The business world is overwhelmed with problems keeping customers loyal. It is a problem that extends well beyond the old fashioned notions of doing business, when people would cling to brand names and familiar businesses as a matter of principle. With the holidays approaching, sending loyal clients a designer Christmas card might be a nice touch to letting them know that they matter, but do modern clients receive such a gesture as warmly as former generations once did? Or are clients today less interested in subtle niceties, aware that businesses use such tactics just to pad their bottom line? With a consumer base that is far more educated and wise to marketing tactics today, being bombarded with marketing ploys on a daily basis, it really begs the question of what sort of approach works to keep clients loyal in a modern business environment.
Why Loyal Customers May Not Be So Loyal Anymore
One major mistake that companies make when attempting to build customer loyalty is in how they treat long term customers versus new customers. On one hand, they want to provide perks and incentives to new clients, luring them in with novel items of value, to interest them enough to start doing business with the company making such offers. When their long term loyal customers hear of these incentives being given to new clients, and themselves being passed over, the reaction of their loyal customers can be anything but beneficial to the business making this mistake. Such consumers often know fully well that they have options, and the tendency is to think that if new clients get the better perks, why not jump ship and sign up with a competitor instead? It is a situation that forces many to ask if striving so hard to get new clients at the expense of losing long term loyal clients is such a sound business practice, or a recipe for financial disaster.
Using the Holidays to Win Back Loyal clients
If a business has engaged in marketing practices that have caused their loyal clients to feel snubbed, the Christmas and New Years holiday season is perhaps the best time to correct this mistake. It is during this time that a company can make amends, reaching out to their once loyal clients with novel gifts to win back the loyalty of clients that once stood by these companies through the thick and thin. However, a business likely has a limited spending budget, such a plan should focus on clients who are perceived to be the most loyal and the greatest asset to the business. A company still has to remember that it must operate within budget, rewarding the most loyal clients with the best offers during the holidays. If your most loyal clients truly believe they have received something of genuine value during the holidays, it may spark a renewed spirit of loyalty in them, thus providing your business with a better customer care reputation. You may not win back every client who was loyal in the past, but there are certainly those clients who want to be loyal again, who will be happy to receive a gift card, major discount on services, a piece of jewelry, or other nice incentive in light of the holiday spirit of doing business.