How To Increase Customer Loyalty?

Do you struggle to retain your customers? Find it difficult to get your customers to buy from you the second time? This is the question that I would like to address here. How do you increase customer loyalty? Is there a simple strategy for you to implement to encourage repeat purchases and make your customers love to shop at your store. The following points are certainly simple and easy for you to follow:

Smile

Be cheerful and smile. Do it right now :). If you are talking on the phone the other person can hear the “smile” on your voice. Isn’t that wonderful? Create a friendly aura in your business place, online store or physical store. Smile when you see a customer coming in to your store. Smile when you read your customers email inquiry. Smile when someone asks for help. I think you get the picture here…so smile!

Be helpful

Helpfulness is a good character trait and is sound advice to be given to your employees. You should practice the habit of being helpful to everyone around you and to your customers especially. What ticks off a customer more than a salesperson who insist that he doesn’t know where an item is because he is from another department even if he is working under the same roof?

If you are a retail owner training all your employees to be helpful is critical for your company’s success. Even if you have a big store it is equally important to teach your employees effective ways for communicating with customers. Help to help the customers themselves. You can bring them to another salesperson who is more equipped or suited to handle their inquiries. If your customer received the help that she need while browsing for items at your shop she will most likely come again.

Personalize to each customer

Writing a personalize email or letter will get you far better returns than just writing a general one. It only takes a few extra minutes to do it but the results are definitely satisfying. How would you like to receive a letter addressed to your name with great detail about your last purchase including the list of items that you had bought? Or do you prefer to receive a general letter addressed to no one in particular? I will let you decide.

Anyway, writing personalized letters and emails will bring your customers closer to you and this will increase customer loyalty. They will treat you as a friend or family. Even your prices are a little high or your products aren’t so great who cares anyway? Friends will always buy from friends. An example of this strategy at work is the famous brand Tupperware. They invite friends over to a tupperware party and at the end of the party the friends will buy a few tupperwares even if they don’t want to!

An example of a general email

Dear Sir,
We are writing to let you know that we have 30 new product arrivals in our store. We are welcoming you to visit our store as we are offering 25% discount on these new products. Visit our store now and don’t miss out on this limited time offer!

With warmest regards,
Megan
J & R Boutique

An example of a personalized email

Dear Linda,
How are you? This is Megan the salesgirl who attended you during your purchase at the exclusive J & R Boutique. I am sure you liked the blue blouse that you had bought plus the matching pants. I think you looked great in it.

Anyway, I am writing to let you know of the latest news here in J & R Boutique. We have 30 new styles coming soon and I would like you to be one of the first to know that we are offering a 25% discount on these new arrivals. This is a limited time offer only (24 December till 28 December) so I encourage you to visit our store store so you won’t miss out on it.

I hope to see you soon in J & R Boutique!

With warmest regards,
Megan
J & R Boutique

Reply emails promptly

Some sellers do take eons to reply to inquiries. Strive to reply to emails promptly preferably within 24 hours. What this shows is a seller who cares about his customers and is attentive to his problems. Don’t just reply to inquiries from existing customers. If you have a potential customer who is showing interest in your products or service and is just checking you out reply courteously. Once he has already bought from you don’t just leave him hanging. In order to encourage repeat purchase you must assist him in every possible way and that means going the extra mile. Do your best to solve the problems that he may be facing with his purchase or why not volunteer some advice if he asked for some? He will definitely appreciate it.

Ask questions

Gather feedback from your customers. What do they like most about your store? What do they dislike the most? Are there any areas (customer service, product inventory, store layout, etc) that you can improve on? Will this increase sales? Perhaps. What this does for a certainty is increase your customers loyalty to you especially if he knows that his opinions, thinking and feedback is appreciated and that you are taking improvements in your company seriously.

Final say

We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts. Its our job every day to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little bit better. - Jeff Bezos

Have you tried any of the ideas above? Or do you have any ideas of your own on how to increase customer loyalty? If yes, do share with us by leaving a comment below. Increasing customer loyalty is important for the survival of every business. How can a business strive and thrive without the sale of repeated purchases? Its an area that you cannot neglect. Strive not to just make a sale but to encourage repeated sales and customer loyalty.

One Response to “How To Increase Customer Loyalty?”

1. Ebay Blog » Blog Archive » Hunt4Wholesale » Blog Archive » How to increase customer loyalty? Says:
   December 29th, 2008 at 2:22 am

   [...] unknown wrote an interesting post today onHunt4Wholesale » Blog Archive » How to increase customer loyalty?Here’s a quick excerptAn example of this strategy at work is the famous brand Tupperware. They invite friends over to a tupperware party and at the end of the party the friends will buy a few tupperwares even if they don’t want to! … [...]

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