Ultimate Business Psychology Hacks
Here are some interesting tips to rock in any business.
The Psychology of Customer Loyalty
Business Psychology – The Psychology of Customer Loyalty
1. Motivating
your customers
Businesses crave customer loyalty as it brings consumers
back to use their products or services again and again. Customer retention is a
big deal across all industries with groups as divergent as J.D. Power &
Associates, the U.S. Commerce Department and the Business Network International
seeking to analyze it. Understanding the psychology of loyal customers can mean
greater profits too, as less funds will be spent on advertising while more
money can be diverted to the bottom line. Here are a few suggestions to incite
this essential trait in your business clients.
2. Elicit
Feedback
Do your customers like what you have to offer? You can know
this by asking for their feedback. Feedback comes in a number of ways — through
online surveys, by making phone calls and through face to face interaction.
However, getting feedback is meaningless unless you are able
to correctly interpret the results. This means understanding how your customers
perceive your products and services, and taking the steps necessary to ensure
their satisfaction. This also means handling specific problems identified by a
customer such as a product that may not be working as expected or a service
that falls short. Respond directly to this customer and take the steps
necessary to amend your shortcomings going forward.
3. Give
Thanks
If you want customer loyalty, the words “thank you” should
be on your lips. Customers know when staff is eager to see them go. They also
know when staff is eager for their business. Imbue an “attitude of gratitude”
for your team and make sure your customers know it.
You can engender customer loyalty and motivation by
rewarding those that patronize your business. For instance, Panera Bread offers
a loyalty card that tracks purchases and awards customers based on usage. But,
they go beyond that too by offering customers a free bagel or a danish on a
periodic basis regardless of purchase history. Customers understand that Panera
Bread is thinking about them, something you want to show yourself by giving
thanks or rewards in a variety of special ways.
4. Customer
Tracking
Sophisticated computer algorithms and data harvesting have
made it possible for businesses to track customer interaction accurately. This
can be particularly effective for any business where customer interaction is
too hard to quantify on a personal basis.
Know precisely when customers set foot in your store and
what they buy. Follow up these visits with mailings to the home or email
messages with special offers and discounts. Build a symbiotic relationship with
your customers, going beyond a mere service or product provider to an ally.
5. The
Personal Touch
While data mining can and should be used to assemble
information about your customers including their visits, purchases and other
behaviors, such information assemblage is no substitute for reaching out
directly to your customers. Even the biggest business can maintain a personal
touch, by assigning concierges to their customers. For instance, if you sell
luxury automobiles, you will want an individual to maintain contact with this
customer. This person can send out maintenance reminder notices and alert customers
to recalls and new products. While you may never be on a first name basis with
your customers, you can become an instantly recognizable name and a positive
force for good in engendering customer loyalty.
Take care that you do not assault your customers with
impersonal messages or rely on automated messages to stay in touch. You can use
social networks to encourage customer retention and monitor customer feedback
too. Set up social media alerts and respond to problems quickly and
effectively.
6. Building
Customer Loyalty
By fostering a strong relationship with your customers, you
can concentrate on maintaining business instead of spending valuable dollars on
winning new customers. Never take for granted that your customers will return
nor ignore problems as small as they may seem. Customer loyalty means retaining
what you have by eliciting feedback, giving thanks, tracking customer behavior
and through maintaining a personal touch.
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