to a customers very specific need is often better than the more advanced, but inflexible, product. Many times organizations are not obsessed by the leading edge; rather they embrace solid, tested products that can be tailored to fit their needs like a glove. It is important for us to produce unmatched value for our customers who do not necessarily want the very latest product – just the best result and help in obtaining it.

1. It is necessary to understand the importance of empowerment and the critical role of individual initiative. It can be summed up in a one-word motto = THINK. It is important for us to be disciplined in order to live out this motto everyday in our interactions with customers.

2. Client by client, we need to set targets for penetration, development, and growth. We need to use specific, detailed, and integrated customer data.

3. A challenge is to assemble, integrate, and retain talented people who can stay at the forefront of new paradigms and techniques that affect our customers business. Good ideas today are a dime a dozen. Brilliant concepts and practices are disseminated with stunning speed. Competitive benchmarking and best-practice studies have become standard elements in most organizations. But what is still in short supply, is the ability to effect change, to get things implemented, to make things happen. That is the value provided by being a customer- intimate company. Proof of our value is found only in results. The most cherished reward is a prize from a customer recognizing that our company has played an instrumental part in their success.

Stories abound in various companies about employees who have gone above and beyond the call of duty for their customers. An example is a story about the Four Seasons Hotel doorman who found the briefcase of a guest who had already checked out. Assuming that it contained important papers, the doorman rushed to the airport, caught the next air shuttle, and delivered the briefcase to the forgetful fellow. Heroic? Well, yes. More important, though, the story adds to the mythology that typifies the way the hotel runs. The doorman is now an icon, not just an isolated character in a crazy story. The message to employees: Four Seasons Hotel customers deserve nothing less than service that dazzles, that awes. The point is that this mythology supports a strong culture, one that tells employees: Do whatever it takes to please the customer!

Ways of Showing Customers Our Loyalty:

1. Be a Communicator

Establish an ongoing customer information system that acknowledges the need to obtain and distribute information. Explain services available to them in language they can understand.

2. Be Reliable

Take full responsibility for customer satisfaction and for the quality of the product or service provided. Be consistent and dependable.

3. Be Responsive

Show your willingness and ability to provide prompt service.

4. Be Credible

Be trustworthy. Fulfill on promises and meet every requirement. Keep confidential all critical information shared.

5. Be Accessible

Provide ease for contacting. Be available and flexible when changes are necessary.

6. Be Competent

Know and understand the customers requirements and expectations. Ask questions.

7. Be Courteous

Show respect and friendliness at all times. Be appreciative – thank them for their business, for thorough instructions about a project, for a properly prepared disk, etc. Use various means to communicate your appreciation – a verbal acknowledgment, a card or note, a small token of

thanks, etc.

8. Be Proactive

As an advocate for the customer, act as a partner and walk in their shoes. Identify potential problems and be innovative in creating options and solutions.

9. Be Professional

Appearance of physical facilities and personnel is critical as customer perceptions are easily influenced.

10. Be Committed

Our customers are our business! Be committed to their success. Treat customers like assets. Do everything possible to retain them and increase their lifetime value.