How To Build Brand Loyalty
Customer loyalty is no new term to your business. Whether your business is in Hong Kong or in Singapore, companies always strive for customer loyalty; and more especially SMEs that need that recurring business to support their cash flow.
Customer satisfaction drives customer loyalty to every business. Put it simply, customer loyaly may be achieved by delivering the promise that your brand or company has made with your customers - each time. Where customer satisfaction pulls in more customers and generates a positive buss for you, companies today do a little more to build their brand and their customer loyalty.
HOW CAN YOUR BRAND GO BEYOND WHAT IS PROMISED, AND DELIVER MORE?
1. Deliver the basic promise. That may sound obvious but a lot of companies and brands still forget this. Your business shall always deliver on the core promise made, and the basic functional benefit promised. If your brand promises to over-deliver without meeting the fundamental expectations, it will be of no use, and you will eventually lose the customer. What good is tea that smells good but doesn’t taste good? A bigger present is not necessarly better than a small gift. However, building the right message your team will communicate to your clients, along with a stronger marketing strategy, will definitely help you boost your business and build more customer loyalty. In fact, your sales structure is as important as your marketing strategy in order to build a brand that is being recognized and reach the highest possible loyalty rate for your business. Coach your sales team to success by teaching them how to keep their sales pitch as close as possible to the actual benefits of your product or service.
2. Promise to deliver only what you can. A lot of SMEs' sales teams make out-of-the way promises in addition to their basic, functional promises. This does not happen only in SMEs in Singapore nor in HK, it happens worldwide. Have you watched the 1992 movie Glengarry Glen Ross with Alec Baldwin, Al Pacino and Jack Lemmon? You may Always want to Be Closing new deals from your bucket of fresh and not-so-fresh leads, but do not oversell your products nor services - ever. Do not be the Shelley Levene of your company.
Related: How To Close A Deal In 6 Lessons
If the promises from your sales pitch are unfulfilled, the audience and the customers will reciprocate adversely. Business tip for all business owners reading this post: customers today are savvy and powerful - any mistreatment and the company suffers a blow on the social media. It is only intelligent and logical that companies promise to deliver what they can afford and manage - and nothing beyond that.
3. Listen to your customers. It is crucial that you listen to what your customers have to say. Whether you are a startup in Singapore or a firm in Hong Kong, listening to your customers will enable you to understand their needs, and hence serve them better with your offering as well as position yourself accordingly. Positive feedback will allow you excel further and improve your SEO for instance, while negative feedback will allow you to improve yourself. Important to register is that all feedback is important to build your brand identity and increase your sales on the long term.
4. Surprise your customers. Delighting customers is great, but it should be occasional. If it happened every day, then the customers will start expecting it from you as it will gel in with your core offering. Deliver what you promise always, and go a step ahead occasionally or once in a while, so that the element of surprise remains intact and customers keep coming back to you! Do not underestimate the importance of consistency in branding - we will soon publish a post about brand consistency and how your customers shall be able to recognize you thanks to your unique selling proposition. Your brand identity relies almost entirely on your brand consistency, in other words don't try to pick too many battles at the same time. Be consistent.
5. Admit it when you make mistakes. When and if you go wrong, admit it and own up to it. Promise your customers it won’t happen again and that it was an honest error. Nothing is more horrible than lying to your customers and nothing makes them smile more than when you are honest. To reap customers delight, you must be honest with them in all your communication and processes, and strive to deliver only ethics.
Learn more: Make It Simple And Your Brand Will Stand Out
