We have touched upon customer loyalty once or twice already this week as it does find its way into the other ‘thank you’ subjects, but as it is such a big and important topic, it unquestionably needs to have an article of its own. It is important today more than ever because we live in a world where your customer has access to all your competition at the simple click of a button, not to mention the barrage of e-mails they receive telling them that they can receive better products elsewhere. With GDPR coming into play allowing free movement of data, it is becoming easier and easier for the customer to give their loyalty to someone else.
Did you know on average your loyal customers are worth up to 10 times more than their original purchase? To be fair we really don’t need to tell you how much your loyal customers are worth, as it should pretty much be evident in your sales figures, in some cases 75% of business’ turnover can be attributed to loyal customers or their referrals. So considering customer loyalty is so important, do you have a customer retention strategy?
We have definitely noticed in our industry, price isn’t the driving factor, according to a recent survey by the British Promotional Merchandise Association the most decisive reason for using a regular promotional merchandise supplier is good service. Many people are internet savvy enough these days to realise that they could spend all day shopping around searching for the best price, but in modern day’s society, time is money and if they receive great service from a company who saves them the time of dealing with their painpoints they are likely to stick with them.
We are seeing a great resurgence in loyalty programs, especially in the B2B environment, business owners a realising that a supportive reliable service combined with non-financial incentives is looking like a great recipe for success. Mirroring the B2C market, B2B companies are looking into what makes their customers tick, giving them more than just discounts on their products, identifying their buying habits and reacting to them.
From a marketing perspective, what can you give a customer that would not only inspires them to buy, but provides great recall value, keeping your brand in front of the customer when they are making buying decisions? This is where the world of promotional products comes in to play! Promotional merchandise is so much more than giveaways at exhibitions or conferences; bigger than mugs, caps, pens and t-shirts. Promotional products can be anything, from cuddly toys, to large electronic goods. A tactic we are seeing work particularly well is a company will have set up a loyalty website for their B2B customers that has a great range of company branded products on it, whenever a customer makes a purchase or fulfils a service they get points to spend on the promotional products from that website.
Having a great customer is like having a great member of staff, you want to keep them happy, and ensure they are loyal to your company (rewarding staff loyalty is an upcoming topic also, so keep an eye out for that one!).