The top 5 tips to engage and deepen your customers
loyalty
Today Customer Relationship Management (CRM) plays an immensely
critical role in this hellacious business climate with increased competition,
fewer consumer dollars to spread around and an ever increasing feeling by
consumers of not being listened to.
If you aren't taking care of your customers - someone
else will. Hence it is vital for companies to have strong CRM in place;
otherwise it not only leads to losing customers but also creates a ripple
effect of brand degradation and a bad image in the market.
Once a business is 'tainted' with a bad image, the cost
of repair is great. You are much better off to invest in solid CRM tactics
upfront and avoid the damage.
Think about it, it is just too easy to post negative
comments about a business on SM sites. And, as the old saying goes,
"People will tell one person about a good experience but will tell ten
about a bad one." In today's world, they can tell thousands - even
millions with the click of a mouse!
Whether you are talking about on or offline tactics, even
though the vehicle is slightly different, here is my short list of "must
have" CRM activities for any business:
1) Recognize customers' interactions with you.
Thank and reward them - every time.
2) Don't set finite triggers that blast everyone at
the same time in the buying cycle with the same message. Refine your
analytics to determine the unique triggers of each customer and establish
actions that are exclusively personal and meaningful.
3) Reward complainers. I know this sounds
counter-intuitive, but if they take the time to complain, they are wishing that
they had experienced a positive exchange with you and you let them down. Listen
and learn. Complainers can very quickly be turned into your biggest fans and
advocates.
4) Be consistent. DO NOT start a CRM Program and
then abandon it or get lazy. This will backfire on you, big time. Give it time
to impact your relationship with your customers.
5) Ensure that you have C-Level support for your
Program and that means: make sure you are allocated the appropriate budget
to do the job right (or don't do it at all) and create timely reporting to show
the gains or losses caused by the Program. If you show losses, include swift
remedies in the report and implement them immediately. Once you have turned the
situation around, report your success (hopefully!) on the next report.
Happy Marketing!
Mary
