Customer Appreciation: Reward & Retain your most loyal customers with these steps

How to gain customer loyalty? Simple: Customer Appreciation.

One of the greatest compliments a brand can receive is a loyal customer. Think back to the day when you had no customers. Remember the number of hours, days, times and years you and your team spent trying to get just one customer?

Building a solid customer base is complex, there’s no real formula to it. Once you’ve arrived at a point where you have a consistent customer base, maintaining customer loyalty should become a priority. A Loyalty Rewards Program helps to retain customer retention, increase sales and profits and keeps your customers engaged.

A Loyalty rewards program is a great way to show your customers how much you value and appreciate their business. Appreciation can go a long way. Many companies do not practice the simple gesture of showing appreciation to their customers, particularly the loyal ones. People want to feel appreciated. It’s human nature. Customer Appreciation can be shown in various ways through promotions, rewards, coupons and even event parties.

A loyalty rewards program is a great way to establish brand recognition in today’s competitive market. We’re in a customer-focused environment, long gone are the days when marketers would essentially tell the consumer what was best for them.

Today, customers know what they want, when they want and how they want. Add the increase in the number of companies delivering poor customer service, you can imagine how the perception of service has changed over the last decade.

If “good behavior” is to be rewarded, so should customers who choose to do business with you, particularly when they can go elsewhere. “85% of consumers say companies could have recognized & rewarded them for doing business with them (Accenture) Here are a few tips on how to create a loyalty rewards program:

Promotions

Promotions not only help to sell a product, but it can often times, help move a product faster than if it weren’t a promotional item. A promotional offer for a product that’s offered on a limited basis, can possibly generate more revenue, increasing your profits. Another way to use a promotional offer is if you’re selling items in bulk, or perhaps you’re selling your first product. It’s a great way to see if you should restock the item later on, to obtain feedback on future items similar to the products and you can use it as an opportunity to test pricing if you’re unsure on how much to sell a particular product for.

Rewards

We’ve seen reward points offered in various different businesses such as Sephora, if you earn enough points you can receive cash and or credit towards most products available in the store or online. Safeway grocery store allows card holders to earn gas reward points if they spend a certain dollar amount, which provides them with discounted gas at Chevron stations. Credit card companies are famous for offering their card holders with discounts on flights for customers who earn a certain amount of points. You can get really creative with your rewards program. Either through a points system, number of purchases or even a referral program that earns points and discounts on your products.

Coupons

Who doesn’t love a good discount? Everyone loves to save a dollar or two (or few)! Coupons are a great incentive for your money conscious customers. Plus, people tend to purchase more when there’s a discount involved.

Customer Appreciation Event

Now, I’m not telling you to throw an” Academy Awards” type of party similar to the one Vanity Fair throws, during Oscar season however, having an event is a fun way to meet and greet your customers in person and thank them personally. Whether you have a store front or even a pop up shop, an in-person Customer Appreciation event can be used as an opportunity to not only thank your customers for doing business with you, but an opportunity to also gain new customers. TIP: *ask for your customers to bring a guest to the party. Friends and Family are the best referral sources and the most “trusted” referral sources.

Showing appreciation to your customers can go a long way, while helping you build a reputable brand.

Shavaughn Baker

CEO

The Corporate Concierge Group

Coaching, Consulting, Lifestyle Management & Event Services

Follow: Twitter @shavaughnceo @theconcorgroup Instagram: @thecorporateconciergegroup