Increasing Customer Loyalty

Everyone knows that increasing customer loyalty is all about making bigger profits, creating a group of raving followers and finding customers at a faster and cheaper price. In the long run, customer loyalty can do wonders to your business. However, there are many questions and debates on how to ensure customer loyalty! Can your customer support knowledge base help you understand what customers really need? Can you use knowledge base support software to judge the requirements of customers online? Is it possible to use artificial intelligence to understand and improve customer loyalty?

According to experts, the answers to these questions is a big yes! Yes, you can go beyond manual, traditional methods and use software programs and artificial intelligence to boost customer loyalty.

Understanding Artificial Processes in Customer Loyalty Programs

Few months ago, Joseph Nunes and Xavler Drez made news. The whole world learnt more about their customer loyalty adventures. This duo experimented a new type of customer loyalty program at a local car servicing center. The consumer researchers rewarded 300 customers at the car wash with loyalty cards. Half of these loyalty cards expected customers to make eight transactions before winning a free service or car wash. The rest, needed ten transactions. However, there was a small twist to the story. The company offered two free bonus car washes as a head start. This means, their business began with free services.

In both these situations, potential customers had to make eight transactions for a free service. But, there is a small amount of difference in how complete the offers are. In offer one, the customers were zero-percent complete. On the other hand, offer two ensured 20-percent of completeness.

Now, you might wonder if the customer support knowledge base and this “Artificial” progress would ensure customer loyalty in return.

In the next few months, the duo noticed that 1/5th of the customers opted for the first offer. And, ½ of the customers chose the second option. This clearly proves an increase of 80% in terms of customer loyalty. Indeed, artificial progress has helped the car wash enjoy a better level of customer loyalty.

If you are planning to venture into customer loyalty, you must invest some time and effort on artificial progress. This is a smart way of introducing your business to new customers. Meanwhile, it is a strategic way of helping customers continue your products and services. The time required to witness the impact of artificial progress may appear long, yet it is worth your time and effort.

What is Customer Loyalty?

Before you start focusing on your customer support knowledge base and invest on knowledge base software, you must have a clear understanding of what customer loyalty is all about.

Let’s understand this with two real-time scenarios:

  • If you are an author, customer loyalty for you is represented by the number of people reading your books. For instance, if someone buys all your three books, they can be treated as a 100% loyal customer. And, if someone chooses to read only your book only once, they are less likely to return.
  • If you are a designer or a consultant, customer loyalty is identified by the number of people asking for your services. If people keep requesting for your services, you are on high demand! For example, if I approach the same designer for all my needs that is 100% customer loyalty.

If you want your business to endow and enjoy the benefits of customer loyalty, you must stick to a structured process. Here are three steps you must follow as a part of improving customer loyalty over the internet and using artificial intelligence to give it a boost further.

Step #1 – You need to have a well-established Goal

First of all, you must appreciate the fact that artificial progress can help you. Don’t think twice to make use of endowed progress. After all, every business needs customers and goals to focus on. You might be venturing into an eBook, design service or hourly consultation, the business doesn’t really matter. Artificial progress can help you. When paired with knowledge base software, it turns into a power tool for any business.

Step #2 – Understand What your Customers Need

Everyone knows that customers are longing for efficient and effective services. However, loyalty goes beyond these elements. Today, you must educate customers on what has to be done for better servicing and products. Companies must be specific about behaviors and actions that can be rewarded. Why would you reward your customers and keep them loyal? Do you intend to reward all your customers? Or, do you wish to reward customers who refer and advertise your business? Or, do you wish to reward customers who have stayed with your business for a long time? It is important to decide what your loyal customers must have done or do.

This is when knowledge base software programs become useful. These software programs will help you keep track of customers. You will be able to monitor every customer individually. In the long run, you will have plenty of data about your customers, what they want and what they have done to become loyal. The best way to exploit any artificial or endowed progress is through knowledge-based support systems.

Step #3 – A Head Start

Remember the car wash case study? It would be wise to give your customers a head start. This will be a bonus that adds more value to your business.

But, you must not give a head start without valid reasons. Always stick to limited bonuses. This route works well when you have to launch a new service or product. The limited time bonus will create a hype and keep your customers geared.

Step #4 – FAQ is Must

Your customers tend to come across various difficulties that can be answered easily. But to cater their questions, it is advised to create a FAQ page that gets most of them covered easily. Not only will your customers get to receive the answers on time but also reduces the workload from your support department.

These FAQs can also be linked to well curated tutorials that aid your customers in times of needs. This will boost their loyalty towards your brand and will be more willing to spread the word.

Step #5 – Expert Support Team at Place

A skilled team of customer support agents can help you boost the loyalty factor. But make sure that they are well-trained about your product or service that helps them answer any technical questions. In case you plan on training them or think of developing an ongoing training program, then a knowledge base software can come to your rescue.

It can help you develop a training program for your support agents that they can access anytime, anywhere. As they get equipped with the online program, it’ll be easier to get all customer queries resolved in no time. Hence, increasing the existing customer loyalty rate towards your brand easily.

Step #6 – Multiple Channel Availability

If you wish to help your customers reach you at anytime, from anywhere, then it’s important that they find you available at all times. This is also possible if you work towards building a stronger presence across multiple channels. Reason is simple. Your customers would not necessarily try to get in touch with you with emails or calls.

They’d also prefer if you make yourself visible on various platforms, so that their options aren’t limited to just one or two. No matter what business you own, building a stronger visibility across multi-channels is important. This helps you satisfy your customers in the shortest span of time possible.

What’s great is you not only get to retain customers with prompt responses, but also build a strong relationship with your customers easily. This leads to expanding your customer loyalty further because your organization is taking the effort to reach out to them in time. A great way to build positive points amidst customers.

The Verdict

Dan Pink once told, “There is a big difference in what science knows and what businesses really do”. If you want to improve customer loyalty, go ahead and use endowed progress (or artificial progress). This is a tool that can keep customers attached to your business for a very long time.

After all, it helps you know their expectations from your brand when they plan to invest in your services or products. This can be done successfully by:
  1. Monitoring every single customer and the decisions they take while browsing through your website.
  2. Giving them a great head start with valid reasons, so they can stick around with your brand for in the long run.
  3. Making yourself available at anytime, anywhere by increasing your presence on various platforms.
  4. Building a stronger support team that helps your customers get all the answers they seek when in trouble.
  5. Creating detailed FAQ with the help of a knowledge base software. These can help your customers find instant answers to their queries hassle-free.

 

So, do not get worked up on how to get your customers more loyal towards your brand, when the integration of such software can help you resolve the issue successfully.

 

Author Bio:-Robin is a Technical Support Executive. He is an expert in knowledge management and various Knowledge base tools. Currently, he is a resident knowledge management expert at ProProfs. In his free time, Robin enjoys cycling and sky diving.