Personalization – The Secret to Building Customer Loyalty
November 4, 2014 9:27 am
What Makes a Local Store Shine?
Think about the local shops you visit on a regular basis. Why do you choose them over their neighboring competitors, what makes them so special?
Is it because your local bartender is pulling your pint as he sees you pass the window? Maybe your hairdresser provides your weekly fix of gossip? Or perhaps it’s the friendly cashier in the corner shop who genuinely cares how your mother`s uncle`s kids are getting on.
Personalization
A local store’s personal touch is what makes you come back every time. Seeing the familiar friendly faces, being greeted with an enthusiastic, “How’s Nicola, any news for me today?” or even just an encouraging smile is what can influence customers in their decision on where to shop, where to eat or where to unwind.
Getting to know your customers is vital for success on a local scale where supermarkets, butchers, fish mongers, beauty salons, gyms and restaurants are a dime a dozen. Once you build a good relationship with a customer, it’s generally known they’re reluctant to choose competitors over your business. Customer loyalty exists where you see repetitive visits transcend to habitual, and with time you realise you know your customers by name, the days they are likely to shop, their usual purchases and inevitably what their kids are studying in college.
Obtaining Customer Loyalty
As a female consumer, I’m sure I can speak for the majority of women when I say that finding a hairdresser or beautician in an unfamiliar town is frightening. What we love about our local is they keep us updated on new products, they know what we want, they know when we fancy a chat and they know when to leave us contemplate life’s problems in silence. Personally, I know that if for any reason I have to go to a competing salon, I feel as though I’m having some kind of treacherous affair. As bizarre as this mind state might be, this is how you want your customers to feel.
The underlying question is how can you help build these relationships in the first place? How can you keep them informed of your exclusive offers if the majority of the local adults aren’t scrolling down Facebook`s news-feed every hour or so? If only there was a simple way to send them a direct message to inform them of how amazing your offers are. Oh wait, there is…
Create A Customer Text Club
Realistically, the demands of running a business make it impossible for you to make every single customer feel that they matter. SMS Marketing provides you with the tools to make this connection.
Bulk messaging allows you to connect to customers even when they’re outside the store. By building up your own Text Club, you can send your offers to hundreds or thousands of customers at a tiny fraction of the standard SMS rate, keeping your valued customers informed of the unbeatable offers that outshine your competitors. Taking this personal approach guarantees that you will retain your regular customers as well as reap a whole lot of newbies in the process.
Adding the Personal Touch to SMS Marketing
It’s no secret that we all love getting special treatment now and again. With SMS marketing you can send your customers holiday greetings, birthday discounts and offers exclusive to your Text Club. You can also enrich their VIP experience by giving them an exclusive mobile coupon that they can redeem in store; this not only adds exclusivity to the text but creates a sense of urgency that regular offers lack.
What it all boils down to…
The tools to build customer relationships are right on front of you, it’s up to you to enhance their experience!
Categorised in: Bulk Text Messaging, Customer Relations, Digital Marketing, Featured, Group Texting Service, Grow Your Business, Marketing for Business, Mobile Marketing, SMS for Business Service, Text Messaging Facts, Web Text SMS Software