What is Customer Loyalty?
International Customer Loyalty Month is a time when companies and their employees can be reminded to make an extra push to create loyal customers. Loyalty is what keeps someone coming back for more and choosing you over the competition. Creating loyalty is about a continuous effort that creates customer confidence and keeps them coming back. What are you doing to keep your customers coming back and confident in your services?
Keep in mind the key formula for loyalty:
Loyalty = Great Service + Confidence
The Key Questions
This month, take the time to reflect on the habits of your employees and your customers. What are you doing to instill confidence and loyalty your in car wash patrons?
Ask yourselve the following questions and observe customer behavior to ensure a perfect loyalty strategy:
- Why do customers do business with you instead of the competition? Look around. What do you think keeps customers coming in the door?
- Why do customers choose to do business with a competitor instead of you? Time to be humble. Is there something a competitor does that you should implement?
- More likely; what is that new “thing” that the marketplace may be telling you needs to be added to your operation that you just don’t “feel like” doing? New payment systems. New equipment. New marketing.
- What percentage of our customers leave you? Check your data, numbers don’t lie.
- Why did your customers leave? Again, be humble. Was there an incident? Did you get complacent? Take a hard look.
- Do you do something specific, or have a strategy, that gets customers to come back (versus going elsewhere)? Be positive. It’s always possible to turn things around and build business. Think about customer experience!
Gamification
Is your customers experience personal and easy? A car wash is supposed to be fun.
Think about how businesses make something that isn’t essential – and sometimes boring – into a game. That’s “gamifcation”. This strategy is used by businesses far and wide to create loyal customers. Turning your customer experience into a ‘game’ is as easy as letting them score ‘points’ or get rewards for more frequent visits.
The best example we know of is your UWashApp. You can reward customers for signing up, referring and friend, washing more frequently, or just for having turned a year older on their birthday. Loyalty programs are really a method of ‘gamification’, and there is no better loyal program than the WashCard UWashApp.
The WashCard UWashApp gives you everything you need to put a program like this in place, so you can go to work tracking and retaining loyal customers!
Finally, even loyal customers might leave you. Sixty-seven percent of consumers are likely to switch from companies they are loyal to after a rude or apathetic experience. Giving them easier, better, and more efficient ways to have an experience with your operation is critical to keeping your relationship fresh, fun and – most of all – lasting.