There are thousands of things you could do for customer loyalty, but only one you must do: customer service. Note: You don’t define it; your customers do. Today we will talk about a burning topic for your business which, if done well, will bring you many benefits, but if not, it can turn against you.

Customer service is an essential component of any large company. While interactions between customers and the company are becoming increasingly automated – ”press 2 for …” or ”Rate the call quality by pressing 3” –, and direct interactions are fewer, real feedback is lost to automation. As a result, companies are unintentionally moving further and further away from their current customers.

Before mentioning the simple rule that leads to lifelong customer loyalty, let’s analyze the benefits that customer service brings to your business. Benefits that, specifically, are measured in the growth of the company’s turnover.

customer loyalty
If you manage to turn a customer into a loyal one, here are a few things that will happen:

  • Your company’s sales will increase. It’s logical: a satisfied customer will continue to buy from you, since you provide all the support they need. Why would they look elsewhere for something they already have here?
  • Your competition will suffer. If people decide to choose you as their primary provider of products or services, they will spend their allocated budget with you, to the detriment of the competition.
  • They will stay with you longer. A lasting bond is formed over time. It is said that attracting new customers is more expensive than keeping existing ones (even if it might just be a myth, why risk it?!). If you take care of current customers, they have fewer reasons to leave you.
  • Loyalty is like a barrier against competitors. If you do a good job for your customers, they will be harder for the competition to lure away.
  • It’s easier to convince existing customers to buy more. They already trust you, right?
  • You can make a higher profit. Satisfied customers will be willing to pay more for what you offer. You won’t rip them off, of course, but they will be less price-sensitive because they already know what they are paying for.

These simple benefits clearly show how customer service can be a very effective business strategy, but what is the rule mentioned above? It’s simple:

Ask customers what they want and give it to them!

Both parts of the phrase are equally important:

You must ask customers what they want because you cannot predefine customer needs. And this is done only through research: focus groups where you can find new ideas for your business (not just about how to please them in the future), satisfaction level interviews, etc. They are the ones who must tell you what they want, what needs they have; you cannot determine it, it is their decision. Your suppliers don’t tell you what you’re going to order either, do they? 🙂

Once they have answered you, you must also offer them the solutions they proposed.

The secret behind customer loyalty lies in providing an excellent customer service program, defined by your customers themselves. It’s really that simple!

Customer loyalty has a simple rule: Ask them what they want, and then apply it!