Brand Loyalty >>it’s in the Relationship!

A friend of mine posed a question on Facebook yesterday about loyalty. She asked her friends if they thought it was dead or if there were truly loyal people out there. She went on to say that for her, she is loyal to a business, organization and person if they have spent time with her, helped her or the like and that she would in fact stick with that brand or person.  She lastly indicated that she wouldn’t go the cheaper route or distance just for those reasons because she was loyal to the other brand/person.

Is loyalty dead and gone?

So, is loyalty a thing of the past?  My response was more along the business relationship as I see loyalty goes more hand in hand with that type of relationship and my friendships weren’t necessarily out of loyalty but out of trust and friendships are more emotionally built.  Anyways, I indicated that loyalty comes from a consumer buying a great product or service at a price that was something of value for the dollar and with that would be excellent customer service.  I don’t want to be seen as customer #1234 but as an individual customer, the only customer, that if I had problems with their product, that if I needed to return the product or wanted to buy more, that if I wanted to upgrade or had concerns, I could call the company up and I would be taken care of as if I was just as special as the first time sale. On that note, it bothers me greatly where companies treat new customers better because they are trying to get the sale, but once they have you, you are of less importance, and they already have your money or that monthly fee.

Treat current customers just as special as a new one

Well, you see, it’s just that, if you treat me as a one-time sale, then you will NOT get my loyalty. Loyal is defined as the quality of being loyal to someone or something.  Further, loyal is noted by Merriam-Webster as “having or showing complete and constant support for someone or something”.  Did you see that, complete and constant. So, how do you do that, not by doing something once, right?  In order to get loyalty, you have to give it. You have to constantly provide a product or service to your customer to make them want to keep coming back because a once loyal customer can change to be a loyal customer to someone else.  (Would you consider email marketing as providing constant value and keeping in touch?  I do! Hint Hint)

Follow up after the purchase

So again, if you sell a product, follow that up with great customer service as in a follow up to a purchase, providing an easy no hassle return policy, provide a person on the phone (automated is quite irritating, especially at this point, you are needing help, not information) to help navigate your issue, concern or question about the product. Another way is to continue to be an innovative business and to constantly provide more value to the original product by providing sales in add-ons for that first product, things that complement the product and upgrades.

There shouldn’t be a number set on how well you are treated. Meaning if you bought a $50 product versus a $5000 product, it shouldn’t depict how well you are treated in the process or after. You never know if that $50 person will later buy 5 more as a gift, or continue to buy every product you offer or the like. You can’t determine that and heck, it is so much easier just to provide a good experience to everyone, where possible, don’t you think?

Think about “loyalty cards” that you get from darn near every store you go to. They offer you discounts, they offer buy 5 get one free punch cards, rewards when you spend so much money and the offers continue. It isn’t making you loyal but it is offering you a reason to want to come back.

How can YOU build loyalty with your customers?

So, my question for you is… what can you and your business do to encourage past, present or future clients/customers to want to do business with you and continue past that initial sale?  How will you make your business so great that consumers will want to be loyal to your product, service or business? Remember, that people who like doing business with you will tell their friends and that is free marketing for you and your business. How is that for win-win?

This post has less to do with the specific services that I provide in search engine optimization, social media marketing and paid advertising, per say, but more about how you can be more valuable to your consumers. Please know that I value the relationships that I have with people and want them/you to continue to come back.  Plus, with my social media marketing, I want to present your brand in a manner that provides a value to your consumers that they will want to continue to do business with you!

Thank you for reading, I’d love to see/hear what you have to say about my questions I posed to you.

~Kristen

Kristen Day

CEO/Founder of A Visual Business

Kristen is a small business owner and thus dedicated to other small business owners by helping them improve their online presence with search engine optimization, social media marketing, email marketing and pay per click advertising all of which are necessary 'evils' in the digital marketing sphere but enables small business owners the opportunity to compete with larger companies. When not in the digital arena, you can find her riding her Honda VTX1300 or drinking a margarita.