Build customer loyalty: 3 pitfalls to avoid!
How do you build customer loyalty? That's a good question. In this article, we'll take a look at 3 mistakes to avoid in customer loyalty. They can really ruin your efforts when you've managed to close sales and you're looking to develop the value of your existing customer portfolio.
What are the 3 mistakes to avoid in order to improve customer loyalty?
Today, the difference between the most profitable companies on the planet, those that last, and the others, is precisely their ability to build customer loyalty.
The ability to turn customers into fans, so as to capitalize on the increased value of each customer.
This makes a fundamental and decisive difference to economic performance. I refer you to the well-known statistics: it costs 10 times more to recruit a customer than to retain one.
So, systematically chasing after new customers is not the right approach when you're looking to develop and scale your business over the long term.
So let's take a look at the three classic mistakes that can lead to a huge loss of sales if you're not careful...
Quite simply, because they'll drive your customers away. No more, no less.
First mistake: Not caring about the customer after the sale
First fatal mistake: not caring about the customer after the sale. Many sales people and companies are still mass-marketing and slaughtering customers.
And once the sale is made, salespeople move on to another customer. They don't care about the existing customer, or how satisfied he or she is.
I tend to say that if you don't care about your customer, don't worry, your competition will take care of it for you.
You'll have done the work for them, and it'll be much easier for them to fill the gaps you've consciously or unconsciously left behind.
How to differentiate yourself?
If you want to avoid this pitfall, the first thing to do is simply to include a systematic post-purchase customer satisfaction check in your sales process.
This can be at D+1, D+7, a week later, a fortnight later... It all depends on the delivery terms you have in relation to the nature of the product or service you're selling.
But to avoid this fundamental error, it's a good idea to schedule automatic reminders and contact points to check on customer satisfaction.
Why should you do this?
Because it's easy!
It's fast, and it confers a higher level of satisfaction on your customer, who feels that you're still there after the sale.
He feels that you didn't just try to make a sale and a profit, and then move on. No, they sense that you're still there for them!
That's one way of setting yourself apart from the crowd of ordinary salespeople. And it also helps to make sure there haven't been any little hiccups, and hot potatoes to be dealt with quickly (as we say in the jargon).
Listening, taking notes and dealing with customer issues is also what makes you stand out from the crowd and come across as a true professional.
It really is the key word. To build loyalty, differentiate yourself from the mass of players who don't care about the customer after the sale.
Second mistake: having only one point of contact after the sale
The second mistake, following on from the first, is to have only one point of contact after the sale.
So, yes, we go step by step, crescendo. It's important to care about customer satisfaction. But that's not enough.
Why isn't that enough?
Simply because needs evolve. And what's true at a given moment isn't really true a week or months later.
The context changes, there's turnover. If you're in the B-to-B business, you probably know this. And in B-to-C, it's the same thing: the only constant is change.
If you want to last commercially, and do business for the long term, with a view to developing customer value (increasing volume/purchase frequency), you need to multiply your points of contact.
He must regularly take his customer's temperature to find out:
- How are things progressing?
- How satisfied are they?
- What are the new needs?
- What are the results to date?
- What could be done differently?
- etc.
How do you structure your loyalty process?
There are many things you can include in your loyalty process. But the first mistake, as you've already realized, is to stop after a single contact after the sale.
Doing the bare minimum doesn't pay off!
Today's competition is so fierce that if you don't want your customers to go to the competition, you have to do more than the others.
You have to do things differently, and that means multiplying your points of contact.
So, at the very least, you need a second one. I don't know, it depends once again on your business model, your sales cycle, the obsolescence of your products, the renewal of consumables that go with your products and services...
But you should perhaps plan a second point of contact at D + 1 month, D + 3 months, or D + 6 months. You might even want to map out your ideal customer relationship:
- How often should you contact your customer?
- How (which channels / means)?
- About what?
So that your customers are never left to fend for themselves against the competition.
You must always mark out the territory, and stay in the picture. Then, always be the person you think of when you want to make a recommendation. Or when you want to take the customer relationship a step further:
- New order
- Increase in volume/frequency
- Consumption of an additional product or service, etc.
Third mistake: Not asking what can be improved
Third mistake, and this is where the problem lies: not asking what can be improved. Not asking what can be improved in the product/service or in the quality of service, quite simply.
Why is this vital?
Because you may not have the same vision, depending on whether you're a salesperson or the founder/creator of the solution. You may not have control over the quality of the product or service...
The only thing you can control is service quality.
And with equivalent products (products with similar characteristics), quality of service always wins out. And that's something you can do something about!
So there's no excuse for offering mediocre service quality to your existing customers.
Once again, this is one of the gaps, one of the chasms into which the competition will easily slip, if you haven't done your job properly.
Stand out from the crowd!
For comfort, and for fear of being confronted with what's wrong, the classic sales syndrome is not to look for what can be improved. Don't go into the field of dissatisfaction or potential areas for improvement.
In any case, those who do clearly stand out.
Why do you think this is?
Because customers like to express themselves!
Customers like to give feedback on what's going well, but especially on what's not. And they are deeply moved when asked what would improve their customer experience.
So, if you take this approach and make it a habit to ask for feedback, you'll stand out from the crowd and shine commercially.
So, in the cartography / chronology of your optimal customer experience, you should include contact points that are of the order of the satisfaction survey and the assessment.
Take a moment of exchange to hold out the microphone to your customer and ask:
- How satisfied are you?
- What's our current rating out of 10?
- If we could give you 11 out of 10, an ideal customer experience, what would we have to do that we're not doing right now?
- What would make the experience exceptional in your eyes?
- What would make you not even think of comparing us to the competition when renewing an order?
It's up to you to find the right words and the right questions. You get the idea.
You have to deliberately go out on a limb here, and reach out to customers to improve customer loyalty and turn your customers into fans. Turn them into ambassadors for whom you can easily obtain testimonials, recommendations and business referrals, sometimes even naturally, because they're so happy to be working with you.
And if that doesn't come naturally, you can always solicit them. It'll come pretty quickly if they're happy to work with you.
I'll leave you to imagine the impact on your sales development if you use this type of customer loyalty strategy and avoid these 3 all-too-common mistakes...
Article translated from French