Posts Tagged ‘customer retention’
Using Your Website to Increase Customer Loyalty
Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008
One of the best ways for any business to maximize their profits is to keep their customers happy - after all, happy customers usually mean loyal customers, and loyal customers mean sales. For small businesses in particular, though, keeping your customers happy can often mean the difference between your business surviving, or falling prey to the larger companies in your niche. There are many ways to keep your customers happy and coming back to you, but one of the most useful and cost-effective methods is by using your company website.
Think about it - in today’s business environment, most sales now take place online. And if someone is looking for a particular supplier or provider of a product or service that they’re after, then that person will probably look for a business using an online search engine like Google, as opposed to looking in a phone book or calling directory inquiries. So it makes sense for your website to be the ideal tool to not only get your customers in the first place, but keep them coming back afterward.
Make Your Site Interactive
So how can you use your website to its maximum effect to keep your customers happy? There are many ways, yet one of the best and most proven is to make your website as interactive as possible. This doesn’t mean that you have to have dedicated sections where visitors can pretty much have carte blanche to change the look of your site. However, there are a lot of options available to you to make your site interactive for both new visitors and existing customers.
The best method of interaction is offering your customers something that makes them feel involved - this could be a newsletter that they can sign up for, with special early offers on new product launches, for example. Or it could be a newsletter offering advice on how they can best use your products in either their everyday personal or business lives.
Another way to entertain customers while they’re on your website is to make it engaging. One of the best ways to do this is to have something like a talking character that responds to their query - there are numerous pieces of software and technical companies that can arrange this for you. The more advanced the software, the more responsive and interactive the experience, leading to more fun for your customers.
Ask Their Opinions
Almost everyone likes to think that their opinion matters, no matter how much or little expertise they might have on a given subject. Therefore, it stands to reason that they will be more receptive to a company if they feel that business is really listening to their needs. One of the ways you can do this via your website is to have a forum. Here visitors can log in and post comments on anything from your products to items they would like to see. By having a forum moderator from your company, you can ensure that customers know their ideas and suggestions are being taken seriously.
These are just some of the options available to you to make your website more interactive and fun for your customers. Even just having one of two of them will make a world of difference, and should see your client retention rates increase dramatically.
Tags: customer loyalty, customer retention, danny brown, E-Commerce and E-Business, Interactive Sites, Web Design
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Customer Loyalty vs. Customer Retention: They’re Not the Same
Friday, December 21st, 2007
"If you do build a great experience, customers tell each other about that. Word of mouth is very powerful." This was said by none other than Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos. It provides an appropriate introduction to customer loyalty and customer retention; two well-known, but poorly understood concepts in today’s business world.
So, just what is customer loyalty? How does it compare to customer retention? Many professionals use the two terms interchangeably. And why shouldn’t they? They look similar. They sound similar. So, what’s the big deal?
The answer lies, not necessarily in their meaning, but in how they affect your business and potential profits. Let’s take a look at customer retention first.
CUSTOMER RETENTION 101:
You hear so many clich�s that play on the phrase "customer retention." "Retention is the key." "It’s twice as hard (and expensive) to find a new customer as it is to keep an existing one." These are just some examples, but you hear them everyday in the professional world. And rightly so. It makes perfect sense to want to keep the customers you have.
Most companies have some sort of customer retention program. This usually involves direct mailings or telephone services that keep the company in the front of your mind and offer you the newest product or service they have to offer.
The second part of customer retention is servicing customers as they have issues or problems that come up. This is usually handled with a customer service desk, phone number, or website that consumers or intermediaries can go through to initiate the resolution. Many times, these avenues can create additional stress for the consumer due to waiting periods, unknowledgeable associates, or rules and regulations.
As you can see customer retention focuses on impersonal contact and is handled as a numbers game. The more customers a company contacts with retention propaganda, the better chance of keeping those people as customers. Problems are dealt with in a reactive manner.
Now, let’s examine customer loyalty.
CUSTOMER LOYALTY 101:
Many companies are uneducated on this aspect of the customer chain. Customer retention programs and an influx of innumerable new competitors have shadowed true customer loyalty to the point of nonexistence. But, there is hope. Recent studies have shown that brand loyalty, as well as customer loyalty, is making a comeback due to the management of some savvy new marketing and loyalty campaigns.
Customer loyalty is so much more than customer retention. The word loyalty itself implies a deeper connection between business and consumer. When a customer has that kind of connection with a product or service, they will fight for your company even if you wrong them.
Simple, right? Well, it’s not as easy as it sounds. Customer loyalty doesn’t happen overnight. It also doesn’t happen with a single phone call, a simple piece of direct mail, or a groovy website. Customer loyalty begins with trust.
Successful companies that are practicing customer loyalty right now have gained the trust of their customer base. This is achieved by a more personal marketing campaign to the consumer. People want to genuinely feel like the company has an interest in them, not just their money. This starts with telemarketing that does not rely on a script and a time limit. Real professionals need to be on the line, not an $8/hour college student.
The second part of customer loyalty is giving the customer a sense of belonging. Everyone wants to be a part of something great. Invite the customer along on your journey, let them know you will be there to help with every aspect along the way, and you could gain customers for life.
As you can see, customer loyalty and customer retention have some very important differences. Retention has a reactive nature, while loyalty has proactive one. If a company is adept enough to focus more on loyalty than retention, only the sky is the limit.
Tags: customer loyalty, customer retention, Generating More Sales, Growing Your Business, Sales
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