[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ da_disable_devices=”off|off|off” global_colors_info=”{}” da_is_popup=”off” da_exit_intent=”off” da_has_close=”on” da_alt_close=”off” da_dark_close=”off” da_not_modal=”on” da_is_singular=”off” da_with_loader=”off” da_has_shadow=”on”][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_3,2_3″ _builder_version=”4.23″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” width=”100%” custom_padding=”||0px||false|false” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ module_class=”table-contents” _builder_version=”4.23″ background_color=”#f3f2f6″ custom_padding=”25px||25px||true|false” sticky_position=”top” sticky_limit_bottom=”section” sticky_position_tablet=”top” sticky_position_phone=”none” sticky_position_last_edited=”on|desktop” pac_dcm_carousel_specific_module_num=”0″ border_radii=”on|24px|24px|24px|24px” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.23″ text_font=”||||||||” global_colors_info=”{}” background__hover_enabled=”on|desktop”][\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” pac_dcm_carousel_specific_module_num=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Intro” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ header_2_font_size=”32px” header_2_font_size_tablet=”30px” header_2_font_size_phone=”26px” header_2_font_size_last_edited=”on|tablet” global_colors_info=”{}”]Loyal customers are a great way to get brand recognition, advocacy, and recurring revenue. The challenge to building a loyal customer base is turning a first-time customer into a repeat customer. The process requires a bit of finesse, human intuition, and recognising what influences a purchase.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s dive in and see how your small business can build a loyal customer base.<\/p>\n
Businesses need new customers, there is no denying that. Acquiring more and more new customers over time means you are growing. What businesses most often struggle with when selling to new customers is the cost of acquisition, which can range from 4 to 25 times the cost of selling to repeat customers. This cost difference incentivises businesses to turn a new customer into a loyal customer.<\/p>\n
Creating a loyal customer base requires understanding. Purchasing a good or service is nearly always an emotional decision, so to build a loyal customer base, businesses need to tap into the emotions that make customers buy.<\/p>\n
Identifying your audience is about finding the commonalities across your customer base. This involves investigating why your product resonates with people, and can be broken down into three categories:<\/p>\n
Once you have an idea of who your customers are, you can tailor the sales experience, after-sales care, and customer communication to meet their needs. You can develop marketing strategies by creating the ideal customer and making templates of customer profiles and personas<\/a>.<\/p>\n Nail first impressions and cater to the buying experience. Make buying your product or service as easy as possible. If you have a website, this could be in the form of UX Design \u2013 have you ever abandoned a sale due to how clunky and unresponsive a website was? If you have a retail store, how is the customer treated when entering, throughout, and leaving the store? How is the store set up? When providing a service, how quickly and how high was the quality of the service person?<\/p>\n First impressions can have a lasting impact; a positive experience will often lead to customers coming back. While a negative experience<\/a> is a common reason for customers to abandon a sale, it can also lead to boycotts of a brand.<\/p>\n Keeping in touch with customers is a great way to keep them engaged with your product. This will keep your services in mind when they have needs on any given day. The best way to stay in contact is through an email program, which can range from a number of subjects:<\/p>\n Loyalty and incentive programs provide a great strategy to re-engage customers in your product. An effective program can be a valuable resource for a business, as loyal customers benefitting from incentives are:<\/p>\n Incentive programs aren\u2019t considerably cost-ineffective, as even the most basic offerings can result in repeat business. A good example of this is the free coffee card, where, after 10 purchases, the next coffee purchase is free.<\/p>\n Customer feedback<\/a> is a great way to improve your processes and invest in the customer-business relationship. By giving a voice to your customers, they will feel heard and that their opinions have value. When customers see that your business implements and takes action based on their suggestions, you build trust with your customers through transparency.<\/p>\n To fully take advantage of customer feedback and use it the right way:<\/p>\n Among a million other things, finding ways to grow your business<\/a> and build a customer base as a new business or start-up will be a challenge. This is where you start small and expand outwards. The key is to adopt initiatives that make sense for your small business and discard those that don\u2019t.<\/p>\n Building customer loyalty from first-time buyers is easier with the right tools, so make sure that your business is prepared, whether digitally<\/a>, socially<\/a>, or financially<\/a>. A loyal customer base is a great source of recurring revenue for businesses. Learn how to turn first-time customers into loyal customers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":296601,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":" Tired of success? Sick to the back teeth with all talk of stability and strong cash flow? Dreading strong growth, healthy profits, and excellent brand recognition? Then listen up! It\u2019s time to run your business right into the dirt.<\/p> It\u2019s easy, let\u2019s get you started.<\/p> One of the best ways to ruin your business beyond repair is to ignore reporting. When you use business tools like accounting software to run reports on cash flow<\/a>, COGS<\/a>, budget forecasting<\/a> and accounts receivable<\/a>, you gain actionable insights through hard data.<\/p> Instead of steering your business on gut feel, running reports, and then taking the information onboard will help you make better business decisions. We can\u2019t have that.<\/p> Old websites are good websites. If you really want to curb your capacity for growth and profits, you should never update your website.<\/p> Ensure you have:<\/p> By keeping your website stuck firmly in the early 2000s you will make great progress in diminishing your business and becoming unappealing to customers.<\/p> Don\u2019t ever listen to your customers or request feedback. What would they know?<\/p> Understanding feedback leads to a deeper understanding of your client base and increases your capacity to make your customers happy<\/a>.<\/p> When you ask for feedback and then act on it to make changes to your business model, you may run the risk of making and retaining more customers and increasing your profits. Avoid at all costs, (as this will only make your business stronger and more resilient<\/a>.)<\/p> Nobody knows more than you, so never ask for advice or consult with a business advisor. Business advisors are adept professionals, skilled in analysing your data and making sage suggestions on how to improve many facets of your business.<\/p> Business advisors and accountants can help you:<\/p> Such professional advice and assistance will only lead to a healthier business geared toward growth.<\/p> If you\u2019d like to generate a tight ball of stress in your chest and make hasty decisions, you\u2019re best off leaving everything until the very last minute. Wait until the final chance to do your:<\/p> If you plan and work toward getting tasks done with a calm mind and a chance to do things consciously and correctly, you\u2019re only going to run a tighter ship.<\/p> Another surefire way to erode your business is to muddle up your personal and business finances<\/a>. By using business funds for personal purchases and paying for business expenses with personal accounts you\u2019ll generate a wild financial tangle.<\/p> This nest of interwoven finances will make it an absolute nightmare to tease out your real financial position and truly mess with your reporting and tax compliance. So, if you want to spend inordinate hours trying to separate your business finances<\/a> down the track, go right ahead and make it nice and messy.<\/p> If you want to run your ship into a reef, make sure you never adjust course.<\/p> There are a lot of successful business owners out there who keep a finger on the pulse, research the market, listen to feedback, and interpret data to adjust their offerings and business models.<\/p> These business owners tend to benefit from avoiding obsolescence and will make shifts to correspond to the changing tastes of their customers and prevailing market conditions.<\/p> If you want to see diminishing returns, however, don\u2019t be like them \u2013 just remain static.<\/p> Another fantastic way to damage your business is to take employees for granted. It\u2019s often said that a business is only as good as its employees<\/a>, so take advantage of that and neglect your staff. Nothing will demotivate an employee faster than neglect.<\/p> A few ways to do this include underpayments, never giving praise or encouragement, fostering a negative work culture<\/a>, never offering training or education<\/a>, deploying a harsh and unforgiving attitude, and having a general lack of respect. Your business will be suffering in no time!<\/p>","_et_gb_content_width":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[343],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-295942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insights"],"yoast_head":"\nCustomer Experience<\/h3>\n
Communication Frequently<\/h3>\n
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Incentive, Loyalty and Reward Programs<\/h3>\n
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Customer Feedback<\/h3>\n
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Loyal Customers for new businesses<\/h2>\n
\n[\/et_pb_text][ba_social_share icon_bg=”#03002e” icon_padding=”10px|12px|10px|12px|true|true” layout=”classic” show_text=”off” btn_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px|false|false” btn_bg_color=”RGBA(255,255,255,0)” _builder_version=”4.23″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”50px||||false|false” custom_padding=”25px||||false|false” custom_css_before=” content: %22SHARE THIS%22;|| font-size: 16px;|| font-weight: 700;|| line-height: 22px;|| letter-spacing: 0em;|| text-align: center;|| color: #ff5447;|| margin-bottom: 10px;|| display: inline-flex;|| position: absolute;|| margin-top: 10px;” border_width_top_main=”1px” border_color_top_main=”#e4e4e4″ border_radii_icon=”on|5px|5px|5px|5px” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_css_before_last_edited=”off|desktop”][ba_social_share_child _builder_version=”4.23″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/ba_social_share_child][ba_social_share_child network_type=”facebook” _builder_version=”4.23″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/ba_social_share_child][ba_social_share_child network_type=”linkedin” _builder_version=”4.23″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/ba_social_share_child][ba_social_share_child network_type=”email” _builder_version=”4.23″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/ba_social_share_child][\/ba_social_share][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"1) Ignore reporting<\/h2>
2) Neglect your website<\/h2>
3) Don\u2019t ask for customer feedback<\/h2>
4) Do it all yourself and never ask for advice<\/h2>
5) Leave everything until the last minute<\/h2>
6) Mix up your personal and business finances<\/h2>
7) Never adjust course<\/h2>
8) Create hostile relationships with your employees<\/h2>