One of the anecdotes I use to explain customer loyalty is the marriage proposal. I use this all the time in my class (I’m an adjunct professor at the University of Miami).
Imagine that prior to meeting my wife, instead of asking her on a first date, I saw her on a dating app and immediately asked her to marry me.
Instead of asking her to meet for dinner or drinks, getting to know her, sharing what I have to offer, or even going on a few dates, I just said ‘Marry me. Right now. You have no reason to, but do it anyway.’
I always get a laugh when I share that example — because it’s outrageous. Unless you’re drunk at a hotel in Vegas, it’s not happening. Yet, it’s exactly what marketers are attempting to do on a near daily basis. And they act surprised when they don’t convert new or repeat customers.
Of course, marketers aren’t doing it on purpose. They might even have a great product or service. But the extent of some of their efforts to nurture prospects and earn customer loyalty is half-baked or missing altogether.
But we didn’t ask you here to give you a problem. Read on for some examples of customer nurture and loyalty done right.
1. No one gives a damn about your lead form: We have conversations with clients about this all the time. “We don’t want them to go to Amazon, we want them to buy from us, so we should ask for their email address and phone number, and blood type, and…” Yeah, sure thing. You want someone’s information? Give them value. If it’s an e-commerce business, a purchase incentive is always an obvious one for a first-timer. Or a free gift with purchase. If it’s an item or service with a longer lead time, help them pre-solve their problems. Give them rich content, video tutorials, downloadable step-by-step guides, etc. Give them so much valuable information that they’re practically salivating to fill out your lead form. Give real value.
Salesforce has a great, well-known product and a great reason to fill out their lead form
2. Use their data data responsibly: Let’s say I bought a men’s t-shirt from an e-commerce brand that sells mens and women’s apparel. I don’t want email promotions for women’s clothing because I already showed I’m buying men’s clothing. That’s an easy one. But let’s say I filled out a lead form to learn about a complicated piece of software to automate processes for my business. That shouldn’t be an invitation to sell me right away. It should be an opportunity to give me rich content that answers common objections, shares case studies, or explains how to use it if I sign up for a free trial. Show me you understand your customers and that you’re able to deliver experiences that prove it. The more granular you can get with niche purchasing behaviors and interests, the better. Personalization matters.
3. Make it impossibly easy to reach you: We talked about this on a previous blog; “no one wants to call a 1-800 number. No one wants to email a service account and wait a week for a stranger to reply. They want instant access through chat features or bots, DMs or call services that save your spot in line, then call you. They want easy returns and they don’t want to have to wait for their purchase to be credited either.” Make everything easy. It’s easy to hate on Amazon, but everything I just mentioned, they’ve mastered. You can jump on live chat with a real person in one or two minutes. You can get digital shipping labels for returns, and sometimes they don’t even bother with having you return the item. They have exhaustive FAQs. There is rarely a question you can’t get answered or a problem you can’t get resolved in under 5 minutes with them.
You know why Amazon is kicking everyone’s ass? Because they do things customers like.
4. Help them use your product: Most day-to-day customer purchases are need-based. They solve a problem. But the purchase is only part of solving that problem. I’ll give you an embarrassing personal example — I broke the handle on my toilet the other day. I flushed it and the plastic handle broke in half. I bought a new one and, much to my dismay, installing it wasn’t as easy as it looked. You know what would’ve been a great help? A tutorial video, either sent to me through email, or via a QR code on the product itself. How-to videos are incredibly important. Many skincare brands are great at this, particularly since so many people feel insecure and unsure if they’re doing it right. Don’t allow them to feel that way if you can do something about it.
5. Never stop giving value: A client of ours is Flomentum, the leading men’s prostate health supplement. In news that won’t surprise you, even eager customers can get bored of just talking about the prostate. So we’ve worked with the brand to develop content for email and social channels that speaks to the whole man — heart health, nutrition, family, and of course, tips on their golf game. The more intimately you connect with your customer, the more likely they are to find reasons to stick around. And sometimes, a quality story is crucial for differentiation and 'a reason to believe.’ Luckily for our client, the true story is they have the highest-grade saw palmetto you can buy. Check out this video.
6. Do what others won’t: Include personalized notes in your shipping packages. Call a customer and thank them for their business. Give them early access to new product launches, or exclusive content. Ask them for their opinion or to join a focus group about new product ideas. Anyone can do these things, and most of them don’t cost a dime. But few will actually do the work. Be one of them.
Of course, this list isn’t meant to be exhaustive. Hell, I haven’t even talked about customer loyalty incentive programs. But it should serve as inspiration and a jumping off point. What do you think?
-DB