All businesses seek to gain new customers, especially small businesses.
Gaining new customers is a great strategy for business growth, and that’s something that most people acknowledge. However, our team believes that another important growth tactic is engaging your current base of customers. As per recent market research data, loyal customers that repeatedly patronize a business make up around 20% of a business’s total customer base.
This is important to note because these repeat customers have been tracked to generate upwards of a 70% of a business’s sales.
Market research data also purports that acquiring a new customer shows a greater risk than catering to an already existing one. In fact, it has been calculated to be around three to ten times more expensive to gain a new customer than to keep an older one. So that leaves us with a question: “How does a business keep customers coming back?”
Loyalty programs are becoming an incredibly common tactic in getting customers to return.
Loyalty programs help to retain your existing customers and have the potential to turn them into fanatics for your brand. That said, there is not a set loyalty program that all businesses choose to follow. The best advice for creating a loyalty program is to scale it to what is most appropriate for your business. Some businesses may utilize a punch card for whenever a purchase is made; other business may find it better to create a mobile application for their customers.
To decide what type of program is best to offer, try speaking to your repeat customers so that you can understand what they most like about your business.
This will help you avoid engaging in a program that your customers don’t actually want or value. Whatever you do, it is paramount that your loyalty program offers actual benefits to the customer. A good loyalty program can truly ensure a profitable future for your business.