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 4
Factors for Building a Loyal Customer Base
Do you have a specific plan for building customer
loyalty? When you consider the high cost of landing
new customers versus the high profitability of a
loyal customer base, you might want to reflect upon
your current business strategy. Streetwise Business
Tips offers the following advice along with the four
factors that will greatly affect your ability to
build a loyal customer base:
1. Products that are highly differentiated from
those of the competition.
2. Higher-end products where price is not the
primary buying factor.
3. Products with a high service component.
4. Multiple products for the same customer.
Market To Your Own Customers!
Are there additional products or services you can
sell your customers? Keep all the information you
can on your customers and don't hesitate to ask for
the next sale. When you buy a new car, many dealers
will within minutes try to sell you an extended
warranty or an alarm system. It's often a very easy
sale and costs the dealer almost nothing to make.
Use Complaints To Build Business!
When customers aren't happy with your business they
usually won't complain to you - instead, they'll
probably complain to just about everyone else they
know - and take their business to your competition
next time. That's why an increasing number of
businesses are making follow-up calls or mailing
satisfaction questionnaires after the sale is made.
They find that if they promptly follow up and
resolve a customer's complaint, the customer might
be even more likely to do business than the average
customer who didn't have a complaint.
In many business situations, the customer will have
many more interactions after the sale with
technical, service, or customer support people than
they did with the sales people. So if you're serious
about retaining customers or getting referrals,
these interactions are the ones that are really
going to matter. They should be handled with the
same attention and focus that sales calls get
because in a way they are sales calls for repeat
business.
Reach Out To Your Customers!
Contact with current customers is a good way to
build their loyalty. The more the customer sees
someone from your firm, the more likely you'll get
the next order. Send holiday greeting cards, see
them at trade shows, call or stop by to make sure
everything's okay.
Send a simple newsletter to your customers-tell them
about the great things that are happening at your
firm and include some useful information for them.
Send them copies of any media clippings about your
firm. Invite them to free seminars. The more they
know about you, the more they see you as someone out
to help them, the more they know about your
accomplishments-the more loyal a customer they will
be.
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Melissa Data
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