6 ways to encourage customer loyalty

Customer loyalty is great for the longevity of your business. Encouraging customer loyalty is all about turning a one-time customer into a repeat customer, which is what successful businesses are founded on.

Without a doubt, there are many ways to promote customer retention. Here are a few ways to boost customer loyalty in your pet business—or any other business, for that matter.

1. Be an awesome communicator

Great communication is a key factor when it comes to happy customers. It’s essential to communicate regularly with your customers, but not so often that you annoy them!

Make certain there’s a real reason for communicating with your customers. Perhaps you have a special offer for them or some exciting news about a new product or service.

Don’t forget, there are lots of different ways to communicate with your customers and clients. You can talk to them face-to-face, set up an email database, or use social media. Employing a variety of different communication tools is a good way to keep things fresh. It also helps ensure you stay top of mind for your customers.

2. Give perks to your precious customers

Offering perks definitely sweetens the deal when it comes to encouraging customer loyalty. Everyone wants to feel special and rewards are just the ticket!

Depending on the type of pet business you run, you might offer a loyalty program. For example, book a 5-night stay at your cattery and feline friends get a free night for future use. If you have a pet store, you might offer loyal customers a dollar off for every $20 spent.

There are numerous different and creative ways to reward your customers. Think outside the box to show off your diversity and innovation. Discounts, gifts and offers are an easy and successful way to show customers how much you appreciate them and keep them coming back.

3. Be reliable and responsible — plus authentic!

In the age of social media, one bad review can soon go viral. However, it’s not about being afraid of getting a negative review, it’s simply about being reliable and responsible.

Certainly, this goes hand in hand with being a great communicator. If you make a mistake or you upset a customer it’s important to acknowledge your blunder and take responsibility for it.

It’s not about hiding the mistake, but instead being open and honest. Potential new customers will see your reaction and respect you for the authentic way in which you have responded.

No one expects you to be perfect, but they do expect a certain level of transparency and accountability. If you can provide this, you are doing great and likely to boost your customer loyalty!

4. Ask for and appreciate feedback

Sure, not all advice or feedback is what you want to hear but, nonetheless, it’s important and valuable. As such, it’s essential to welcome, and even encourage, feedback — be it good or bad.

After all, it’s much better to find out that you’re doing something wrong and have the chance to fix it than to struggle on unaware. Acting on the feedback also shows your customers you value their opinion.

5. Make customer service king

Poor customer service is a surefire way to ruin your business. If you want to boost customer loyalty, excellent customer service is a must. This is particularly important if you operate a larger business with many staff members.

In this case, it’s essential to make certain your staff understand the value of good customer service. Indeed, it only takes poor service from one staff member to lose a customer.

Great customer service is all about being friendly, efficient, helpful, happy, and approachable. Give people the attention and service you’d want to receive if you were the customer.

6. Be super nice

It may sound obvious, but it’s really important to be nice — AT ALL TIMES. Yes, we all have our off days, but that doesn’t mean you can be rude to a customer and get away with it.

Great customer loyalty is all about offering the best and friendliest service. So don’t forget to smile! A friendly greeting can have positive consequences. Likewise, an unfriendly greeting can have negative consequences.

Being super nice and sociable is likely to see people spend more time in your business or encourage them to use your services more. Of course, this is crucial to business success.

What strategies have you used to inspire customer loyalty?