Making a sale is something that requires effort and dedication; however, your work doesn’t end when the customer pays for one of your products or services.
In order to maintain a constant flow of customers and profits, you need to implement customer retention strategies; otherwise, your company will decline to the point of being unprofitable.
Now, there are a series of bad practices that tend to be repeated in loyalty strategies. Are you committing any of them? Find out.
1.Sustaining loyalty through pricing.
Whether they are low or very high, it is a mistake to rely on the monetary value of what you offer as the basis for customer loyalty. The key to success lies in the quality that accompanies your brand’s products or services.
One of the main reasons why you should not base your strategy solely on monetary value is the ease with which your competition can match or even devalue the prices you offer.
As a tip, when launching a loyalty campaign, avoid placing too much importance on prices and instead prioritize emotional factors such as comfort, usefulness, and other positive characteristics of what you offer.
2.Lack of communication.
Just like in many aspects of life, dialogue is key to establishing healthy and lasting relationships. In the business realm, if you don’t maintain communication with your customers, they will easily forget about your brand and what you offer.
Don’t let your customers become one-time sales. Come up with clever ways to obtain their email addresses or phone numbers, such as offering promotions, newsletters, or sending receipts to their email. Through these channels, you will have the opportunity to send them information, offers, updates, and other valuable data that will motivate them to come back.
3.Not knowing your reputation in the market.
Knowing what people think about your brand and what you offer is essential. Before launching a campaign, you need to know if your business has a positive perception among your target audience. Otherwise, a loyalty strategy may generate detrimental aspects instead of benefits.
We suggest conducting surveys using tools like Hootsuite to discover mentions of your brand on social media. This way, you can gauge public opinion regarding your products and services.
4.Unattractive rewards.
Every loyalty strategy should take into account the benefits it will offer to customers. Don’t make the mistake of believing that your product or service is enough to compensate people; try to go beyond that.
For example, some companies implement «points accumulation» models, where points are earned through purchases, and once a certain amount is accumulated, people can redeem them for a «reward.»
Don’t be afraid to experiment and even form alliances with other businesses that allow for the exchange of benefits among their customers when they consume from one or the other. This will represent added value that encourages customers to return consistently.
5.Limited variety of means for loyalty.
One of the points to consider in your loyalty program is the means by which people can enroll or make use of it. Some customers may prefer a points card, while others may show more interest in a digital application. Due to this variety of preferences, you should not focus on just one loyalty medium.
Explore all the options available to you. Only then will you satisfy the expectations and preferences of your customers when interacting with your brand.
6.Poor team productivity.
You can have the best product in the world, but if your staff is rude, unprofessional, and does not provide the best customer service, your brand is destined for failure. In previous points, we addressed actions to consider when fostering loyalty, but before implementing them, make sure you have the right personnel.
Now, loyalty strategies have their degree of complexity, so the individuals responsible for their planning and implementation must have the proper training.
Your task will be to gather experienced individuals in marketing, technology, and customer service in your team. Only then can you be certain that your strategies will generate a beneficial impact for your organization.
7.Inadequate scheduling.
In previous points, we addressed the importance of communication in your business relationships. However, there is also the dreaded issue of excessive communication.
Just think about it, being overly insistent can be annoying for many people, and ultimately, you run the risk of suffocating your customers. But don’t worry, the solution to this is easier than you think, and you don’t need advanced technology or extensive experience.
Simply schedule and consider the means and moments in which you will contact your customers. Some of the indicators to consider are the first purchase, anniversaries, accumulated purchases, and seasonal discounts.
Implement this simple yet effective resource, and you will notice that your customers will feel closer to your brand organically and without pressure.
8.Poor or non-existent segmentation.
Do you know the socioeconomic level of your buyers or the area where they live? If not, you should gather this data as it is of utmost importance for any strategy you wish to implement in your company.
Taking into account people’s consumption habits based on their area of origin and purchasing power will allow you to devise discounts or other strategies tailored to their specific needs.
Among the benefits for you, you will see that your return on investment will be higher and in less time, saving you resources when devising campaigns.
9.Complex mechanics.
Do not underestimate the importance of simplicity. The loyalty process of your brand should be characterized by being agile and easy to understand.
People are not interested in complicated steps that require too much time or effort. Use creativity to devise plans that prioritize the participation of your target audience, without neglecting the benefits for them.
10.Investing without a clear objective.
If you don’t know where you want to go, it’s easy to get lost, and when money is involved, it’s almost certain that you’ll waste it. Before implementing any action, ask yourself: What do I want to achieve with this?
Whether it’s attracting new followers to your brand’s social media, communicating the existence of a new product, or fostering the constant return of customers, the strategies to achieve these goals should not be the same, and the amount they require is different too.
Gather your team and detail what your brand needs. Brainstorm, establish timelines, target audience, and above all, be creative in designing methods that resonate with people.
11.Not listening to your customers’ opinions.
Every company or business receives negative feedback for isolated reasons or for something that is constant. Your duty is to identify the weak points of your organization and solve them.
The worst thing you can do is ignore or not give them the importance they deserve before implementing your loyalty campaign.
Consider seeking regular feedback from your customers. It doesn’t have to be from everyone; take a random sample of people to be as impartial as possible, and above all, don’t be afraid to know what people think.
12.Lack of recognition for your most loyal customers.
Lack of appreciation is bad in every aspect. It’s not easy for a customer to become a frequent buyer, and once you’ve convinced them to be one, don’t let them go.
We’ve already talked about aspects that foster loyalty in new customers, but what about those who are already loyal?
Reward their loyalty with special recognition or exclusive benefits, motivate them to want to continue the relationship they have with your brand, and above all, don’t think of them as mere «consumers.»
Don’t miss the opportunity to build active relationships with people. Put yourself in their shoes, don’t leave them in anonymity, and reward them.
As you’ve discovered, loyalty is an art that requires knowledge, effort, creativity, and dedication. If you have previously made one or several of the listed mistakes, it’s not the end of the world.
The purpose of this blog is to help you identify weaknesses and bad practices so that your company reduces its number of cancellations and increases its sales.
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We invite you to visit our solutions section, where you can choose the services you need to make your commercial offering irresistible to the sectors you are targeting.
