25 Ways to Show Loyalty to Your Customers

ThanksYou_Flickr-woodleywonderworks(Photo courtesy flickr | woodleywonderworks)

A business that values its focus on its customers, regularly find ways to show their loyalty to their customers. It is a good practice for your & your customer facing teams to regularly find novel & memorable ways of doing this.

Chip Bell & John Patterson have listed 25 ways of doing this in their Wired & Dangerous blog:

  • Invite a customer to an important staff meeting to talk about their needs and goals
  • Arrange for a special learning experience for customers
  • Name a policy, building, or conference room for a key customer
  • Start a fund or scholarship in the name of a key customer
  • Poll your customer for their input on important changes you plan to make

Read the entire list here.

Related Posts:
~ Suddenlink | Customer Experience Lessons
~ Social Media Lessons From FedEx
~ Customer Loyalty
~ What is a customer centric organization?

Customer Loyalty

How do you go about finding what your customers loyalty drivers are?

According to the e-Loyalty Resource site, you could start with the following questions :

Q1. Which product / service features most often make your customer repurchase or recommend your products / services? Its important that loyalty be defined in terms of repurchase, recommendations or active participation in a customer program–it’s not just about satisfaction.

Q2. What is the decision/buying process? In other words, what factors, attributes, personal situations, etc. come into play when deciding to repurchase or recommend?

Q3. What makes a customer consider or not consider another brand or buy your product / service despite its higher price? The best source for these answers are your most loyal customers. Ask your best customers why it is they don’t consider other brands, or if considered, why they continue to be loyal to you. Remember, if you design for your average customer, you’ll be just that—average!

Q4. How do your customers feel about your management or your company? Do they think you are a leader or are the best in the industry? Do they want to be associated with your company because it makes them look or feel better? Do they think you care about your customers and are responsive to customers? Determining what actions make your customer feel like you care about them is tough, but critical.

Other Resources:

  • This article talks about the various factors – especially relationship based ones.
  • In this article, Bob Hayes delves into ways of identifying your customers’ loyalty drivers.
  • An Oracle Siebel CRM white paper on customer loyalty.
  • A case study from Royal Bank of Canada.
  • Kenneth Wallace in his article explains that all businesses are in the C.A.R. business, i.e., Creating Awesome or Awful Relationships & provides his view of the main drivers of customer loyalty.