Online customer loyalty: more sales with less effort

Customer loyalty: happy customers keep coming back

According to the 80/20 rule from Pareto 20% of your customers ensures 80% of your turnover. It simplifies reality, but every company has small and large customers, who spend a lot or a little. With marketing you put your products or services on the market: more customers who spend more. Marketing costs money: wouldn't it be great to reduce those costs? By putting down a better product?

Got my new AH Bonus card this week

Customer loyalty

You want to keep your customers. And increase their spending. You do this by developing the customer relationship. There are 3 ways for this:

• Social / emotional binding: contact, personal attention, trust, association, respect and togetherness. For example: Apple.
• Financially binding: loyalty program, rewards, discounts. For example: AH Bonus card.
• Structural binding: tailor-made, tailored to specific needs, added value, extras, subscriptions, customization. For example: personal mobile subscription.

 Are new customers more expensive?

With new customers you already have a communication line open. And the customer has already opted for you in the past. However: don't expect your regular customers to pay more than new customers. (That is why I call my internet provider every year with the message that I am considering switching ... you get money back just like that!) And some regular customers will no longer spend on your product, for example because they no longer have a budget or not more need. The profit that you can make with customer loyalty is mainly in reducing your marketing costs.

Online customer loyalty is more difficult ...

With a click you can view a new website. Any suspicion that your product is too expensive quickly results in an extra tab in which the competitor is viewed. It is not like a store where the saleswoman kindly wished you good morning. There is no physical person who inspires confidence and can approach each customer individually. Loyalty is very dependent on the experience, and online experience is generally less than in real life.

... But it works!

Customer loyalty simply works differently online. There has already been contact, but via a digital channel. That means that it was less personal, but that also means that you can link data to communication to create more relevance.

 4 tips for online customer loyalty

• Collect customer data at the right time.Link requesting customer data to a promotion. Such as a zip code finder. An email for the order confirmation. Interests with offers. For example, there is a direct bond that the customer sees and therefore accepts faster.
• Use customer data correctly.Also 'event marketingcalled: the right message to the right person in the right way at the right time. Think of a birthday card with a very nice discount, a newsletter with relevant offers or a text message “You have been making international calls lately. You can save with ... "This is how you get an advisory role.
• Use customer data for a better experienceLink customer data to the information you display. "Welcome back, Thomas"At the top of the site. Frequently read pages. Customers who bought this product also looked at ... And if most people are looking for a mobile with 4G, put this at the top of your filter options. This 'wisdom of the crowd' provides convenience.
• Surprise within the expectation pattern.Give something away for free during the booking process, such as a sample. Send a handwritten note with the delivery. After delivery, mail the question: did everything go according to plan? Call us directly. (or write review). Such a peak experience colors the whole experience in a positive way.

Real customer loyalty naturally starts with doing what you promise and a good product. You must always earn trust. But go the few steps further, and your conversion goes up and the marketing costs go down. The Net Promoter Score is also a useful tool for measuring customer satisfaction. Happy customers keep coming back.