Loyal customers are significantly more likely to spend a greater amount and spread the word about your business than "satisfied" customers. How do you work on developing a reliable base of loyal customers? Here are a few tips to develop advocates of your company:
Build a relationship: Make customers feel valuable and irreplaceable, and make sure they know their opinions are heard. - Nurture the relationship: Send personalized communications, act on customer feedback, and reward loyalty with discounts or value added services.
- Be consistent: Experts suggest it can take 18 months or more before your company will see a return on its relationship building efforts. But, the long-term financial benefits are well worth the investment.
Wilson's of Wickford has longstanding relationships with its loyal customers. The retailer maintains this by focusing on consistency and recognition in its marketing efforts. Learn how Wilson's worked with North Star Marketing to develop a quarterly direct mail program that increased store traffic and customer loyalty here.
