How Do You Build Customer Loyalty?

Customer loyalty.  Otherwise known as gold.

How do you build that loyal fan base, those “screaming fans” for your business?

Commitment.

There is the commitment to time, certainly.  Putting in the time and effort to build your business.  To get it to a point that you can offer your customers the kind of products and services that would inspire loyalty.

But it’s the commitment to your customers that I’m writing about it here.  Your commitment to their cause, their brand and their message.   You have to get beyond “doing a good job” and the simplistic mind set that goes along with that.  Doing great work is of course critical to building loyalty with a customer.  But they have to feel in their bones that every action you take in their name is out of a commitment to what they believe.  Whether you’re putting together an entire campaign for them, making a video for their event or manufacturing the boxes they use to ship their goods – they must know that what you’re doing for them is in their best interest.

So, how do you that?

1. Focus

The best way we have found here at Magic is focus.  Not only paying attention to what the customer needs and wants to convey, but making sure that customer feels that we are paying attention.  It is so easy when juggling multiple clients to have one or more of them to get lost in the shuffle.  A deadline for one client can be on your mind when meeting with another.  This is poison to the relationship.  When you go into a meeting with one client, (or have a phone conversation or even send an email), leave everything else behind for that amount of time.  The client will always feel it if you’re distracted at all.  Our goal is for all of our clients to feel like they are the only customer we have.

We just recently completed our annual event with TEXO, a construction association.  This was our 12th year to work with them on their annual awards ceremony.  We certainly count them (with many other similar clients) as loyal customers.  We do several other larger shows just before and just after TEXO’s each year.  But we make sure that they never feel lost.  With the traveling we do for those shows, they know we may have to shuffle pre-event meetings and the shoots we do for the event, but they are willing to work with us in that regard because they feel our focus on their show.

2. Ask Questions

To be able to fully commit to your customers, you have to know what they are all about.  The obvious path to that end is asking questions.  But too many times, people rely on their customers to give them all the information they need to go forward.  You have to dig deeper than that.  You have to make sure that you have every little detail about your customer that you need to perform your work.  And once your customer has answered every question you asked and you’re still thoroughly lost or confused – ask some more.

3.  Fire A Customer

Build customer loyalty by firing your customer?  Anyone who has been in business for even a short amount of time has at least one:  the customer they should fire.  Not doing so isn’t good for the customer, because they don’t get your full commitment.  It’s not good for you and your business because you don’t do your best work and you are constantly stressed about them.  And it’s not good for all of your other customers because they sometimes lose out because your focus and commitment is going to the stress-inducing customers.  And much of the time, it’s not that your “problem” customers are doing anything wrong or asking for something they shouldn’t.  Sometimes it’s just that the two of you aren’t a good fit.

We’ve had to do that once or twice, even in lean times when we couldn’t justify it monetarily.  But we knew it was the right thing for our other clients, and our  business long term.

4.  Roll With Them

A client can have many ups and downs over the years.  If you’re truly committed to them, you’ll go along for the ride.  And if you’re in the boat next to them during their storms, who do you think they will reach for when the skies clear and business is booming again?

TEXO, our association client I mentioned earlier, has gone through numerous name changes and higher and lower annual budgets, which dictate the level of productions and the venue in which the awards show takes place.  Last year, their event took place at the brand new Cowboys Stadium.  Most of their members had something to do with the construction of the stadium and it was fitting for them to be in the large venue.  We did some larger scale videos for them to go along with the venue.  In past years they’ve gone from smaller hotels to the Gaylord Texan.  This year, they scaled back a bit, and had their event at the Intercontinental.  They had less of a budget this year, but we were still able to create a fun series of videos with their members, and provide clean, beautiful audio/visual services.

Commitment to your customers, like many other types of commitment, isn’t always easy.  But it’s simple.  A simple decision that you stick with and watch the benefits roll in.