Customer Service Boosts Your Customers up the Ladder of Loyalty
Business is often like a gameof Chutes and Ladders. The end goal is to create “raving fans,” or loyal,lifelong customers who can’t stop telling others about your business. You moveyour customer along through the journey, advancing them through the sales funneland even seizing opportunities to “jump ahead” and skip a few spaces on yourway to fostering a life-long customer relationship. Yet, without propernurturing, it is easy for your customers to slide back down the funnel intodissatisfaction or even quit your game altogether.
Unlike Chutes and Ladders,customer satisfaction is not based on the luck of the dice roll. Instead, createa customer service strategy at each rung of the Ladder of Loyalty to keep your businessthriving with repeat customers and create valuable word-of-mouth referral marketingthat is so vital in today’s digital age. It is six times more expensive toacquire a new customer than it is to keep a current one! By turning moreprospects into evangelists, your raving fans will do a lot of the “heavylifting” prospecting and marketing for you, saving you time, energy and (mostimportantly) money.
Learn more about the Ladderof Loyalty below, and how customer service should be the center of each step tocreate raving fans:
- Suspect: Whenyour customer is a suspect, essentially they are anyone who has the potentialto buy from you. They can be a very specific type of person depending on yourtarget market.
A great way to provide customer service to your suspects is to focus on your company’sonline presence and user experience. Can your suspects easily find theinformation they need to know about your product and company? Are you reachingthem where they do their research about what products and services to buy? Haveyou crafted a narrative that tells them how your product or service is theanswer to their problem? Focus on honing in on your target market and speakingtheir language, while continuing to optimize and update your website and socialmedia channels to make it easier for them to do business with you. - Prospect: Peoplewho have taken an action, responded, or identified themselves as beinginterested in your product. They may have stopped into your business, optedinto your e-newsletter, given you their name and email address to download afree report, or contacted your company to receive more information.
A prospect shows they are a qualified lead by taking the extra step to reachout for more information or resources. This is where superb customer servicebecomes your secret weapon. At this point, the customer has likely also reachedout to your competitors to see what all they can offer them and what makes themdifferent. Creating a personal relationship is key to understanding thecustomer’s needs, figuring out where they are in their buying cycle, and providingthem with the resources and information they need so they’ll turn to yourbusiness for the solution. Create a customer service-centric sales process thatdefines how often you reach out to prospects and the messaging you’ll use todiscover their needs and move them down the sales funnel. - Shopper: Ashopper is a prospect who has purchased from you once, but has not yet decidedwhether or not they’ll continue doing business with you in the future.
In terms of customer service, many businesses stop here. Because they made asale, they believe their customer will think of them next time to make a repeatpurchase. Yet, your customers continue to have choices, and regardless if theyare satisfied with your product, if they weren’t thoroughly impressed with yourbusiness, they may look elsewhere next time around. Stay in touch throughe-newsletters or direct contact to let your customers know you care. Make themfeel welcome by saying “hello” when people walk through the door, asking if youcan help them, and interacting positively with everyone that enters yourbusiness. Make your high-level of customer service the differentiator betweenyour business and your competitors. - Customer: Acustomer includes individuals or businesses who have purchased from you morethan once. You’ll want to work with them to establish a consistent buyingpattern.
A two-time purchaser is ten times more likely to purchase again vs. a one-timepurchaser. Customer service is critical for retention. Understand yourcustomers’ buying patterns and reach out to them around the time they usuallyre-purchase, whether it’s a face-to-face meeting or a pre-scheduled newsletter.This is instrumental for staying top-of-mind and providing the convenienceneeded to create a loyal customer. Asking for feedback after every purchase isa great way to learn how to improve and build trust and communication with yourcustomer base. - Member: A customer who feels like they belong! You have earnedtheir trust, and they are knowledgeable about your products and services. Youknow you’ve succeeded when the customer is no longer seeking competitive quotesfor your product or services and is directly turning to you when they are inneed.
Reward your members for their loyalty! A loyalty program or VIP program is agreat way to keep your long-term customers happy and move them up the ladder tobecome your advocate. Provide them with perks such as free shipping, and givethem exclusive first access to new products or services as you roll them out.Send them specials in their inbox and be sure they know how much you appreciatetheir business! - Advocate: Members become advocates when they start selling yourproduct or service for you, through referrals and testimonials.
Many people take recommendations and a second opinion before they buy a newproduct. Having advocate-level clientage is especially important for onlinereviews. Consider setting up a referral program that rewards existing customersfor sharing word-of-mouth and online recommendations for your company and forsigning up new customers. - Raving Fans: Congrats! You’ve nurtured your customer to the pointthat they’ve taken it upon themselves to do your selling for you! They talkabout your great product, service and experience they had with you. Therefore,they are an integral part of your sales team. They support your business andwant you to succeed.
Continue to offer the exceptional level of customer service to your raving fansas you did in the steps leading up to the top of the ladder. Reward, prioritize,and continue to garner feedback from these customers to continue to improveyour organization. Interact with them on social media and watch as theirinfluence empowers others to try your business.
Need help withf your customerservice strategy? Contactus for more information on the Ladder of Loyalty and how to use it to growyour suspects into raving fans today!