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As a B2B company, you may often be focused on business leads and sales. But what good is another sale if it means losing a customer?
You need to focus on improving customer loyalty. Customer loyalty doesn’t come from the quality of your product or service, but how effective your organization is at delivering on its promises.
Below are 9 ways B2B can improve customer loyalty.
Invest in a loyalty program
The B2B industry is facing challenges when it comes to building and sustaining customer loyalty, especially since the rise of social media and consumer-centric marketing.
A loyalty program can be a great way to cater to your customers’ interests while increasing sales, so it’s no wonder 82 percent of businesses plan to implement a loyalty program in the next 12 months.
Here are some ways that B2B companies can choose to get started with their loyalty program:
1. Make sure you create a rewarding experience for your customers. A loyalty program needs to make your customers feel appreciated and rewarded for their loyalty. Your program should give them something back for every purchase they make with you, whether it’s a discount on their next order or free shipping for all future orders.
2. Use a loyalty program that has online functionality so that your customers can track their points online rather than mailing in a card or another method of tracking points. This gives them more time to use the points they earn as well as makes it easier for them to see what they have earned over time and how they can use it towards future purchases.
3. Consider adding new products or services that your company offers as rewards within your loyalty program so that it becomes more beneficial for both you and your customers when they earn rewards through the program.
Launch a referral program
When it comes to loyalty, customers trust referrals more than any other form of marketing.
This makes referral programs a great way to connect with your customers and spread the word about your products and services.
Trying to launch a referral program for your B2B?
Here are seven steps you can take:
Step 1: Define your audience. Who is the right person to be referring customers your way?
Step 2: Decide on an incentive. What do you want your customers to do to earn the incentive?
Step 3: Determine how you will track referrals. Are there any restrictions that you can put in place to help track referrals?
Step 4: Create a referral landing page. This should be where new prospects can sign up for your referral program and share it with their network.
Step 5: Provide great customer service. Make sure that the product or service you provide is top-notch, so when the word spreads about how great it is, it isn’t seen as a self-serving endorsement.
Step 6: Implement your program, and track results. This will show you where improvements need to be made or if the program is a success.
Step 7: Promote referral programs regularly. Keeping promotion minimal and consistent will keep customers interested in sharing information about your company with their network.
Offer customized promotions
B2B businesses could offer customized promotions to improve customer loyalty.
If your business is a business-to-business (B2B) company, understanding the needs of your customers and offering them exactly what they want can lead to higher customer retention.
Tailor your promotions
B2B companies are unique in that they tend to have loyal customers.
They also have the opportunity and resources to offer custom promotions when incentives are needed. The following tips can help you tailor your promotions to meet the specific needs of your customers.
Personalize your promotions
Personalizing promotions with information about the individual customer can be an effective way to increase customer satisfaction.
For example, if you’re selling a product or service directly to individuals, you could include information about the individual’s preferences, lifestyle and interests in order to create a more customized promotion.
Include information in the promotion
Including information about how the customer can get more out of the promotion can help foster their loyalty.
For example, if you’re running a sale on products or services, including some tips on how people can take advantage of these deals and make sure they get their money’s worth from them.
Send out personal “thank you’s” for purchases
A personal thank you note is a great way to provide a personal touch to your relationship with your customers and can help improve customer loyalty.
By showing your customers that they matter to you, they will in turn be more likely to continue buying from you and even refer others to your business.
Here are some tips on how B2B can send out personal thank you’s for purchases to improve customer loyalty:
1. Keep it short and sweet, a few sentences at most.
2. Write your message using the customer’s name and company name.
3. Personalize each message with a specific reference to the product purchased or the service required.
4. Add handwritten notes to each thank you card to make it more personal.
5. Make sure that your handwriting is neat and legible so that it is easy for people to read.
6. Make sure that all spelling and grammar are correct before sending out the thank you cards.
7. Be sincere when writing the personal note as this will reflect your level of professionalism and care towards your business relations.
8. Always include a handwritten signature on every card that you send out in order to leave a lasting impression on everyone who receives one of your thank you cards.
9. Include relevant details like dates, times, orders or sales figures in each of your personal notes, as this will show people exactly how much you appreciate their business.
Set up an affiliate program
B2B companies can use affiliate marketing to boost customer loyalty.
B2B firms are always looking for ways to increase customer loyalty, but it can be challenging to find a strategy that works.
An affiliate program is an excellent way to reward customers and incentivize them to bring more business through your doors. Here’s how to set one up:
Step 1: Determine the goals of your affiliate program
Before you start, you need to be clear on the goals of your affiliate program. Are you trying to encourage customer referrals? Are you hoping they will purchase additional products from you?
Make sure that your plan is designed around these goals so that you know what kind of affiliates will be successful in reaching them.
Step 2: Choose an appropriate partner
You need to find a partner who has an incentive for attracting new customers to your business.
This means choosing an appropriate platform — such as a comparison-shopping site or a network for affiliates — and making sure that this platform’s audience will be interested in what you have to offer.
The best partners are those with expertise in your niche, such as niche-specific review sites.
Step 3: Create an attractive offer
Once you’ve identified the type of partners you want to work with, it’s time to create an attractive program that will motivate affiliates to do their best for you.
Offer them a good commission and an appropriate incentive program, and make sure that your product sells well. If you’re offering a free trial or free coupon, make sure that there are no hidden costs for the affiliate once the customer has signed up.
In other words, if you’re giving away a free trial of your service, make sure there aren’t any setup costs or monthly fees after the trial expires.
Step 4: Define the terms of the relationship
When you have your partner list and a solid offer, it’s time to get down to details. What will you pay partners for each new customer they bring in?
How long will you pay them? And how will they qualify for their commission? Details like these are important.
They’ll affect how much effort your partners put into promoting your business, so don’t just slap together some quick terms and send them out to everybody. Instead, define the terms of the relationship with each prospective partner individually.
This way, you can tailor specific incentives to each person or company that has expressed interest in working with you.
Focus on the customer service
Great customer service is a competitive advantage for business-to-business (B2B) companies.
The overwhelming majority of B2B customers will do business with a company again if they have a positive experience interacting with that company.
Treating your customers right doesn’t cost you anything, but it can pay off in big ways.
Here are some steps you can take to focus on customer service and improve customer loyalty:
1. Put your best face forward
Your website should be easy to use and provide useful information about your products and services.
It’s also helpful if you have an online contact form or email address so people can get in touch without having to wait on hold or talk to a customer service agent.
These things don’t cost much but will make people feel like dealing with you is a good experience from the beginning.
2. Find out what customers want—and give it to them
Because B2B companies sell to other businesses rather than individuals, it’s easy for them to lose sight of the fact that their business exists only because of their customers’ businesses.
Your support team needs to ask customers what they want most and then make sure they’re getting it, whether that’s faster shipping, more choices, or better prices.
3. Always be available and accountable
Put your phone number and email address at the top of every page of your website, make sure you respond to every email within 24 hours and let people know when you’re not going to be available.
Being accessible makes customers feel like they have an advocate when working with your company.
4. Be responsive
Customers expect businesses to respond quickly to their needs and requests, even if it’s just an email reply or a phone call.
Make sure you have 24/7 customer support and that you’re available through social media channels like Facebook and Twitter, too.
5. Make it easy to reach you
Include a contact form on your website so customers can request information or ask questions without having to pick up the phone or send an email.
Your form doesn’t need to be complicated and you don’t need to offer every option under the sun — simply ask for the details you need in order to help them as efficiently as possible, such as an email address and product name, along with a short description of the problem they’re experiencing with your product or service.
Get connected through social media
Social media has become an important tool for businesses to connect with customers.
As a B2B company, it may be more difficult to use social media as a customer loyalty tool.
However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try. Here are some ideas to get you started:
1. Take your time. Don’t rush into connecting with your customers on social media sites. Do some research first and see where they hang out online.
2. Be honest and transparent in all conversations with your customers on social media sites. Keep them updated with new products, industry news, and company information.
3. Create a sense of community by encouraging open dialogue between you and your customers about issues related to your products or services.
4. Show off what makes you unique as a company; what makes you stand out from the competition? Even if it is not directly related to your business, show how you are a person behind the brand, not just a machine spewing out marketing messages or company information about your product or service that everyone else does online.
5. If you have customer service issues, address them in public view on social media sites so other customers can benefit from the knowledge gained from resolving any problems that might occur.
5. Use social media to launch new products or services. You can create hype by sending out teaser messages or pictures on Facebook or Twitter before you make an official announcement.
6. Hold contests. Give away prizes such as t-shirts, tickets to events, baseball caps, and other products that would be appropriate for your business.
7. Use social media analytics to monitor what people are saying about your company and its products. You may discover how much they like your products or service and which ones they prefer over others.
8. Keep customers up-to-date by posting news about sales and discounts, upcoming events, promotions, and any other news related to the business.
9. Respond quickly when someone mentions your brand or product on a social network site, so you can show them you’re listening and take care of their complaints immediately if necessary, in order to build trust with them.
10. Choose the right medium for your message. Some businesses will find Twitter works best for them, while others will have more success on Facebook or Google Plus. Don’t try to force yourself into using every channel; choose one or two that work for your business and then dive in headfirst!
Make the customer experience enjoyable
B2B companies can learn a few things about how to make the customer experience enjoyable.
The modern B2B sector has grown and become more advanced with technology.
This has changed the way that customers interact with businesses, and it specifically makes the customer experience better than ever before. Here are ten tips for making the customer experience enjoyable and improving customer loyalty:
Be honest and transparent
Your customers should know what they’re getting into before making a purchase. Let them know which additional services come with the product and where it was made. This way, there will be no surprises or disappointments after they’ve already bought.
Make it easy to buy
If you have a website, make sure it’s user-friendly so that customers can find what they need quickly and easily. If possible, offer 24/7 support to guarantee that someone will always be available in case they have questions while browsing.
Be attentive
Reply promptly to any questions or concerns your customers might have and keep them updated on the progress of their order.
Be friendly
Don’t be too pushy – if a customer seems unsure of something, don’t be afraid to ask them if they need help or information! Make your store as comfortable as possible by offering music or some kind of background noise like ocean waves or rainforest sounds.
Acknowledge their problem immediately
Make sure they know you’ve received their message and understand what they’re saying. Letting your customers know you understand their frustration can help turn a bad situation into something positive.
Give them immediate solutions for their problems
If a customer knows there’s something you can do about the issue, then it’s less likely that they’ll abandon your company in favor of one that can provide a solution faster or with fewer steps involved on the part of the customer.
Improve brand strength
1. Use the company’s logo in marketing activities whenever possible. The company’s logo should appear on all marketing materials and should be used in a way that will make it stand out from the rest of the material.
2. Use the company’s name in any marketing activities as often as possible. There is no need to use the full name of the company in every instance, but it should be used at least some of the time to reinforce recognition of the brand name.
3. Develop a strong, easily recognized symbol for the company that is used consistently and prominently on all marketing materials. A symbol is more effective than text at creating a consistent image for a company and can help people remember a company’s products when they see them outside of their normal sphere of influence or awareness.
4. Use a consistent message across all forms of marketing activity to reinforce awareness and recognition of that message as an important part of a company’s image or identity.
Final Thoughts
As the number of brands in any given market increases, it becomes increasingly difficult to persuade customers to pick one brand over another.
Customer loyalty is key to the success of many businesses, particularly the B2B sector.
