An effective tool to increase loyalty. How to measure and increase it. Use of social networks

Factors affecting customer loyalty

To build an effective customer loyalty management system, develop programs to increase consumer loyalty, it is necessary to identify the main factors affecting loyalty. There are two groups of factors: rational and irrational, which differ for different areas of interaction between the company's consumers.

Figure 1. Factors influencing customer loyalty. Author24 - online exchange of student papers

Each of the above factors plays an important role in the formation of a loyalty system. Their influence differs depending on the stage of the company's relationship with the client. For the positive development of loyalty, basic conditions are necessary, the absence of which nullifies all the efforts made to increase consumer loyalty. This is the rudeness of the staff, the inability to get through to the support service and the inability to solve the client's problem, the ambiguity regarding the use or operation of the product, etc.

There are three levels of customer loyalty:

• contentment;
• devotion;
• partnership.

It should be noted that the loyalty management strategy is developed taking into account logic and emotions. Some factors that influence customer loyalty can be logically justified, such as the price of a product. And factors such as the quality of service or the consumer's attitude to the company / product / brand are considered from an emotional point of view.

In this regard, marketers must find a balance between the use of logic and emotions of the client, since they mutually influence each other. The use of the emotional component in the development of a business development strategy will allow you to direct all your efforts to build relationships with customers. The complex of the above factors is an integral system, but for a more accurate picture, each factor should be considered separately. Certain indicators are more significant for the company's performance, others are less so.

Remark 1

Companies seeking to become customer-centric are taking actions to increase the loyalty of their customers. These are measures aimed not only at justifying, but also at surpassing consumer expectations.

Methods and tools to increase customer loyalty

Used to increase customer loyalty various methods and tools:

1. high level of service;
2. regular reminder about the company, its products, etc.;
3. sending messages about new arrivals and special offers;
4. providing discounts;
5. issuance of accumulative cards;
6. gifts and surprises;
7. contests and sweepstakes;
8. organization of a club of regular customers;
9. birthday greetings and other holidays;
10. distribution of a branded newspaper or booklets.

The level of service is one of the priority tools for increasing customer loyalty. Professional service, quick response to a complaint or request allow the client to feel their importance to the organization. Can be offered to clients Additional services depending on the nature of the company's activities. A satisfied customer will recommend to his friends and acquaintances, and a dissatisfied customer will distribute negative feedback a huge number of people.

From time to time, the client should be reminded of the existence of the company. You can send SMS or e-mail, unobtrusively offer to use services or purchase products, including new items. Attracting a new customer costs a company several times more than retaining old regular customers.

Discounts are a tool that attracts customers, but does not increase their loyalty. Companies can issue discount cards with a fixed discount or accumulative discount cards. The latter bring the company new customers, since friends who know its owner can also use the card. In most cases, such a card binds the client to the company, since the discount increases with each new purchase.

Another effective tool to increase customer loyalty are gifts and surprises upon purchase. It can be a small and insignificant souvenir that will evoke pleasant emotions in the buyer and return him to the store again.

The attention of the company has a favorable effect on customer loyalty. Congratulations on birthdays and other holidays are accompanied by the provision of discounts, gifts or special services.

Game mechanics in the system of increasing customer loyalty or gamification gained popularity. Collecting stickers to end up with a collection of toys, utensils, or appliances for free or at a deep discount leads consumers to make frequent purchases of certain amounts.

Additional privileges are received by buyers who join the club of regular customers.

Consumer loyalty programs

A set of methods and tools underlie the development of customer loyalty programs. The goal of a loyalty program is to achieve a certain amount of sales by increasing the number of customers. This is a short-term goal, in the long term, companies seek to get a small number of repeat customers who will bring more profit than a large number of one-time customers.

Many companies limit themselves to issuing discount or bonus card and consider that they have launched a loyalty program. In fact, such a program is a whole range of activities aimed at meeting the needs of the target audience, encouraging it to long-term mutually beneficial cooperation and increasing the volume of sales of goods and services.

Remark 2

Loyalty programs are a widely used tool to increase customer loyalty in industries that are characterized by a high cost of goods or a significant markup. This is a retail network, airlines, financial and banking organizations, delivery services, etc.

There are open and closed customer loyalty programs that have their own advantages. The degree of openness means the availability of the loyalty program for the client. Anyone can join the open loyalty program. To participate in a closed loyalty program, certain conditions must be met: make a purchase for a certain amount, fill out a questionnaire, etc.

Figure 2. Benefits of closed and open customer loyalty programs. Author24 - online exchange of student papers

The topic of increasing customer loyalty worries many businessmen. To all those interested in this issue, we offer an article by John Fraser-Robinson, which contains helpful tips and interesting reflections on how to win and increase customer loyalty.

Participants of the modern business space attach great importance to building relationships with customers. The entire field of marketing, sales and service puts the task of increasing customer loyalty in the first place. It is no wonder that specialists from these areas assign such an important role to customer loyalty. But do not forget that the commitment and trust of customers will bring success to the entire enterprise, the company as a whole. Therefore, all employees, without exception, should worry about this indicator.

In modern business world one method of increasing competitiveness is replaced by another, and often such fashion trends pass without a trace, both for the company and for the business market as a whole (for example, the philosophy universal control quality - TQM). But such an indicator as customer loyalty is a measure of stability and reliability. Experience has shown that the pursuit of end-user satisfaction has not brought the expected results, it only created unnecessary trouble for the buyer in the form of a huge number of questionnaires to fill out, and the policy aimed at building customer loyalty has stood the test of time.

In reality, an over-enthusiasm for customer satisfaction looks like trying to measure the temperature of the water with your little finger before jumping into the pool. Customer loyalty and customer satisfaction are of a different nature. When it comes to loyalty, it refers to the actions of customers, and not their verbal assessment of a particular product. For example, if a customer repeatedly buys the same product, this is a specific action that allows you to talk about loyalty.

What factors can influence customer loyalty?

First of all, customer loyalty is affected by:

Each of the above indicators plays an important role in the formation of a loyalty system. Loyalty management strategy designed with logic and emotion in mind. What does it mean? For example, the cost of a product and its quality can be logically justified. And such factors as the quality of service and the attitude of the client to the company lie strictly in the emotional plane. To effectively manage loyalty, marketers need to balance the use of the logical element and the emotions of the customer, as they mutually influence each other. Achievement high level business elements based on emotions will allow you to focus all your efforts on building relationships with customers.

The combination of these factors is an integral system, but for a clearer picture, you need to consider each of them separately.

The price of the product

Businessmen often attach too much importance to price. Of course, this is an important factor, but do not overdo it in an effort to influence customer priorities with the help of price. Companies use a loyalty management strategy to minimize the impact of price on customer attitudes. When you earn the trust of the client, the price will no longer be a determining factor for him when choosing your particular product, the buyer will appreciate your product or service. This does not mean that loyalty cannot be influenced by the price, just when setting the price, one should not forget about the benefits and prospects for the further development of the company.

Product quality

The client will not repeat your product if it does not meet the declared level of quality. For example, if a device breaks down before the expiration of its service life, then this will affect not only the client's attitude towards a particular product, but also his attitude towards the manufacturer as a whole. Actions aimed at increasing customer loyalty will be crowned with success when the proposed goods will justify, or even exceed the expectations of the consumer.

Fulfillment of delivery conditions

Fulfilling the terms of delivery is not just delivering the goods to the specified address. Delivery is a way to build corporate reputation and identity, it's a kind of promise you make to a customer. There is a significant difference between supply and technical distribution. The distribution of goods is a chain of logically meaningful operations that occur at a stage far from the final consumer, that is, it is a distribution process material flow between different wholesale buyers.

When it comes to delivery, it means direct, uninterrupted contact with the customer. A policy aimed at increasing customer loyalty implies the uninterrupted functioning of the communication channel with the consumer and the readiness to respond to his request at any time of the day.

Quality of service

Experience shows that a customer-oriented business places a strong emphasis on service. This is hardly possible for large corporations and holdings, whose "sluggishness" and inveterate connections often prevent the consumer from delivering. This cannot be said about representatives of small businesses, who have greater freedom of action in this area, since they are not burdened with various “protocols” and traditional structures. For example, it will not be difficult for a small company to satisfy a non-standard, unusual desire of a client, as it is free and dynamic in its decisions and actions.

The foregoing does not mean at all that large companies do not have the opportunity to become maximally focused on client base. It’s just that they will need more effort and time for this: to create a competent management culture, to properly organize the personnel department, to change organizational structure etc. To increase customer loyalty large companies need to be more mobile and energetic.

Customer attitude

Any company wants to earn the recognition and respect of customers. And it does not matter what kind of customers we are talking about: individual consumers or other organizations. Loyalty management approaches are the same in any case. In order for the client to prioritize in your favor, give each employee his own separate customer base, so it will be easier for him to build a trusting relationship with them. The employee will be able to identify the individual needs of each client, which will have a beneficial effect on his loyalty to the company.

So, in order to influence customer loyalty and earn their respect, attention and trust, you need to systematically and diligently work on the five indicators mentioned above. Only an integrated approach to ways to increase customer loyalty will lead to the intended goal. We should not forget about the need to combine the experience based on logic (issues of price, quality of the product, delivery) with the experience based on the emotions of customers (service, subjective attitude of the client).

To the question of emotions. How does the client feel when dealing with your company, how does he feel about it? The answer to this question should worry any company. The emotional aspect should not be ignored. Many methods of forming customer loyalty are ineffective only because they pay insufficient attention to the factors that are based on emotions and feelings.

How to measure loyalty?

Here are some questions that will help you measure your customer loyalty:

How do customers feel about the company? – indicator of customer satisfaction;
How long ago was the last purchase made? - an indicator of the relevance of a product or service;
How often are purchases made? - an indicator of how regularly the client uses your services;
How long has the person (or organization) been your customer? - an indicator of the duration of the relationship with the client;
How much are clients spending? - an indicator of value in monetary terms;
What feedback do consumers leave about you? – will allow you to consider the advice and suggestions of your customers;
How much of your spending do customers “leave” for your company and your competitors? - an indicator of the share in the client's expenses.

Why do you need to know how much of the cost customers "leave" in your company? It is necessary to analyze the expenses of your customers related to your products in order to build the right marketing policy and assess the level of consumer loyalty. The client is loyal and committed to your company as long as the share of your products in his expenses is 70-80%, when this figure is below 50%, then the client will easily accept the offer of your competitors. This indicator requires accuracy, not approximate calculations. This question can be directly asked to the client, and based on accurate data, build a strategy for further development.

Another important question, which every businessman should ask himself: are customers ready to help your company? Helping clients primarily lies in their desire and willingness to spread positive or negative feedback about your company. Often people will be more willing to answer a question about their willingness to leave recommendations than a question about their desire to purchase more of your products. This valuable type of information will also help to calculate the moves in the formation of a loyalty system.

Results:

To develop an effective strategy to increase customer loyalty, you need to constantly study and analyze their needs. In addition, the study of the opinions and recommendations of customers will allow you to understand the shortcomings and strengths company, be it a corporation or small organization. Sensitivity and interest in relation to customers will help earn their trust and respect. In addition, you should consider the costs incurred by the company to acquire a new customer and the real value of the existing one. This information will allow

Hello! In this article we will talk about customer loyalty.

Customer loyalty is an important indicator of the company's performance. Many marketers and managers understand that it is easier to build a policy in such a way that the main money comes from a stream of regular, reliable customers than to try to attract new ones in affordable ways. In this article, we will talk about the definition of loyalty, why do something with it, how to measure it, and how to improve performance.

What is customer loyalty

In general, loyalty is a correct, trustworthy attitude towards someone or something.

Customer loyalty - This is a positive perception of the company and its products.

A loyal customer is ready to buy your products, recommend them to friends and acquaintances under any circumstances and regardless of the price / quality ratio of the products. There is an objective list of signs of customer loyalty:

• A person over and over again turns to the company for a product / service.
• The purchase frequency is higher than that of a buyer from the same .
• Such people try to take part in promotions and competitions.
• Willingness to overpay for the purchase of a product of your favorite brand.

Now buyers have a lot of choice. The same product can be purchased in dozens different companies. You can compare price, quality, see a lot of reviews on different sites. Getting someone to buy from you is very difficult. And therefore, large and medium-sized companies (and in some niches, small ones) are not concerned with simply, but with making them loyal.

Stages of customer loyalty

Marketers identify 5 stages in the formation of customer loyalty:

• First visit.
• One time consumption.
• Repeat visits.
• Attachment to the firm.
• Loyalty.

Let's take a look at each of these steps in detail.

First visit

A person who is not yet familiar with your products comes to you. Perhaps he read something on the Internet. Maybe one of his friends told him about what you do. He comes, gets acquainted with the assortment and service. There are three options for the development of events:

• Don't buy anything.
• Buy, but later.
• Buy now.

The first option happens more often, but we are not interested in it. We just lost a client. Perhaps he did not need anything, perhaps he simply did not want to buy here and now, he will still compare prices, quality, and, if your company turns out to be better, he will return.

The second option is also unreliable. If a customer leaves without buying anything, it is likely that he may not return. Changes his mind, buys somewhere else, comes to the conclusion that he doesn’t really need the goods, etc.

The third option is the most preferred. This already suggests that the customer can become loyal. About 25% of people who enter an establishment for the first time and make a purchase become loyal customers.

First consumption

It is at this point that most people decide whether they will buy something from this firm or not.

The issue of quality is not only about the product, but also about the service. A banal example: I came to the store to buy a laptop for work. I approached three different consultants and named my requirements. And every time they called me a model more expensive than I looked after. And to my questions, “Why is it better than this model,” they could not answer anything intelligible. In the end, I bought what I wanted, I am satisfied with the product, but I will not return to the store.

And this happens every time. A person can buy something from you, but if he was dissatisfied with the work of employees, he is unlikely to come again. And if they come, then for something specific and without singling you out from among the competitors.

Return visits

If the client was satisfied with the purchase and the work of the staff, he will come to you again: look for promotions, participate in them if they are of interest to him. Roughly speaking, he will look at you.

Attachment to the company

This is already pretty close to loyalty. The client already understands that having come to the company for a certain product, he will find it there and buy it. Gradually, he stops looking at competitors and their products, giving preference to a particular company. According to statistics, such people make purchases 50% more often than primary buyers.

Customer loyalty

If a person is satisfied with the products of a particular company for a long time, he becomes loyal - he will buy goods exclusively in this place. But you should understand that as soon as you reduce the quality of products or unreasonably increase prices, your regular customers may go to competitors.

That is why it is necessary not only to create loyal customers, but also to keep them by the “price-quality” ratio.

Types of customer loyalty

Marketers distinguish 4 types of loyalty, depending on emotional sympathy and frequency of purchases:

1. True loyalty. When people are emotionally attached to the company, its brand and products. They often make repeat purchases.
2. latent loyalty. When people are emotionally attached to the brand and products, but do not make repeat purchases. Most often these are people who do not have money for expensive acquisitions.
3. False loyalty. People often make repeat purchases but are not emotionally attached to your company. That is, they choose your products based on objective criteria, not personal liking.
4. Lack of loyalty. A person is not tied to the company and brand, and also does not make repeat purchases. Such a person did not like the company, he will not come again and will not recommend it to his friends.

It turns out a kind of square:

How to increase customer loyalty

In order to increase customer loyalty, marketers have come up with loyalty programs.

Loyalty program is a set of activities aimed at the emotional and behavioral attachment of a client to a product or company.

There are 3 types of programs:

• Bonus. For each purchase, the client receives cashback in the form of bonuses, which can then be spent on a real purchase or service. Examples - "Thank you" from Sberbank, a bonus program from the Sportmaster store.
• Discount. Regular customers receive discount cards. The larger the purchase amount, the greater the discount percentage. An example is L'Etoile.
• Cumulative. After making a certain number of purchases (or purchases for a certain amount), the buyer becomes entitled to a bonus product or service. Good example: promotions in coffee shops "coffee to go", when you buy 4 - 6 cups of coffee for some time and get 1 for free.

Loyalty programs can work in different ways, depending on the niche of the firm. The bonus comes when buying expensive goods, for change from which you can buy something else on the little things. The discount program is more universal. Customers can buy both expensive and cheap goods at a discount thanks to a plastic card. Savings programs are more suitable for small companies with a one-time purchase.

In order to understand what will work in each case, you can analyze your own feelings. For example, the conditional "Coffee to go" - it is much more convenient for me to see another cup of coffee than a discount of 10 - 15 rubles.

It is impossible to increase loyalty only with the help of programs. You also need to take care of the quality of the product, the qualifications of the staff and the image of the company. A program is just a set of specific actions that can produce results.

How is customer loyalty measured?

A good marketer is also a mathematician. He tries to bring each behavioral indicator of the client under his index, and loyalty is no exception. For calculations, the Customer Loyalty Index or NPS (Net Promoter Score) is used.

The loyalty index shows how many people out of your total number of customers are committed to your company, product or service, and will also recommend it to friends.

It can only be calculated through a survey. You can do this in the form of calling customers from your database or sending SMS. Write the following: "How would you rate our company on a scale of 1 to 10." And the next question will be: "What do we need to do for you to bet 10."

Asking an additional question is worth even those who have already put 10 points. By this you show that you want to develop further and value the assessment of those who are already satisfied with everything.

Based on the results, we group clients into 3 categories:

1. 1 to 6 points- Dissatisfied customers. They will not recommend you to their friends and will only buy your products if you are much better than your direct competitors.
2. 7 - 8 points- neutral clients. They are happy with your product and service, but they see your shortcomings. Right now they won't recommend you to their friends, but if you work with them a little, they will start promoting your company in their circles.
3. 9 - 10 points- Satisfied, loyal customers. They will recommend you to their friends and acquaintances. You should listen to their opinion and value such customers.

The Index value is calculated using the following formula:

NPS = (satisfied + neutral customers / total number of respondents) - (unsatisfied customers / total number of respondents).

The value can range from -100 to 100. Let's take a quick look at the values.

• From - 100 to 0. Very poor customer loyalty. People are more likely to use the services of competitors and only in rare cases - yours.
• From 1 to 30. Average customer loyalty. You have both critics and those who like your products.
• More than 30. This is already a good indicator of loyalty. 30 to 50 are good averages. From 50 to 70 - indicators of a good company that is higher than its competitors. 70 and more - indicators of market leaders.

But the value of the Index also depends on the niche. When assessing the loyalty of your company's customers, use the average benchmarks for your niche.

Numbers are cool. When you calculate the indicator and work with it, you can keep your finger on the pulse of customer relationships. But don't think of customers as just numbers. If a person leaves a review, even a negative one, this is already a great opportunity to interact with him.

Examples of customer loyalty

The most striking example of customer loyalty is fans of Apple products. Every time a new iPhone comes out, there are queues in major cities just to buy the new iPhone a few hours ahead of others. And there are a whole army of such people. They will buy New Product no matter how cool it is made, what new things have been added to it, whether it is comfortable, how much it costs, etc.

This year, people began to take their places in line 5 days before the official start of sales. Someone enterprising even started selling places in line for a new iPhone.

Let's take a second example from video games. You can also track customer loyalty there. There is a legendary series of Call of Duty games. The first games were a frank masterpiece and a breakthrough in the genre. They always brought something new and interesting. But now their games are not only disgusting, but they do not reach the old ones in terms of depth and implementation of new ideas.

At the same time, fans buy their games every time, even for a big price tag of $60. And this despite numerous criticisms and far from the most flattering reviews.

And the third example is more everyday. Take the banal barbershops near the house. You went there once, everything more or less suited you, and you will do it all the time. Even if they cut worse or raise the price. You will still be their customer.

This is already an everyday example of conservatism, however, such an example is also suitable for loyalty.

What will you achieve by increasing customer loyalty

If you develop and implement a customer loyalty program correctly, you can get a simple scheme:

1. A new visitor comes to you.
2. Buys a product.
3. Remains satisfied and comes again.
4. He brings you money and advises you to friends.

The benefit is not only that you will receive a constant flow of purchases from one person. Perhaps even more important will be his recommendations to friends and acquaintances. After all, we are in real life we often discuss with loved ones questions like “Where to buy this” or “Where to go for this”.

By developing and implementing a good loyalty program, we increase the number of customers exponentially. The more people become your regular customers, the more they advise and recommend you to their friends.

A good loyalty program is aimed not only at attracting new customers, but also at maintaining the loyalty of existing ones.

Conclusion

Customer loyalty is an important indicator for. Working with a stream of loyal customers who will buy your products and use your services can bring in much more profit than targeting single buyers. That is why it is worth developing a loyalty system that will allow you to turn ordinary customers into regular customers.

Material updated 05/04/2018

Successful marketing is based on the successful and competent retention of old ones. So that customers do not forget about the brand after the first purchase, increase their loyalty. The longer they use the services of the company, the more money they will bring you (LTV). In this article, we will share the main techniques for maintaining customer interest, which directly affects the income of your company.

Before moving on to ways to increase customer loyalty, let's talk about LTV and why it is so important.

What is LTV

The LTV (Lifetime Value) metric shows how much income the client brings to the company for the entire time of interaction with it. The longer he is interested in your brand, the more profit he will bring. Therefore, LTV is closely related to the concept of CLT () - the average time of interaction between a client and a company.

The basic formula for calculating LTV is:

LTV = m * a * t

m - average check in the reporting period;
a - the number of repeated operations for the reporting period;
t is the average lifetime in the metric of the reporting period.

The higher the LTV, the better for the company. Satisfied customers keep coming back again and again. A low LTV indicates that customers are not staying and the company has a high user churn.

Reasons for low LTV and high customer churn

To solve the problem, you need to deal with its sources. Users can refuse the services of the company for several reasons:

• Low quality of goods and services
  Start with what ends up in the hands of the customers. No one wants the purchased product to break down a day after the purchase, and the service starts to give errors. This greatly affects the reputation of the company and scares away customers.
• Low level of customer service
  Customers must be satisfied with the service. If the company is not able to solve the problem of the user, he will lose trust in her.
• Lack of competitiveness
  Companies must constantly improve in order to stand out from the rest of the brands.
• natural causes
  These include those factors that the company does not influence: the client's relocation, a change in his hobbies or social status, etc.

How to increase customer loyalty?

Brands increase loyalty in different ways. It is important to find the ways that will work for your business. Below are 8 working tactics that different companies use:

Use followers' social media posts to create additional content

Content created by active customers − The best way diversify the content plan and attract the attention of those who are still in doubt. Moreover, users react positively when a brand uses their content on their pages on social networks. Most importantly, do not forget to tag the authors of the posts.

For example, Soda Stream specialists regularly talk about their followers on the brand's Facebook page and blog and share their feedback.

Just give gifts

Make small but pleasant surprises for users. Subscribers will be pleased that the company appreciates their participation in the development of the brand.

The Yandex.Music service team under New Year chose the most active users and sent them a set of themed stickers and a postcard signed by hand:

Stickers will attract the attention of others and become an advertisement for the brand, and a hand-signed card will add soulfulness to communication with the client.

Listen to customers and improve service

For example, at the beginning of 2018, we made a survey mailing list in which we asked subscribers about topics that were of interest to them. Based on the answers, we have prepared a content plan for our blog:

Always leave customers the opportunity to submit their own idea that is not on the list, and encourage them to participate in the survey: a small prize - an additional discount, free shipping or test access - will increase the number of people who want to answer questions.

Below are a few resources that make it easy to create surveys and structure the information received:

• Use Polldaddy , Survey Monkey or Google Forms to create polls and polls. They offer simple settings and features.
• ChartsNinja or Infogram will help publish the results. Upload a table with the results to them and get a spectacular chart or infographic.

Always be in touch

Clients are more likely to talk about your failures than your victories. The dissatisfied post about Kiehl's was the beginning of a whole investigation:

Kiehl's has found a way to get out of the situation and reduce customer dissatisfaction. She apologized, sent a courier and sent the client's product for examination:

Differentiate yourself from your competitors

It's not about discounts, it's about features, services, resources, and other things that add value to your customers.

If your product or service is no better than your competitors, customer service can be an advantage. For example, the owner of a comic book shop, Shield Comics, sets aside books that interest them for its regular users, and even specially purchases editions if suitable ones are not available. In addition, he personally informs them on Facebook when something worthwhile appears in the assortment. This approach attracts a lot of buyers:

Be comfortable for everyone

Warby Parker makes new glasses faster than its competitors. Customers don't have to spend hours on the phone filling out endless forms and waiting days or weeks for a response. It is enough to contact the company on Twitter, and experts will immediately answer you.

Thanks to this approach, customers turn to Warby Parker again and recommend them to their friends:

“Glasses are like a pendant around the neck, but only for the eyes. This is what I tell myself the next time I buy a pair of Warby Parker glasses that I don't really need."

Think how to do normal activities more user friendly. Little things like automatic checkout, form filling, and reminders will make life easier for them. They should spend the minimum amount of time acquiring a product or service and the maximum amount of time enjoying it.

Solve your customers' problems

Give the customer a free extra benefit that solves their problem and makes life more convenient. Then you will become for him not just a supplier of goods, but will be practically irreplaceable.

Art. Lebedev's studio created the Typograph service. It simplifies text layout. The EMAILMATRIX team has developed , which speed up the work of email specialists.

Make quality your priority

Prove the quality of your product. For example, the Standard & Strange company in the mailing list showed what their shoes look like after 1.5 years of use:

Like any asset, customer loyalty comes with a price. But she's worth the effort.

The higher the loyalty, the higher the company's income and the lower the outflow of customers. Satisfied customers will definitely tell their relatives and friends about you, and this is the best advertisement.

Decide for yourself which of the proposed strategies to use, but try to make your brand irreplaceable and unforgettable.

In this article, we talked about the features of LTV and how to increase it. Next time, we'll talk about how to correctly calculate LTV at each stage of the sales funnel. Follow the announcements of articles and stay in touch with us.

In the conditions of high competition between producers of goods and services, the consumer becomes a key figure, and such a concept as loyalty is coming to the fore, which contributes to sales growth, the formation of a positive image of the enterprise, and an increase in its competitiveness.

Is customer loyalty a fashion brand or a real basis for success?

The researchers were able to prove that a new buyer costs the company several times more than one that has already made a purchase and is ready to continue cooperation - and because of its loyalty.

In marketing, customer loyalty is loyalty, commitment to a particular company, brand, product. The first attempts to achieve such an attitude on the part of buyers were made almost a hundred years ago in the United States. However, this process flourished in developed countries in the last decades of the 20th century.

Western marketers linked customer loyalty with the company's customer focus, rightly believing that these are two sides of the same coin. Customer retention programs were built to meet the specific needs of the target groups - and this led to the desired result: the share of loyal customers grew, the company's profit increased.

In the 21st century, loyalty marketing began to gain popularity among Russian manufacturing and trading companies. This was due to a change in the economic situation in the country: the domestic industry began to work, the real incomes of the population increased, and effective demand increased. And so, focusing on Western experience, Russian enterprises already started to implement ready programs well established in developed countries. But not all of them achieved ultimate goal and a significant increase in customer loyalty was not always observed.

The lack of impact from these programs is not due to their inefficiency. The reasons lie in a different plane: companies did not study their consumer, did not understand his priorities when making purchases, and did not motivate staff to quality service buyer.

Portrait of a loyal customer

The company in its activities should be guided by target audience- those people who will be interested in the offered goods or services. However, only some customers can become loyal customers. Their main features are:

• satisfaction with cooperation / purchases;
• friendly attitude to the company, to its products;
• forming a positive image of the organization in a private conversation or social networks;
• regular purchases;
• loyalty to the company when competitors with similar offers appear.

From these criteria, the conclusion suggests itself: a regular customer is one who periodically makes purchases in the company; Loyal is a customer who receives satisfaction from regular purchases in this company. Consistency has rational roots and is based on the convenient location of the store/company, low prices, constant discounts, and high quality of goods. Customer loyalty is his behavior associated with an emotional component. It arises as a reaction to friendly and prompt service, quick problem solving, attention to the needs of the buyer.

Loyalty formation factors

Potential buyers want to see a set of certain characteristics in the offered products - high quality, wide range opportunities in its use, novelty, optimal price, etc. In addition, they expect a positive attitude from the company towards themselves and their problems associated with the acquisition and consumption of goods.

The task of management is to study the needs, requests that affect customer loyalty. This will determine the main factors that contribute to the formation of customer loyalty. Practical experience shows that these factors include:

• the company's priorities in the field of quality;
• breadth of assortment;
• the possibility of ordering (manufacturing) goods that are not in the catalog;
• positive experience of interaction between the client and the personnel of the enterprise when placing an order;
• flexible system of discounts and bonuses;
• related services requested by the buyer (delivery, including free delivery; configuration, installation sophisticated technology; packaging or processing of products, etc.);
• success, fame of the company, its participation in projects.

This is not a complete list of loyalty factors, as buyers differ in their ideas about the ideal seller or manufacturer. To understand the priorities of customers, it is advisable to periodically conduct opinion polls in the target group. Only in this case it is possible to understand what is most important for the buyer - discounts, assortment features, additional services or the nature of the relationship in the chain "buyer - employee of the company".

Loyalty indicators

Buyer loyalty to a particular company can be measured using a variety of techniques. The main indicator of customer loyalty is the NPS (Net Promoter Score) index, which was proposed only at the beginning of the 21st century.

Its essence lies in the fact that the client must decide how much he trusts the company, brand or product, how confident he is in them in order to recommend best friends and close relatives. The answer is selected from the least likely recommendation (1 point) to the highest probability (10 points).

The customer loyalty index allows you to highlight three:

• critic / ill-wisher - dissatisfied customer leaving bad reviews (the probability of recommending to close people is from 1 to 6 points);
• neutral - the buyer is satisfied with the cooperation, but generally does not show recommendatory activity (from 7 to 8 points);
• loyal client (also called a promoter) - a satisfied client who recommends the organization to his relatives and friends (from 9 to 10 points).

NPS - customer loyalty is calculated as the share of promoters in the total number of respondents.

Another, no less important, indicator of customer loyalty is the level of their outflow. It is equal to the ratio of buyers who have refused cooperation (purchases) to the total number of customers for the year. The repeat purchase rate is calculated based on the number of times a particular brand is purchased per 10 total purchases.

Levels and stages of customer loyalty formation

Marketers distinguish three ascending levels of loyalty, namely: satisfaction with the purchase, commitment to a particular brand, formation of partnerships between the client and the organization.

The formation of consumer loyalty implies the following stages of customer loyalty development:

1. Focusing attention potential buyers through advertising on the company's products or services.
2. Accompanying a new client from the moment of purchase, using discount systems.
3. Work with regular customers based on the creation of additional emotional value associated with repeated contacts. Signs of attention, small presents are important. You should find out the reasons for the persistence.
4. Company maintenance High Quality products and services, studying and satisfying the needs of the buyer in order to transfer him into the category of adherents.

At the first stage, the buyer learns about the existence of a product (service) with the desired characteristics, and he also creates an image of the product. If it is positive, then a purchase is made. For the emergence of loyalty, it is necessary to meet the acquired expectations.

The second and third stages are marked by the fact that they lay and consolidate the idea of ​​the organization and its relationship to customers. The fourth unites, cements everything positive that was offered to the client earlier.

Basic approaches to building customer loyalty

There are several basic approaches that allow you to form a loyal customer. The most common are the following:

• stimulation of consumption, aimed at constantly studying the demand of target buyers and developing proposals that can best meet it;
• differentiation of the offer, which allows creating a unique value for the client for a product or service and standing out from competitors, for example, through the use of new technologies;
• identifying buyers who can be the most loyal, and building long-term cooperation programs with them;
• erecting high switching barriers through loyalty programs.

These approaches are interconnected with each other. So, the most perfect loyalty program will not work if the buyer is offered products that are not interesting to him, that are not in demand for him. When a brand stands out among similar ones, differing in quality, special useful properties, then the number of its adherents will only grow.

Loyalty programs

The loyalty program is a set various events marketing focus. It allows you to stimulate the commitment of the buyer to both the company itself and its products declared life values. This leads not only to repeat purchases, but also to maintaining a positive image of the organization by the consumer.

The most common are bonus programs, which make it possible to receive points when making a purchase. When a certain amount of them is accumulated, they are exchanged for some commodity of the corresponding value. Some advanced foreign companies award points for healthy lifestyle life, his propaganda in social networks based on personal example.

Sometimes the amount of purchases is taken into account; when it reaches a predetermined threshold, it will give the right to free shipping, participation in a win-win lottery, priority access to new products, an increase in the percentage of discounts, etc.

Instead of a conclusion: the main rules for creating a loyal customer

The main indicator of customer loyalty is their loyalty to the enterprise, brand. Therefore, when developing measures for its formation, it is necessary to take into account the following simple rules:

• the offered product or service must fully comply with the buyer's idea of ​​their quality, characteristics, and benefits;
• the behavior of the staff must be customer-oriented - friendly, helpful, aimed at solving the problems of the buyer;
• you should choose a loyalty program that provides both material benefits from regular purchases (saving money) and moral satisfaction from purchased goods and services (a prestigious brand is a quality standard; purchasing products from a company that cares about the protection environment etc.).

This approach will bring results in the form of a noticeable layer of loyal customers who can increase the profits of the organization and strengthen its positive image.