Building Personal Relationships with Your Customers

A company without customers can’t be considered a company at all. All companies, regardless of size, know how important a role customers play to their business’ success. This is why enhancing overall customer experience is crucial for lasting success and survival in the industry. Remember it is easier to keep the customers you already have compared to acquiring new ones, so you need to work hard in building this relationship. Losing even just one customer can affect your business profoundly, so your best bet is to create a customer loyalty and retention programme.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

CRM is a company’s business strategy that is made to lower costs and boost profitability through enhancing customer loyalty, satisfaction, and advocacy. Accurate CRM combines information coming from various data sources in the company to come up with a complete profile of every customer. This will include basic personal information, spending patterns and previous service requests. These data will enable employees, who deal with customers directly, to make quick and informed decisions that will convince your customers to continue supporting your products. The key is to build on the foundation of your brand’s relation to the customer, so that they know who you are, why they need your product/service, and how you can help them.

Determining Your Strategy and Implementing It

So how can you avoid losing a customer? Can you keep all your customers by creating a good product or service? Yes, but not everyone will be happy with just that. You have to give your customers the whole package- a product + a reason to continue doing business with you.  Customer loyalty is earned and is something that you need to nurture. Here’s how you can do it:

1. Communication –Think about when you get in touch with your customers. Is it only to close a deal or sell something? You can change this by making your clients feel involved through newsletters, social media, and fun promotions. Make your customer feel that you care about them, not just about their purchases.
2. Rewards – Each company has different customer loyalty rewards programmes. These programmes are an easy way for the business to show their gratitude to their customers. In fact, they have grown popularity recently and are considered a great marketing strategy. These programmes are marketing tools, which are practical and measurable. Small businesses can use these to give customers an incentive to continue doing business with them. It is about understanding and recognizing your customers, especially since they are all different from one another.
3. Better Customer Service – Having quality customer service is crucial for customer retention as well. Customers want their issues fixed in a quick and orderly manner, so don’t make it complicated by making it hard for them to reach you. Good customer service may make or break your business, so take time to train your staff to answer questions and process requests correctly. Nothing irritates customers more than having to call back for the same request.
4. Show that You Care – Make an effort to interact with your customers face to face. Even knowing their names shows that you care.
5. Be Flexible – You have to be attentive and quick when attending to customer issues or complaints. It is important to address the issue or else your customer will simply bring their business elsewhere.

Customer loyalty is something your company will have to constantly work at. It’s not something you can easily tick off your checklist. By following these tips and implementing the right customer relationship management strategy, you will be able to retain more customers and grow your business.

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Loyalty Surveys- the Rewards and Incentive Industry has a Long Way to Go

Customer rewards programs have long been used by business establishments and credit card companies. Not only does it bring great return of investment to the company, it also serves as a ‘come in’ for new and prospective customers, too. Unfortunately, with the rate and stature of the economy worldwide, some companies are finding it tough to come up with freebies for customers.

Recent survey results from Swift Exchange shows that program liability and costs are the primary challenges faced by companies, who provide customers with loyalty incentive packages. Just last April of this year, the Swift Exchange conducted a Loyalty Pulse Survey, which highlighted many flaws in the services provided by the companies involved in the loyalty and incentive market.

The survey was conducted at the Freddie Awards, wherein Swift Exchange received an award for its sponsorship of a 1988 event. According to Richard Postrel, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Swift Exchange, “modern day loyalty programs have reached the limits of their current technology and methodology.” He added that, “fundamental macro-economic issues must be addressed in order to advance this industry into the next generation. What we are seeing is an industry that is ripe for transformation. This is a wake-up call for the entire reward and loyalty industry,” he concluded.

Companies involved in the rewards and loyalty business who responded to the survey spoke up. As much as 49 per cent of the companies in the industry claimed the liabilities and costs required to maintain an incentive program is “challenging”. The other 38 per cent resolved that managing the costs of their incomes and loses altogether has become “more challenging” (due to the economy).

There were also respondents who were asked to judge the current state of cooperation between reward providers and business owners. According to 58 per cent of responders, there is indeed a much higher need for a better partnership between reward providers and business owners. The two parties should work hand in hand to maximize profits while, balancing their loses.

According to Nancy Gordon, Chief Operating Officer of Swift Exchange, "the new Swift Exchange LoyaltyPulse Survey highlights what we've been consistently observing for a long time. It also brings to light the unprecedented frustration experienced by all industry constituents – consumers, merchants and reward providers alike. The bottom line is that there is a crying need for a new model that transforms the conventional approach to liquidity, transparency and usability of reward points and miles."

Indeed, customers are always complaining about the terms and conditions of rewards programs. Some say it’s difficult to earn the points, and much more complicated to claim the rewards. The typical complaint of merchants revolves around the cost to pay for such loyalty programs. The loyalty and rewards industry is promising, because more and more consumers are leaning towards brands who give them extra value for their money. However, if the industry is to prosper, merchants and rewards providers must create a better model to make the whole process run smoothly.