9 Marketing Nuggets to Enhance Your Customer Loyalty and Retention

Excellence is …

Caring more than others think is wise.

Risking more than others think is safe.

Dreaming more than others think is practical.

Expecting more than others think is possible.

-Winston Churchill

Have you ever heard this quote from Winston Churchill? We believe it is one of the best definitions of excellence we have found and we use it with clients quite often. Caring, risking, dreaming, and expecting are four important traits of successful entrepreneurs for sure and have a lot to do with customer loyalty and retention.

We find many businesses that are quite happy with their size and state that they are not interested in further growth. This is certainly an acceptable answer … except for one thought. Everyone needs some focus on growth just to stay where they are. With this in mind, here are 9 marketing nuggets to assist your business growth through customer loyalty and retention:

You can’t be a business that is all things to all people. Identify your ideal customers.

Not all customers are equal … that goes without saying for most businesses. Winning customers requires businesses be willing to lose customers at times. And you must pick your spots to do the special things for special customers.

More to think about: Retention Strategies: 27 Ways for Building Trust for Better Retention

Work is theater and business is always a stage … create memorable experiences.

Keeping your best customers happy and making them your advocates is a top priority for any business. The WOW customer experience derived from your superior service are critical in this regard. We believe they are the most important part of your word of mouth and marketing differentiation efforts.

All things being equal people like doing business with friends. Build customer relationships by making friends.

Always remember that a customer creates the most value for you, when you create the most value for him.

Build alliances with other businesses … look for synergy to add customer value.

Business alliances are representative of collaborative commerce and are great examples of how to grow your business by working with other businesses.

Stand for something good in your community … continue to add new planks to your brand.

The front line of any brand in the marketplace is not the advertising, packaging, or product design. It is the interaction that the customer experiences that determines the brand’s reputation to a large degree. It is human and emotion, and at that critical time when a customer engages with one of your employees or someone in your channel, your brand (your product and reputation) will either be enhanced or diminished.

Be social … wear a smile and a nametag.

In the field of designing positive experiences for customer relationship building, there will certainly be many designs that will take some serious thinking. But hopefully not at the expense of the little things you can do to build customer relationships. The customer engagement checklist starts with a foundation of little things that, when not done well, can make the more complex customer experience design actions a moot point.

Deliver consistency … always.

Initial customer impressions count significantly and are especially important to your ability to influence and build customer relationships. My customer engagement checklist starts with a foundation of little things that, when not done well, can make the more complex customer experience actions a moot point.

Always keep your promises … and always follow up.

We have found many businesses that cannot articulate how their business is truly unique. What analogy to that stands out in our mind? We feel that trying to win against your competition without good discrimination is like trying to sail with no wind.

Occasionally surprise your customers … by going the extra mile.

Want to know one of the most effective examples to build your brand and create reciprocity with your customers? By surprising them! People like getting things for free and like them even more when they are viewed as “favors”. But even more, they love receiving these favors as surprises.

Remember … don’t talk about how great you are … tell your customers a story about how what you do well will make them look awesome.

Mike Schoultz likes to write about topics that lead to small business success. He also likes to share his many business experiences. Find him on G+, Facebook, Twitter, Digital Spark Marketing, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.