Brand loyalty is key to the success of any business. The question is, how do you keep customers coming back? While this process doesn't happen overnight (you need continual service improvement, positive reviews and recommendations, etc.), we're sharing three ways you can be proactive about securing a loyal base for your brand.
Make It Memorable
As humans, our individualistic traits are remembered from various interactions. She’s loud. He’s quiet. That kid is hilarious. Businesses are no different. Just like people, businesses have that thing or those things (even better) that set them apart. The hardest part is defining who you are as a brand and what you want your audience to take away after each encounter.
Step one is easy. What is your name and what do you do? As you progress in creating your brand’s identity, the steps get a bit trickier. What are your audience’s likes and dislikes and how do their interests intertwine with your services? Since communication methods should reflect your personality, do you take a more casual approach with your verbiage or are you all-business? Translating answers to questions like these through every touchpoint of your organization, in a meaningful, intentional way, is the challenge.
Keep It Consistent
After you’ve defined just who you are as a business, it’s essential to integrate these standards through every piece of the puzzle… even the little things
that you may not consider an important piece of the equation. The image and language that best represent your organization should be woven in to everything from business cards and sales presentations to email correspondence and invoicing.
Employee demeanor and performance are incredibly important and highly visible factors that can elevate customer loyalty quickly or sink it in a heartbeat. Teaching company values and key aspects of your branding model should start with new employee training. Customer service interactions, dress code, basic inner-office procedures and attitude should meet your standards. Minion development is not encouraged, but employees should experience some sort of transformation the moment they step through your office
door.
Make It Last
We all want the lasting relationship, right? It’s the icing on the cake. Incorporating thoughtful actions that surprise your customers into your standard practices is designed to, well, be thoughtful, further develop the relationship and let them know that they are important to you. They
are important. In fact, your business depends on them. However, true love can look different for smaller, medium-sized and larger businesses.
For the small business, suppose a new client mentioned how much she loved jelly beans during your first meeting. Why not drop off a jar of jelly beans (in your brand’s signature colors, of course) at her office? It’s a way to personalize your relationship, say thank you and display your brand without being uber creepy… and
who doesn’t like candy? For the larger business, the challenge is to make a more systematic approach seem personable. Working with an agency to creatively develop this method would be worth it's weight in gold to repeat business.
Our team realizes that uncovering these solutions can be daunting. At Nice Branding, we have the strategies and experience to help you create a loyal customer base that will take your business to the next level.
Give us a call and let’s make those encounters last together.
