Even if you find the best promotional products online and impress your customers outright, or put in all the effort to offer discounts and freebies when you can, customer loyalty is never a given. Indeed, it can be an arduous thing to earn and a frustratingly easy thing to lose.
To help you navigate this loyalty labyrinth, here are five of the most common challenges in building unbeatable customer service, and how to overcome them:
1. You’re Unintentionally Dehumanizing People
In a world where every brand wants your money, we can all feel more like a money bag than a person. This feeling amongst customers is a major challenge for brands to overcome because, ultimately, businesses have to make money to succeed.
It can be done, though, and it starts with transparency. Yes, it’s a bit of a buzzword nowadays, but you need to be honest and genuine with your audience if you want them to see that you’re not just out for a quick buck. They will see right through it otherwise and ultimately look for connections with other brands.
Offer information about how your products benefit the customer, give discounts, treats, free and useful social media content, and don’t overlook loyal followers in pursuit of a constant stream of new customers. Show true dedication to all your customers, value their experience, and reward them for sticking with you.
2. You’ve Bred Distrust Through Inconsistency
Research tells us that inconsistent customer service can create customer distrust. Improving your customer experience across multiple channels – and ensuring it remains exceptional – will build up that customer trust and keep customers loyal.
If you’re going through a big boost in customer service to improve a bad reputation, encourage feedback and then share what you’re doing about it. This gets the word out that you’re improving things.
3. You’re Not Justifying Your Prices
These days, the cost of living crisis means many people aren’t brand loyal if the same product (or similar) is available for less. People are rapidly relying on cheap fast-fashion, for example, instead of investing in high-quality pieces that last.
Luckily, nearly 60% of customers will spend more for a convenient experience. Others will pay more for better products, better customer service, and positives like sustainability or good social awareness. Highlighting these aspects of your business can ensure price competition is not going to take your loyal customers elsewhere.
4. You Avoid Personal Connection
Over a quarter of brand humanity comes from the perception that your brand is considerate and offers a personal service. This is what will attract customers to you and keep them loyal, but it’s a challenge to achieve when there’s so much automation involved in providing services these days.
Technology like instant chat can be helpful, so long as you don’t make it a nightmare for people to get to talk to a real human when they need one. Get the balance right, and you can create a sense of personal connection with your customers while still taking advantage of automated tools.
5. You’re Too Similar To Other Brands
It’s hard to get customers to be loyal when your offerings match those of every other brand. You have to make it clear how you stand out. Does your brand embrace culture and diversity? Do you have a strong and consistent brand voice? Do you have scientific evidence behind product claims? Do you have tons of positive feedback? Highlight your positive differences so customers keep coming back to you.
With the information above, you can strengthen customer relationships and conquer the loyalty labyrinth with real strategy, strength, and expertise.
