If you own a business and find yourself constantly struggling to find new ways to build customer loyalty and increase retention, you may feel as though you have tried everything. Customer loyalty is a tricky subject: if you do too much, you appear clingy, and that can turn off customers, but if you don’t do enough, you may see your most valuable asset walking through your competitor’s front door. The good news is that there is an easy way to increase customer loyalty for your business, no matter what kind of business you run, and it’s based on a simple principle of human psychology –the need to belong.
When it comes to building customer loyalty or your business, be it a grocery store, a fitness gym, or even a coffee shop or diner, it’s important that you instil in your customers a sense of belonging, and one of the easiest and most effective ways to do this is through the issuing of loyalty program membership cards. Many years ago major retailers and corporate brands figured out that loyalty membership cards gave customers a multi-faceted reason to continue to visit their business over others. You can also take advantage of this concept, and it may be easier than you think.
First, you may be asking why you need a membership card for your customers. The simple answer is that a membership card gives customers a physical thing that they can touch, and that they can, even if it’s subconsciously, show to others when they take out their keychain, or open their wallet around their friends or coworkers. While no one expects that your customers will go around wearing their membership card like a badge of honour, you can expect that there will be a significant amount of secondary marketing that takes place.
This is a way for them to feel like they are part of a group that is established and means something, even if in the end it just gets them a free slice of pie after buying 8 cheeseburgers at your diner. A customer appreciation program is easy to set up and membership cards are inexpensive and simple to issue and use. The results of this basic marketing tool will be quickly seen and will only get better as time passes and more and more customers opt to join up.
If you are ready to get started with a loyalty card program then the first step is to contact a company that has experience in installing, issuing, and administering access and tracking card systems. A security company is a great place to turn for such things – for instance, you can see what Avon Security Products has to offer in the way of membership card systems, and ask their customer service for help.
No matter if you need just basic scannable cards that can be used at your cash register, or a more complex system that ties into other aspects of your marketing and brand building, a professional security contractor is a great resource to tap into to get everything set up and running the right way, quickly and easily. Using a customer appreciation program can help you not only increase customer retention and visit frequency, but – who knows –if you give great service every time, your customers may start wearing their membership card as a badge of honour after all!
