Earlier in this article I fully explained Philip Kotler’s 5A marketing model, and the fifth and final stage of that model was customer loyalty, something that, in a lot of businesses, simply never happens. But the way I see it, the secret behind a strong, successful brand in today’s world is having loyal customers, and in this piece I want to talk about the main reasons you need to build customer loyalty and the benefits it brings.
What Do We Mean by a Loyal Customer?
A loyal customer is someone who uses your products and services no matter what, is extremely satisfied with you and what you offer, and recommends you to others. In many cases they won’t even bother trying anyone else’s products or services. For example, with a hair salon people usually pick one stylist and never switch, or in the case of a consultant, a doctor, educational services, or repairs, once people get the result they want from working with a specialist they tend to stick with them and don’t go looking for someone else.
Why Do We Need Loyal Customers?
More Sales
A loyal customer turns into a fan of your products and services and buys more from you. For example:
- The customer who goes to the same technician for every periodic package service and its repairs.
- The customer who loves a local bakery’s pastries and places an order the moment they spot a new one in the display case.
- The customer who took one course from you and signs up for your new seminar too.
All of these are examples of sales rising because of customer loyalty, and they lead the customer to place more orders.
Pushing Back Against Negative Comments
A loyal customer acts like a defender of your brand. Imagine you publish a post on social media that gets a few negative comments; if you have followers who are loyal customers, there’s a very good chance they’ll spontaneously step in against those negative comments and defend you. Now think about how much criticism and negativity about you might be spreading across the internet or in the community without you even being aware of it, and here it’s only your loyal customers who, thanks to the good experience they’ve had with your products and services, can stand up for you so your reputation in the community isn’t damaged.
Building More Trust
These days people’s buying journey includes a stage called inquiry, because false advertising by brands has eroded trust in what they say, and the more expensive a product is, the more people dig into it. At this stage they usually search the internet about the topic and ask the people around them for their opinion, and loyal customers can have the biggest impact right here with their positive feedback, carrying people who are in the inquiry stage through to a purchase. For example, imagine you want to buy a new car and you’ve taken a liking to a Peugeot model; if you ask a friend who owns that car (or whose opinion in this area matters to you and who has more experience) about it, and they tell you absolutely don’t buy this one because it has these problems and suggest a different car instead, at best you’ll postpone your purchase, and you might not buy it at all and completely change your mind in line with your friend’s advice.
Conclusion
A loyal customer can help cut marketing costs and boost a business’s credibility, and a successful business should do everything it can to build customer loyalty. That loyalty can be built at different points along the customer’s roadmap and across the various touchpoints they have with you.