6 Ways to Maintain Customer Loyalty Like a Pro

In virtually every industry, the cost of retaining a loyal customer is far less than the cost to acquire a new one. Therefore, encouraging customer loyalty can mean big savings for your business. Here are a few things to consider when trying to maximize customer loyalty:

 

1. Feature Your Customers & Success Stories in Your Content

Feature your customers or people who say great things about your brand in the content you write. Put them in the spotlight and let them know how much you appreciate their loyalty and endorsement. Once they see the reciprocity, they’ll make your brand a priority and, in the process, will become your biggest advocates.

 

2. Gift Them With Care

If your customers take an interest in what you’re talking about and what you do as a company, it’s only fair for you to reciprocate. Take a look at their social accounts or distribute a survey to see what kinds of things they really enjoy, and then send them something you know they’ll like and will not be able to put down. They’ll definitely talk about it through their social accounts and, more importantly, they’ll talk about it in person with their friends, family, colleagues, and anyone else who will listen….and put your brand in the spotlight.

 

3. Invoke the Inner Ego

Most people prefer products and companies that slightly resemble the self. This preferences, also known as implicit egotism, is an key concept to keep in mind when talking to customers. To attract meaningful customers, you need to identify your target customers down to the nifty gritty, then craft a message “deal” that matches their painpoints and goals. What we’re implying is that in order to be successful in customer retention you have to make each customer feel special with a solution that no one has but them.

 

4. Don’t just sell, educate

According to distinguished entrepreneur and blogger David Skok, sales is more effective when you have an existing relationship with a customer, and when you’ve already provided the value to them. This argument is consistent with the research of TARP Worldwide, which shows customers do enjoy receiving helpful recommendations on new information and products that will help them achieve better results.

 

5. Invest in a CRM System with Good Insight & Analytics

The best way to retain customers and prevent them from defecting to competitors is to prevent them from leaving in the first place. If you pay enough attention, you can always see the signals of your customers impending departure ahead of time. All you have to do is to identify the key variables such as purchase patterns, product usage and service calls – Capture the signals and then put actions in place to stop them from making the switch.

That is where your CRM tool comes in handy. Let’s say you want to know how many of your VIP clients have not purchased anything from you in the last 6 months, which might be a sign of low retention. First, you create a list of all of your VIP customers and their typical purchasing habits and then you create a list of all sales made within the last six months using your CRM software. By creating these lists and doing proper comparisons, you will end up with a list of VIP customers who haven’t purchased from you in the last 6 months. Using the analytics and insight your CRM tool has provided, you can then follow up with these customers and find out the reasons why they were not purchasing and look for ways to get them to reconsider their decision.

 

6. Enhance Customer Service

If you’re anything like me, the number of personal details you’re able to retain in your mind is limited. Without reminders from my Facebook account and virtual calendar, I would likely miss 90% of the birthdays, anniversaries and other social gatherings around me. Since most businesses are not friends with all of their customers on Facebook and most people don’t add too many details in the calendar, a CRM tool can come into very good use. This platform allows you to keep track of individual customers with pertinent information like their contact details, last purchase date, and any personal notes your staff makes, such as birthdays, anniversaries, allergies, and favorite item. Use this information to enhance your customer service! I.E., Send a birthday card, celebrate anniversaries of business deals with discounts and savings, send an occasional thank you email and check to see how their use of your product/service is coming along.

 

Carmel Vision, a Toronto based CRM software development company, is focused on delivering a powerful management infrastructure that is designed to collect, search, and archive all content, contact and communication activities that take place in a typical office. We understand and listen to all of our customers’ needs and strive to give excellent quality at affordable prices.

Our flagship product, InfoFlo – is a central management system specifically designed to combat one of the biggest technical challenges facing any professional organization, how to efficiently organize, archive, filter and search the vital information that bombards our desktops on a daily basis. Our infrastructure allows all office activities to coexist together under one umbrella, making all critical information readily available at your fingertips.
All interested parties are welcome to download a free trial version of our CRM application.

No credit cards and long term commitments are required. Click here to download free trial.

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7 Ways to Boost Your Sales Success

There are a number of things you can do to help boost your overall success. You can start by following these 7 tips:

1. Quality over Quantity

Sales is not always about the numbers, as some people would argue. The point of sales is to create quality conversations with prospective clients. Those that thrive in sales have qualification criteria and try not to waste their time on people that are at too low a level, companies that won’t benefit from their products/services, or buyers that don’t have the money to make the deal happen. Successful sales people work to find out this information early on, so they could focus on the files that matter.

2. Always have a Next Step

Never leave a sales meeting with a client without a solid next step that both of you agree to.  Often times you will hear objections such as “just email me a few times that will work and we’ll put it on the schedule.” In most cases this does not work and takes you out of the driver’s seat.  Sales people find themselves chasing after clients days after writing the email and playing broken telephone, making the sales pitch highly unproductive in the process. The next step should always be tentatively set. Remind the prospect that if they wish to cancel, they could call you to arrange another time.

REMEMBER: When a prospect makes a commitment on the spot, they are much more likely to follow through.

3. Ask, listen, and act.

These three words define sales success. Your questions must be creative, planned, and purposeful. Your listening skills must be well-developed, showing the prospect that you are keen on meeting their needs and making them your success story. You must then respond and take action while proving that you listened to them and want their business.

4. Develop an attitude

Your attitude can only be controlled by you; no one else can do it for you. Conquer your fears and face them head on. Eliminate any vocabulary that will limit your success and develop an attitude that will help you climb the corporate ladder. Remember, your thought habits control your commitment, enthusiasm, persistence, resilience, happiness, and confidence. With time and effort, you can become the person you want to be.

5. Pace yourself

Prospecting is a very time-consuming and arduous task. Allocate a specific amount of time each day (week?) and keep to the schedule. It is always easy to put something ahead of the prospecting activity but make an appointment with yourself and don’t break it.

6. Commit to Lifelong Learning

Commit yourself to lifelong learning. Read, listen to audio programs, attend seminars, and never forget that the most valuable asset you will ever have is your mind. As you continue to learn, you will eventually become the one of the most valuable salespeople in your industry. The more knowledge you obtain that can be applied to practical purposes, the greater will be your rewards.

7. Shorten Meetings

Try scheduling short, 15 minute meetings with prospects. This will help you have more productive and effective meetings. It will also compel prospects to come and talk, especially when they have busy schedules and almost never time.

 

Carmel Vision, a Toronto based CRM software development company, is focused on delivering a powerful management infrastructure that is designed to collect, search, and archive all content, contact and communication activities that take place in a typical office. We understand and listen to all of our customers’ needs and strive to give excellent quality at affordable prices.

Our flagship product, InfoFlo – is a central management system specifically designed to combat one of the biggest technical challenges facing any professional organization, how to efficiently organize, archive, filter and search the vital information that bombards our desktops on a daily basis. Our infrastructure allows all office activities to coexist together under one umbrella, making all critical information readily available at your fingertips.
All interested parties are welcome to download a free trial version of our CRM application.

No credit cards and long term commitments are required. Click here to download free trial.

DiggThis