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Building loyal customers is like sowing seeds of love and service, as Matthew 22:39 reminds us: "Love your neighbor as yourself."

Feb 12, 2024

 By focusing on their needs, we not only shine brightly for our customers but also honor the One who guides our every step. 

Relationship marketing is one of the easiest ways to connect with your target audience and foster a growing relationship. In fact, relationship marketing is directly tied to- 

  

• Higher customer retention 

• Increased positive reviews on and offline 

• Enhanced word-of-mouth marketing 

• Repeat purchases of incrementally higher value 

• Brand loyalty and ambassadorship 

• Collaboration opportunities 

  

Creating customer loyalty may be one of the easiest and least expensive marketing tools your business has at its fingertips. Here are some tips for creating customer loyalty, one relationship at a time.  

  

Tip - Focus on the customer: Customer service is one of the greatest tools a business has to build relationships, trust, and a lifelong customer. Providing personalized customer service is a key to standing out against other businesses who rely on automation to manage customer relations. Do your best to engage customers directly when possible. Focus on them and try to see things from their perspective.  

  

Tip - Master communication skills: Whether they engage with you or your staff, how customers feel during and after their buying experience often makes or breaks the relationship. Mastering skills like active listening, empathy, and motivation all play a huge role in how people feel being in your presence. Even your online presence can have a direct impact on how customers feel. Make sure your business is consistent, positive, and customer-focused to ensure customers have the best experience.  

  

Tip - Use tech wisely: Tech is an important part of business. Automation can help streamline processes and make your business accessible to a wider audience with greater ease; however, tech should be used wisely and not take the place of a one-on-one experience. Customers respond to tech that allows them to make purchases and get answers with ease, but can quickly become burdensome or frustrating when they want to speak with someone directly. Make sure you offer a balance between tech-based and live customer service.  

  

Tip - be Genuine: People are savvy and they can tell when you aren’t invested. Be sure your relationship marketing is genuine. If you ask for engagement, be sure to be engaged. If you are offering a poll, be sure to follow up with the results. If you are hosting a relationship-building event, be sure to be inclusive and likeable.   

  

Tip - Provide value: Your goods and services are valuable, but there are other ways to provide value to your customer. Referrals, access to information, tutorials, behind the scenes information, and other resources provide additional value to your customers and build their trust. 

  

Tip - Overdeliver: It’s more common than ever to deliver the absolute minimum. It’s understandable since the costs of doing business are often skyrocketing and many customers don’t understand the shrinking margins, but overdelivering is a key to relationship marketing. It doesn’t have to be a monetary delivery. Overdelivering can include following up after the sale, offering a discount on a future purchase or giving a customer a shout out on social media. Get creative and find ways to offer your customers even more than they expected. 

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