Have you ever wondered why some businesses may set up shop in areas that might not be very conducive to business and do quite well, while others are placed at major thoroughfares where walk-by and drive-by traffic are all but guaranteed? Yet within six months, they fold and the place goes up for lease or sale? The truth is that success is not always determined by your location – although it does play a vital role – but more often than not, it is dictated by customer loyalty.
Here are four reasons customer loyalty is vital to your business:
1. First and foremost is the fact that a loyal customer is a repeat customer. This person will know about your business practices, about what to expect from your goods or service, the advantages and the disadvantages, and she or he will do business with you in such a way that it is a mutually satisfying transaction.
2. As you establish a relationship with your customer, you are also establishing a relationship with the customer’s family. Thus, it is not uncommon to have the wife bring in the dry cleaning for the family and turn her mother, mother-in-law, aunt, and best girlfriend on to your business. As the husband is sent one day to pick up the dry cleaning, he becomes familiar with the business, and he will tell his brother, business associates, and others who are looking for a dry cleaner. Thus, you are suddenly becoming a commodity that is being shared with others.
3. While family referrals are great, business referrals are even better. If you are a dry cleaner, you will want the dressmaker down the street to recommend your services to its customers. Similarly, if there is a bridal shop with which you may have some professional ties, then these business referrals are simply priceless! Customer loyalties – when you have other business owners or clerks shopping at your store or utilizing your service – are quite often the gateway to a great number of new walk-in customers.
4. Yet the fourth and perhaps most important reason why customer loyalty is vital to your business rests in the fact that many major purchases are not made during the initial contact. For example, if you are at a furniture store, someone might come in looking for a computer desk. While these may be expensive – depending on the materials – by and large, these items are small fish. Yet if the consumer is satisfied with the product, the delivery, the setup, and also the price, the odds are good that she or he will be back when it is time to furnish the nursery, buy that new wall unit, or acquire that bedroom set that was saved up for!
So, customer loyalty is one of the many foundation stones you have to put in place in building a successful business.
